Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

WAMAC Conference Meet

When: Saturday, 10 a.m.

Where: Benton Community

2018 top-5: 1. West Delaware; 2. Solon; 3. Williamsburg; 4. Western Dubuque; 5. South Tama

Ranked Teams: Class 2A No. 2 West Delaware; 2A No. 6 Solon

What to watch: Solon finished fourth at the WAMAC meet in 2016 before winning the 2017 title.

West Delaware was eighth in 2017 before winning the title last season.

Don’t expect a new team to climb into the title conversation this year as Solon and West Delaware figure to fight for the conference crown once again.

West Delaware finished nearly 20 points clear of Solon for the WAMAC title a year ago and is favored to defend its title thanks to seven ranked wrestlers.

Solon enters with five ranked wrestlers as it seeks a third consecutive top-two finish.

Solon senior 220-pounder Mike Hoyle (36-1) is the lone defending WAMAC champion for the Spartans after winning a title at 182 a year ago.

Junior 170-pounder Jax Flynn (34-4) was a runner-up last season along with junior 132-pounder Zeb Gnida.

Third-ranked freshman Hayden Taylor (38-2) will get his first taste of the WAMAC meet and is the favorite at 126.

Clear Creek Amana will look to improve on a 12th place finish from last season led by 145-pound title contender Andrew Rohret (35-6).

Who to Watch: Solon senior Zack Bevans is part of a loaded 152-pound bracket that features four wrestlers ranked in the 2A top seven.

Bevans is wrestling as well as anyone in the stacked field and enters riding a 13-match winning streak that features wins over three ranked opponents.

There won’t be any strangers in the race for the 152-pound crown.

Bevans is 2-3 against the other three ranked wrestlers in the bracket with wins over fifth-ranked Matthew Doyle of Independence and No. 7 Scott Betterton of Vinton-Shellsburg.

Second-ranked West Delaware senior Mitchel Mangold was the runner-up at 152 at the WAMAC meet a year ago and enters as a slight favorite after earning a 3-2 win over Bevans in a December dual meet.

Bevans is 1-2 against Doyle this season with the last meeting a 7-5 win for Doyle in sudden victory.

Weight Class to watch: One of two weight classes with four ranked wrestlers the 132 pound bracket could feature four wrestlers that claimed WAMAC titles last season.

West Delaware senior Ryan Phillips is the defending conference champ at 132 pounds while sixth-ranked Jalen Schropp of Williamsburg won the WAMAC 126-pound title a year ago.

Vinton-Shellsburg senior Brock Radeke enters ranked ninth in 2A at 132 and won the 138-pound championship last year.

Throw in fifth-ranked Solon junior Zeb Gnida (27-8) a state medalist and WAMAC runner-up at 120-pounds last season and the 132-pound field figures to be among the most intriguing at a loaded meet on Saturday.

Gnida has split a pair of meetings with the other ranked 132-pounders this season defeating Schropp 3-2 to win the Regina Invitational and falling to fourth-ranked Phillips 4-3 in a dual in December.

Further adding to the parity Phillips and Schropp have already split a pair of head-to-head matchups this season.  

Ranked Wrestlers

106:     *No. 1 Keaton Zeimet (Central DeWitt) Soph.

113:     No. 8 Isaiah Weber (Independence) Fr.

120:     *No. 3 Caleb Fuessley (Center Point-Urbana) Sr.

            No. 6 Ryan Clark (Mount Vernon) Sr.

            3A No. 8 Kael Scranton (Clear Creek Amana) Fr.

126:     No. 3 Hayden Taylor (Solon) Fr.

            No. 9 Keegan Scheeler (Center Point-Urbana) Jr.

132:     *No. 4 Ryan Phillips (West Delaware) Sr.

            No. 5 Zeb Gnida (Solon) Jr.

            *No. 6 Jalen Schropp (Williamsburg) Jr.

            *No. 9 Brock Radeke (Vinton-Shellsburg) Sr.

138:     No. 5 Jayden Peyton (West Delaware) Fr. 

145:      3A No. 7 Andrew Rohret (Clear Creek Amana) Sr.

            No. 8 Luke Radeke (Vinton-Shellsburg) Sr.

             No. 9 Cael Meyer (West Delaware) Soph.

152:     No. 2 Mitchel Mangold (West Delaware) Sr.

            No. 5 Matthew Doyle (Independence) Jr.

            No. 6 Zack Bevans (Solon) Sr.

            No. 7 Scott Betterton (Vinton-Shellsburg) Sr.

160:     *No. 3 Cole Davis (Independence) Jr.

            No. 9 Jared Voss (West Delaware) Soph.

170:     No. 1 Paul Ryan (Mount Vernon) Sr.

            No. 8 Jax Flynn (Solon) Jr.

            No. 10 Wyatt Voelker (West Delaware) Fr.

195:     No. 9 Jordan Bries (West Delaware) Sr.

220:     *No. 3 Mike Hoyle (Solon) Sr.

285:     No. 7 Taven Rich (Maquoketa) Jr.

*Denotes returning WAMAC Champ

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