Fry brothers lead PCM's state-qualifying quartet
Feb. 11—ATLANTIC — Last year's PCM wrestling team finished second at the district tournament but only one Mustang qualified for the state tournament.
This season, PCM scored 112 points in fourth but four Mustangs clinched state berths after Kaliber Fry and Hewitt Brinegar both won district titles and Tucker Wheeler and Remington Fry won true-second wrestle backs to advance.
Class 2A No. 8 Creston won the team championship with 224.5 points. The Panthers crowned four 2A District 1 champions.
The rest of the top five featured Atlantic (143), Greene County (134), PCM (112) and Knoxville (104). Perry (85), Saydel (64) and Van Meter (33) completed the eight-team field.
Tucker Wheeler
The top two finishers in each weight class in each 2A district advance to state. PCM's day was highlighted by seven top-four finishes.
The Mustangs qualified four wrestlers for the state tournament for the first time since sending eight back in 2018-19.
Kaliber Fry was 3-0 at 113. He opened with a win by fall and then advanced to the final with a 14-4 win. In the finals, Fry (36-14) claimed an 8-6 win in SV-1.
Brinegar, who is ranked 11th at 150, was 2-0 for the day. He improved to 45-5 on the season after a 3-0 win and a win by fall.
Remington Fry and Tucker Wheeler both won true-second wrestle backs to advance to state.
Remington Fry (33-17) got over the district hurdle this year with a 2-1 day at 138. He won 8-3 then lost 9-7 before winning his true-second wrestle back 4-2.
Hewitt Brinegar
The Mustang senior was third as a freshman and junior and fourth as a sophomore. He lost a wrestle back last season.
The final state qualifier is Tucker Wheeler (46-4) and he returns to the state tournament after recording three first-period pins.
Wheeler, who is ranked sixth at 144, lost 5-2 to fifth-ranked Austin Evans (41-6) of Creston in the finals.
Nate Richards returned from an injury on Saturday but finished third for the second straight season.
Richards (14-6) won his first match by fall and then medical forfeited the championship match to fourth-ranked Kain Killmer (35-3) of Perry.
He lost a wrestle back for the second straight season after falling 5-3.
The next best finishers were Jeffrey McDanel and Sawyer Bouwkamp at 157 and 165, respectively. Both grapplers were fourth as McDanel finished 2-2 with two pins and Bouwkamp was 0-2.
One of McDanel's losses came against fourth-ranked Gavin Scheuerman (28-3) of Greene County.
Remington Fry
Charlie Sitzmann was 1-2 with a 34-second pin at 126 and Jackson Overton (132), Wyatt Wheeler (175) and Kaiden Valcore (220) all finished 0-2.
The Mustangs were open at 106, 120 and 285.
PCM begins the 2A portion of competition at the Iowa High School State Wrestling Championships at 9 a.m. on Wednesday inside Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.
