Last week, nine wrestlers on the fourth-ranked Clarion-Goldfield-Dows wrestling team packed their bags for the four-day state tournament held at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. Three Cowboys brought home medals and C-G-D collected 58.5 points as a team.
The sensational Linden Phetxoumphone began the tournament with a 7-3 decision over Gabriel Schnerre of Assumption and a 19-3 technical fall against Winterset’s Judah Gurwell. He was edged out 4-1 in the semifinals by Ballard’s Easton Enyeart, but came back with a 6-3 decision over West Marshall’s Jon Gonzalez to land himself a spot in the 3rd place match. There, Linden would lose a heartbreaking 1-0 decision to Mitchell Schmauss of Crestwood. Phetxoumphone finished his junior season with a 4th place medal and a record of 35-4.
Sophomore Adrian Phetxoumphone placed 7th at 126 pounds in his first trip to The Well. He won by technical fall over Gavin Knutson of Decorah, but lost a 4-3 decision to Emmitt Newton of Davis County in the quarterfinal. Adrian bounced back with a pin in the consolation and went on to defeat a 50-5 Harlan Community wrestler in the 7th place match.
Charlie Campbell was another Cowboy sophomore enjoying his first trip to state. The 175-pounder placed 7th after securing a 5-3 decision over Blake Mather of West Delaware. Campbell lost two narrow decisions in the quarterfinals and consolation round, but still fought his way to the podium and ended his year with a record of 43-5.
Angel Cortes (113) delivered a 17-1 technical fall in his first match of the tournament, but lost by major decision and fall in his next two bouts.
Freshman 144-pounder Colin Sesker downed North Central Conference opponents from Hampton-Dumont-CAL and Algona to open his tournament with a bang. Sesker was beaten by decision later on in the quarterfinals and fell to Chase Krantz of Assumption in his wrestleback to finish his season with a record of 34-10.
Caleb Seaba (157) had a 16-1 technical fall over Chayton Snethen of Harlan Community and dismantled Benton Community’s Elias Bieschke 15-0 before losing by sudden victory to Eagle Grove’s Hayden Schafer.
Ryland Morgan lost his first match 8-0, but came back with a major decision and a decision at 165. Burlington’s Blake Wilson eventually defeated Morgan, but the Cowboy freshman wrapped up his year with a 28-20 record.
JT Kelso represented C-G-D at 285. He pinned Kuemper Catholic and Knoxville wrestlers in the consolation rounds, but his season came to an end at 39-7 after Maxwell Azzaline of Assumption squeaked out a 1-0 victory.
