A Quick Look at the Class 2A, District 7 Wrestling Meet
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
Class 2A, District 7
When: Saturday, Noon
Where: Solon
Teams (Number of Qualifiers): West Delaware (13); Mount Vernon (6); Camanche (6); Central DeWitt (6); Solon (5); West Liberty (5); Monticello (5); Tipton (3); Maquoketa (3); Center Point-Urbana (2); Anamosa (2A)
Ranked Teams: No. 1 West Delaware
Area Qualifiers
152: Caleb Ebert (Solon) Sr. 29-8
160: Hayden Taylor (Solon) Jr. 33-0
170: Lucas Kampman (Solon) Jr. 22-15
182: Lucas TePoel (Solon) Sr. 18-13
220: Gage Marty (Solon) Jr. 31-7
What to Watch
Solon qualified five wrestlers for the district meet where the Spartans have the luxury of competing in their own gym as they attempt to secure spots at the state meet.
Three of the district qualifiers for Solon are returning state qualifiers led by two-time defending state champion Hayden Taylor at 160 pounds.
Junior Gage Marty was a state medalist at 195 last season but must navigate a loaded district bracket at 220 pounds to return to the state meet.
Senior Caleb Ebert is a three-time district qualifier seeking a second consecutive trip to the state meet.
Ebert (29-8) enters the district meet doing perhaps the best wrestling of his career.
He has won 12 of his last 13 matches after an impressive sectional meet that included a win by fall and 7-0 victory in the title match.
The only loss for Ebert over his last 13 matches came to his opening round opponent on Saturday Anamosa senior Alex Casey (23-4).
Casey won an 11-9 thriller over Ebert in sudden victory back on January 23.
Fifth-ranked Jadyn Peyton (34-1) of West Delaware is the likely championship opponent for the winner of the semifinal rematch.
Senior Lucas TePoel (18-13) faces a challenging 182-pound bracket in his district debut.
TePoel faces fourth-ranked Cael Meyer (22-3) of West Delaware in the semifinals with No. 5 Cade Everson (38-2) of Camanche likely awaiting the winner.
Junior 170-pounder Lucas Kampman (22-15) faces a major semifinal challenge in his second district appearance in three seasons with top-ranked and unbeaten West Delaware senior Jared Voss (32-0) his opening round foe.
Who to Watch
As a general rule of thumb – if Hayden Taylor is wrestling make sure to watch.
One of the best wrestlers in the state, Taylor is a two-time defending 2A state champion with a career 136-2 record and brings a 105-match winning streak into the district meet.
Taylor went 52-0 on his way to the 2A 145-pound title a year ago and is attempting to complete a second consecutive unbeaten season, a first in Solon wrestling history.
Top-ranked at 160 pounds, Taylor will face West Delaware junior Isaac Fettkether (22-15) in the semifinals on Saturday.
The winner of West Liberty sophomore Drake Collins (31-7) and Center Point-Urbana junior Collin Hoskins (22-6) would meet Taylor in the finals.
Taylor has posted 20 pins and seven tech falls on his way to 33 wins this season.
Weight Class to Watch
With a trio of ranked wrestlers and defending state medalists the 220-pound bracket at District 8 will be among the toughest across the entire state on Saturday.
One wrestler that reached the 2A podium last season will be staying home this year with second-ranked Kobe Simon (31-3) of West Liberty, sixth-ranked Christian Nunley (27-2) of West Delaware and 10th ranked Solon junior Gage Marty (31-7) competing for two spots.
Marty, who was seventh at the 2A state meet at 195 pounds last season knows the competition well.
Nunley and Marty will meet for the second time this season in the semifinals after Nunley won the regular season meeting via third-period fall all the way back on December 10.
Marty defeated Nunley 6-3 in the only meeting last season with Nunley going ton to place eighth in 2A at 220 pounds.
Last year’s 2A runner-up at 220 pounds, Simon opens with Mount Vernon sophomore Clark Younggreen (22-9) who lost to Nunley 3-0 in the sectional title match.
All three losses for Simon this season have come to 1A top-ranked Cole Clark of Lisbon and the West Liberty senior has won all three matches against Marty this year by scores of 5-2, 6-3 and 5-2.
This isn’t just one of the most talented brackets across the state on Saturday it should be among the most entertaining with all three wrestlers proving to be essentially even.
Ranked Wrestlers
113: No. 6 Carson Less (West Delaware) Soph.
No. 7 Kale Hansen (Monticello) Soph.
120: No. 3 Keaton Zeimet (Central DeWitt) Sr.
No. 6 Cole Whitehead (Center Point-Urbana) Sr.
126: No. 7 Blake Engel (West Delaware) Jr.
132: No. 9 Reily Dolan (West Delaware) Sr.
138: No. 3 Kain Luensman (Monticello) Sr.
145: No. 3 Eric Kinkaid (Camanche) Jr.
No. 7 Logan Peyton (West Delaware) Soph.
152: No. 5 Jadyn Peyton (West Delaware) Jr.
160: No. 1 Hayden Taylor (Solon) Jr.
170: No. 1 Jared Voss (West Delaware) Sr.
182: No. 4 Cael Meyer (West Delaware) Sr.
No. 5 Cade Everson (Camanche) Sr.
195: No. 1 Wyatt Voelker (West Delaware) Jr.
220: No. 2 Kobe Simon (West Liberty) Sr.
No. 6 Christian Nunley (West Delaware) Sr.
No. 10 Gage Marty (Solon) Jr.
285: No. 1 Carson Petlon (West Delaware) Sr.
No. 2 Keean Kamerling (Mount Vernon) Sr.
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