A Quick Look at the River Valley Conference Wrestling Meet
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
River Valley Conference Meet
When: Saturday, 10 a.m.
Where: Monticello High School
Ranked teams: None
What to watch: West Liberty and Wilton once again appear to be the class of the conference and should battle it out for the team title but both Regina and West Branch are set up for their best conference meet showings in recent history.
Regina has a trio of ranked wrestlers in seniors Sam Aitchison (31-3) and Aidan Udell (31-1) and junior Ronan Poynton (28-4) who will all be in title contention on Saturday.
Udell is ranked third at 170 pounds while Aitchison is ninth at 152 and Poynton is 10th at 220.
Senior Caden Shetler (26-13) faces a strong field with a pair of ranked wrestlers at 195 pounds but is capable of a strong showing along with junior Christopher Waikel (25-8) at 182 pounds.
West Branch has a pair of ranked wrestlers in sophomores Lincoln Edwards (27-2) and Logan Wright (37-6).
Edwards is seventh at 113 pounds and could face a rematch with fifth-ranked Brody Brisker of Wilton in the title match.
Brisker won the regular season meeting with Edwards by fall on January 6.
Wright is ranked ninth at 220 pounds.
Watch for senior Dylan Olson (27-13) at 120 pounds as well as sophomore Luke Guseman (28-9) at 120 as key contributors for the Bears on Saturday.
Who to watch: Regina senior Aidan Udell is no stranger to RVC success but enters the conference meet in an unfamiliar situation – coming off a loss.
Udell had a 30-match winning streak to start the season end with a 9-2 decision to eighth-ranked Aiden Zook of North Tama on Thursday.
Udell pinned Zook in the first meeting between the top back in December.
An extra-motivated Udell is a scary thought for the rest of the RVC field.
Udell will likely get another rematch in the 170-pound finals against 2A third-ranked Drake Collins of West Liberty.
Udell defeated Collins 9-5 on December 2 in the only regular season meeting.
Weight class to watch: There are six weight classes with two ranked wrestlers but none more exciting than 220 where Poynton and Wright appear on a collision course for a finals rematch.
Wright pinned Poynton in the only regular season meeting between the two at the Gary Curtis Invitational earlier this month.
Two of the top young big men in the conference facing off in the 220 pound finals would be an exciting end to the RVC meet.
Ranked wrestlers
106: 1A No. 4 Brock Morris (Cascade) Fr.
2A No. 7 Colin Cassady (West Liberty) Jr.
113: 1A No. 5 Brody Brisker (Wilton) Soph.
1A No. 7 Lincoln Edwards (West Branch) Soph.
120: 1A No. 7 Jordan Dusenberry (Wilton) Fr.
126: 1A No. 9 Ethan Gast (Durant) Sr.
132: 1A No. 10 Trever Freiburger (Cascade) Jr.
152: 2A No. 8 Austin Scranton (Anamosa) Fr.
1A No. 9 Sam Aitchison (Regina) Sr.
170: 1A No. 3 Aidan Udell (Regina) Sr.
2A No. 3 Drake Collins (West Liberty) Jr.
195: 2A No. 3 Cael Garvey (Mid-Prairie) Sr.
2A No. 11 Jahsiah Galvan (West Liberty) Sr.
220: 2A No. 9 Logan Wright (West Branch) Soph.
2A No. 10 Ronan Poynton (Regina) Jr.
285: 2A No. 12 Gannon Callahan (Mid-Prairie) Sr.
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