Your Prep Sports

A loaded sectional bracket that featured the eventual state champion and runner-up kept Zeb Gnida from reaching the state meet last season as a freshman.

The Solon sophomore made sure his wait for an appearance at the state tournament was worth it on Thursday.

Gnida earned a 6-0 decision over Woodward-Granger senior Ryan Munoz in his state meet debut at 120 pounds in the opening round of the Class 2A state tournament at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Seventh-ranked Gnida was one of trio of first-time quarterfinalist for the Spartans on Thursday joining junior 182 pounder Mike Hoyle and senior Tyler Linderbaum in the 2A quarterfinals.

Gnida (41-9) will get a rematch from the regular season in the 2A quarterfinals on Friday morning when he faces sixth-ranked Jack Gaukel of Sergeant Bluff-Luton.

Gaukel won a 6-1 decision over Gnida in the semifinals of the Herb Irgens Invitational last month.

Hoyle advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time in his second consecutive state tournament appearance.

After going 1-2 in his state meet debut last year, Hoyle advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-5 win over No. 10 Conner Huss of MOC-Floyd Valley on Thursday.

Fifth-ranked Hoyle (42-7) will face second-ranked Southeast Valley junior Kyler Fisher (52-1) in a 182-pound quarterfinal on Friday.

The lone loss of the season for Fisher was a 3-2 setback to third-ranked Ben Lee of Ballard in the district title match.

Linderbaum reached the quarterfinals for the first time with a first-period pin of West Delaware freshman Carson Petlon.

In his state meet debut a year ago Linderbaum rebounded from an opening round loss to rattle off three consecutive consolation bracket wins on his way to a fifth-place finish.

The path to a second straight state medal got much simple for Linderbaum this season as he needed just 1:42 to advance with a pin of Petlon.

It was a strong bounce back performance from third-ranked Linderbaum who dropped his first two matches of the season on Wednesday at the state dual meet to top-ranked Cooper Lawson of Webster City and No. 5 Spencer Trenary of Clarion-Goldfield-Dows.

Linderbaum will face eighth-ranked Sioux City Heeland sophomore Kobe Clayborne (41-6) in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Solon had four of its five state qualifiers advance to day two as junior 152 pounder Zack Bevans kept his season alive with a 7-0 decision of Jarret Orr (Independence) a first-round consolation match.

The Class 2A quarterfinal session begins at 9 a.m. on Friday.

Class 2A State Meet

Team scores (Top 10; Area Teams) – 1. New Hampton 23; 2. West Liberty 18.5; 3. South Tama 16; 4. Red Oak 15; 5. Prairie City-Monroe 14.5; 6. Dubuque Wahlert 14; 7. Clarion-Goldfield-Dows 13; 8. Atlantic 12.5; 9. Davenport Assumption 12; 10. OA-BCIG 11; 10. Webster City 11; 16. Solon 9; 65. Clear Creek Amana 1.

Opening Round (Area Athletes Only)

120 – No. 7 Zeb Gnida (Solon) dec. Ryan Munoz (Woodward-Granger) 6-0

138 – No. 1 Michael Blockhus (New Hampton) pinned Andy Brokaw (Solon) 2:09

145 – No. 9 Joey Busse (Humboldt) dec. Andrew Rohret (Clear Creek Amana) 8-4

152 – No. 3 Joe Kelly (West Liberty) pinned No. 10 Zack Bevans (Solon) 2:52

182 – No. 5 Mike Hoyle (Solon) dec. No. 10 Conner Huss (MOC-Floyd Valley) 6-5

285 – No. 3 Tyler Linderbaum (Solon) pinned Carson Petlon (West Delaware) 1:42

First Round Consolation

138 – Reed Abbas (Clarion-Goldfield-Dows) pinned Andy Brokaw (SOL) 1:40

145 – Andrew Rohret (Clear Creek Amana) dec. Oscar Olmos (Harlan) 5-3

152 – No. 10 Zack Bevans (Solon) dec. Jarret Orr (Independence) 7-0

Friday’s Quarterfinal Matchups

120 – No. 7 Zeb Gnida (41-9), Soph., Solon vs. No. 6 Jack Gaukel (42-7), Fr., Sergeant Bluff-Luton

182 – No. 5 Mike Hoyle (42-7), Jr., Solon vs. No. 2 Kyler Fisher (52-1), Jr., Southeast Valley

285 – No. 3 Tyler Linderbaum (35-0), Sr., Solon vs. No. 8 Kobe Clayborne (41-6) Soph., Sioux City Heelan