West High Crowns Three Champs in Runner-up Finish at MVC Tournament
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
CEDAR RAPIDS – West High has a long history of doing its best wrestling at the right times.
With the postseason fast approaching the Trojans appear poised for yet another late-season surge.
West High crowned three champions and had seven wrestlers finish in the top three on its way to a runner-up team finish at the Mississippi Valley Conference tournament on Saturday at Cedar Rapids Xavier High School.
Seniors Justin Avila and Cole Krutzfeldt and junior Alexander Pierce all won individual crowns for the Trojans on Saturday as West High finished with 178.5 points.
Linn-Mar won the team title with 227 points while host Cedar Rapids Xavier was third with 178.
The runner-up finish was the best for West High since the Trojans finished runner-up in 2022.
Class 3A third-ranked Avila led the charge, capturing his second consecutive MVC title at 150 pounds.
Avila earned career victory number 150 with a 10-2 major decision over ninth-ranked Noah Howk-Erwin of Linn-Mar in the title match.
“It means a lot,” Avila said. “It snuck up on me, I didn’t really know so it felt pretty good. It’s definitely another stepping stone.”
Avila (43-3) won a 9-4 decision over Howk-Erwin in the finals of the Bob Lueders Invitational in Clinton on January 25.
In Saturday’s rematch Avila had three takedowns, one in the first period and two more in the third, and only allowed points on escapes in the major decision win.
“I wrestled him a couple of weeks ago and I had a better performance I felt,” Avila said. “I feel like I am improving week to week and that’s huge for me.”
Joining Avila atop the medal stand on Saturday were Pierce and Krutzfeldt.
Pierce (41-2) won his third consecutive MVC title with a dominating effort at 113 pounds while Krutzfeldt won his first MVC crown in his first appearance at the tournament.
In his third tournament this season at 113 pounds after dropping from 120 pounds Pierce went 3-0 with two first-period pins and a 10-3 decision over third-ranked Dylan Munson of Cedar Rapids Prairie in the championship match.
“It was kind of hard to get down to 113 at first but this is my third week now and I’m used to it,” Pierce said. “I’m excited, it’s fun.”
Pierce recorded eight take downs in his three wins on Saturday including three in the championship match win over Munson.
“I felt great today,” Pierce said. “My only goal was to score points and have fun. Get to my stuff and dominate. That’s it.”
Krutzfeldt (37-4) was just as impressive on his way to the 138-pound title.
Fifth-ranked Cole Krutzfeldt went 3-0 with two tech falls and a first-period pin.
He won a 15-0 tech fall in 3:09 over No. 11 Hud Turner of Linn-Mar in the championship match.
West High finished with nine medalists on Saturday, seven of which finish in the top three.
Matthew Tran was runner-up at 120 pounds and Sterling Warren was runner-up at 165 pounds.
Campbell Janis was third at 157 and Randale Kelly was third at 285 pounds.
Liberty High junior Landon Bell won the 175-pound title to help the Lightning to an eighth-place finish with 115 points.
Sixth-ranked Bell (19-3) went 4-0 on his way to the 175-pound title with wins over a pair of ranked wrestlers.
“I write down my goals every year and I stick them right above my TV in my room and the goals were, win three tournaments, win conference, win districts, win state,” Bell said. “This got me to my third tournament win, and it won conference so I checked off two and it’s pretty big for me.”
Bell trailed 8-3 after the opening period of his semifinal against fourth-ranked Philip Jacobs of Linn-Mar.
Bell scored 13 second-period points, on an escape, a takedown, a reversal and seven nearfall points while taking a 16-10 lead and won a 21-13 major decision over top-ranked Jacobs.
Jacobs pinned Bell in 5:01 in a MVC dual meet last month.
Bell wrapped up the title with a 5-0 win over fifth-ranked Cedar Rapids Prairie junior Louden Bloxham in the championship match.
“A lot of it is just mentality and focus,” Bell said. “The Linn-Mar kid I wrestled in the semis, he pinned me a couple of weeks back in a dual but it’s all about mentality and focusing on trying to knock off these guys because they are all great competitors.”
Liberty High had six medalists on Saturday as Benjamin Rosen finished fourth at 120 pounds and Rex Edmonds was fourth at 132 pounds.
Connor McGonegle finished fifth at 106 pounds, Konstantinos Panos was fifth at 113 pounds and Mason Karam was fifth at 144 pounds.
Mississippi Valley Conference Meet
At Cedar Rapids Xavier High School
Team scores – 1. Linn-Mar 227; 2. West High 178.5; 3. Cedar Rapids Xavier 178; 4. Cedar Rapids Prairie 161.5; 5. City High 149; 6. Dubuque Hempstead 138.5; 7. Western Dubuque 134.5; 8. Liberty High 115; 9. Cedar Falls 104; 9. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 104; 11. Waterloo West 60.5; 12. Cedar Rapids Washington 50; 13. Dubuque Wahlert 42; 14. Cedar Rapids Jefferson 28.5; 14. Dubuque Senior 28.5
Individual results (championship matches, area placewinners)
106 – 1. Chase Watkinson (CRP) tech. fall Abe Heysinger (DH) 15-0; 5. Connor McGonegle (ICL); 6. Owen Smock (ICW); 7. Jack Litton (ICH)
113 – 1. Alexander Pierce (ICW) dec. Dylan Munson (CRP) 10-3; 5. Konstantinos Panos (ICL)
120 – 1. Kendall Kurtz (ICH) dec. Matthew Tran (ICW) 5-4; 4. Benjamin Rosen (ICL)
126 – 1. Malik DeBow (L-M) major dec. Evan Simpson (CF) 11-1; 7. Asher Eisenbach (ICL)
132 – 1. Mitchell Murphy (DH) dec. Jack Foster (CRX) 11-10; 4. Rex Edmonds (ICL); 6. Charles Barnhouse (ICW); 7. Chris Davis (ICH)
138 – 1. Cole Krutzfeldt (ICW) tech. fall Hud Turner (L-M) 15-0; 3. Donovan Gipson (ICH)
144 – 1. Will Casey (WD) medical forfeit Aidan Ehlinger (L-M); 5. Mason Karam (ICL); 8. Alex Holmes (ICH)
150 – 1. Justin Avila (ICW) major dec. Noah Howk-Erwin (L-M) 10-2; 5. Laith Alawneh (ICH)
157 – 1. Joe Hirsch (WD) dec. Brayden Fish (L-M) 4-1; 3. Campbell Janis (ICW); 7. Jude Seebeck (ICH)
165 – 1. Barrett Mieras (L-M) pinned Sterling Warren (ICW) :48; 4. Marshall Shelson (ICH)
175 – 1. Landon Bell (ICL) dec. Louden Bloxham (CRP) 5-0; 7. Mason Tilley (ICH)
190 – 1. Dusty Cook (CRX) dec. Wyatt Young (CRW) 11-8; 6. Ethan Barber (ICL)
215 – 1. Jean Ngoma (CRX) dec. Camden Smith 6-2; 3. Raphael Etuma (ICH)
285 – 1. Kane Willey (ICH) dec. Anthony Keys (CRK) 5-4; 3. Randale Kelly (ICW)
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