Three Okoboji/HMS wrestlers had their tickets punched to State after qualifying in the Class 2A District 10 wrestling tournament held February 15 at Sioux Center. Two Pioneer grapplers won their weight classes at the District tourney. They are freshman Chase Franklin at 120 pounds and senior Tyce Hanson at 132. Hanson will be making a return trip to Des Moines. Senior Brennan Baschke was runner-up at 138 pounds and also qualifies as one of the top two finishers in each weight class who move on to State. Action in Class 2A at Des Moines gets underway Wednesday evening.

Franklin pinned Sioux Center’s Landon Bauer in 2:15 the semifinal match and then took first with a pin of Cole Bomgaars of Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley in 2:30. Hanson scored a 15-0 technical fall victory over MOC-Floyd Valley’s Jackson Schmitz in the semifinal. He followed that up with a 17-1 win by technical fall in the first place match. The victim was CJ McGregor of Algona.
Baschke won his semifinal match by fall over Angel Gasca of Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley in 4:48. The first place match went to Estherville Lincoln Central’s Layton Yager with a 15-0 technical fall win over Baschke. The Okoboji/HMS wrestler was not required to wrestle back for second place as he had already defeated Gasca. Freshman Blake Knudtson won a third place match but did not have the opportunity to wrestle back for second. Nathaniel Franklin was involved in a second place match at 175 pounds with a trip to State on the line. The senior suffered a narrow 5-4 loss to Algona’s Tayten Rummel.
Wrestlers from HMS competing were Nathan Stofferan at 113 pounds and Riley Mattingly at 215.
Stofferan lost his semifinal match by fall to Samuel Quevedo of Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley in 5:05. He kept his hopes of advancing alive with a 22-6 technical fall victory over Gustavo Chitic-Aguilar of Estherville Lincoln Central. However, the junior lost by fall in the third place match to Algona’s Thomas Zabka in 3:16.
Mattingly lost his semifinal match by fall to Sioux Center’s Colton Mouw in 48 seconds. The freshman next faced German Topete and his tourney ended with a loss by fall to the MOC-Floyd Valley wrestler in 2:37.
Okoboji/HMS scored 115 team points to finish fourth. Algona captured the team championship with a 240 total.
Team Scores
Algona 240, Estherville Lincoln Central 150.5, Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley 127.5, Okoboji/HMS 115, Sioux Center 113.5, Central Lyon/George-Little Rock 79, MOC-Floyd Valley 66, Spirit Lake Park 40.5.
HMS Wrestlers Individual Results
113-Nathan Stofferan (20-15 season record) placed fourth – Semifinal – lost by fall to Samuel Quevedo of Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley in 5:05; Cons. Semi – won by technical fall (22-6) over Gustavo Chitic-Aguilar of Estherville Lincoln Central in 6:00; 3rd Place Match – lost by fall to Thomas Zabka (Algona) in 3:16.
215-Riley Mattingly (7-25 season record) did not place – Quarterfinal – lost by fall to Colton Mouw (Sioux Center) in :48; Cons. Round 1 – lost by fall to German Topete (MOC-Floyd Valley) in 2:37.