7 District Qualifiers To Lead Beavers

Members of the 2016-17 Wilton wrestling team are front row, l-r: Hunter Stoll, Bryce Oveson, Trey Brisker, manager. Abbie Swift, manager Vivian Urmie, manager Madison Bohnsack, Derek McQuillen, Colton Berggren and Dalton Snider. Middle row: Kaelyb Gerlt, Cory Anderson, Jerome Mays, Eli Faison, Chantz Stevens and Zach Rubendall. Back row: Head Coach Gabe Boorn, Cameron Reddick, Calib Lilly, Colton Heuer, John Rife and Assistant Coach Joe Hewitt. Not Pictured: DJ Melton-Grage, Coy Baker, Reid Johnson, Cameron Keith, Clayton Cooling, Damen Hughes, Mgr. Tatum Oveson, Mgr. Katelyn Boeding, Mgr. Alyssa Anderson, assistant coach Rob Smith, assistant coach Pete Smith, assistant coach Shane Boorn, assistant coach Ben Burkle, and assistant coach Morgan Mays. Photo by Ryan Stonebraker. 

By Ryan Stonebraker

Sports Editor, Tipton Conservative

WILTON — The Wilton wrestling team could be one of the best overall teams in the area this season.  The Beavers will be led by seven wrestlers who qualified for the district wrestling tournament last year.  The Beavers were ranked in the class 1A team standings for a lot of the season and begin this season also in the top-10 team rankings in class 1A.

“Our squad has a lot of potential to be successful on the mat this year if they continue to put in the hard work necessary to reach their goals. We have seven returning district qualifiers, two of which were state qualifiers, and one brought home bronze,” said Wilton wrestling coach Gabe Boorn.

“We had a lot of underclassmen get some quality mat time last year as we had eleven underclassmen in the varsity line-up. They will bring that confidence and comfort on the mat with them this year and propel to the next level (as six of those underclassmen qualified for districts). We also have a handful of new members in the room this year that will help make our practices more intense and our line-up deeper,” said Boorn.

The seven district qualifiers were Trey Brisker (145), Bryce Oveson (182), Reid Johnson (113), Jerome Mays (138), Eli Faison (152), Cameron Reddick (170) and John Rife (195).  Brisker and Oveson qualified for the state meet.  Brisker placed third at state last year and second in 2015 at his weight class.  Oveson is a three time state qualifier.  Brisker, a junior, has a 42-7 record while Oveson, a senior has a career record of 46-5.

Other returners for the Beavers are two-time letterwinner, junior Hunter Stoll who will be at 106 and has 31 career wins; sophomores Cory Anderson (120) and Chantz Stevens (132) who were 29-16 and 16-22 respectively last year; and sophomore John Lilly at 220 who was 14-20 last season.

“With our squad having a lot of potential to be successful on the mat this year, we have goals of qualifying for the State Dual tournament, winning Regionals, Sectionals, Conference Duals, and the Conference Tournament . Along the way we will face some stiff competition to give us a good gauge of where we are as a team and as individuals. I believe we can qualify a lot of wrestlers for the individual state tournament as well,” said Boorn.

“They have to continue to believe in themselves and their efforts to reach their goals. With having seven returning district qualifiers get some quality mat time last year they will bring that confidence and comfort on the mat with them this year,” he said.

Promising newcomers are Keith Cameron at 126, Brady Shook at 145 and Coy Baker at 160.

Boorn said that his lineup needs to come together and some weight classes need to be filled yet.

“We will need to solidify some weight classes as a few wrestlers will move around to fill our line-up at the beginning of the season. We will have more wrestlers in our room this year which allows for more competition for the varsity spots and a more solid line-up,” he said.

Wilton will wrestle at Saturday tournaments at Wapello on December 3, Grinnell on December 10, Highland on January 7, Marion on January 14 and Clinton on January 21.  The Beavers will host dual meets on December 13 when Mid-Prairie and Regina come to town and on January 12 when Camanche comes to town.  Late in the season the Beavers host English Valleys, Cascade and West Branch on January 27.  The Beavers will also host a class 1A district meet on Saturday, February 11.