Both the Pella boys and girls wrestling teams were in tournament action Saturday, placing 8th in their respective meets.

The Dutch girls did so at home in a field of 16 teams. Placewinners:
115 – Isabella Smith, 4-0 (1st), 3 Falls
125 – Bri Shannon, 2-3, 2 Falls
130 – Kenadi Montgomery, 4-1, 3 Falls
155 – Abbi Lemke, 3-1, 3 Falls

Head Coach Adam Hale:
“I was proud of our showing again today. Top to bottom today we showed really great effort. Yes, we lost a few positions, but that wasn’t due to effort. We’ll keep cleaning up technique to win more of those 50-50 spots, but how can you be unhappy with hard wrestling?

Besides our girls’ continued good effort, some high points today were our placewinners. Isabella Smith led the charge with a first place finish. She made it exciting along the way with a nice comeback in the first match and a fun scramble into a throw (accompanied by some really good mat awareness) to secure the top spot. Bri Shannon impressed with her high motor today. She finished 6th and did such a great job of constantly hunting points and improved position. Kenadi Montgomery wrestled her way to 3rd. I really like her level of aggression in her third place match. Abbi Lemke rounded out our placers today as she secured 3rd. She has really found a sweet spot in her wrestling our past few competitions. She’s really finishing her shots strong and fighting through positions longer.”

The Dutch boys were 8th at the Ed Hadenfeldt Wrestling Invitational in Solon. Placewinners:

126 – Brayden Sundby (17-9) placed 6th
132 – Dax Putz (18-15) placed 8th
144 – Rex Rhamy (9-10) placed 7th
165 – Hunter Smith (27-6) placed 7th
175 – Logan Bruxvoort (20-8) placed 2nd
190 – Brecken Ritzert (22-11) placed 3rd
285 – Jackson Menke (5-7) placed 7th