NM Girls, Boys Second at Bill Rex Invite
PEKIN – North Mahaska has a solid showing at Pekin’s Bill Rex Invitational Saturday. The girls with two competitors placed second of nine school competing while the boys also powered their way to a runnerup spot.
Pekin girls and Albia boys were the top teams. Pekin girls accumulated 50 points while North Mahaska finished with 32. Albia amassed 222 points on the day while NM had 163 to easily outdistance third place Moravia with 93.
Senior Libby Groom went 3-0 on the day with three pins at 170 pounds. She was able to pin her opponents in the first period of each match. She felled Reagan Vaughn of Cardinal in 1 minute 53 seconds to open the day. In her second round pin took down Cardinal’s Skylar Welch in 1:32 and in. her final match she took just 48 seconds to dispose of Pekin’s Cheryl Wise.
North Mahaska’s Jalayna Shipley had four matches at 125 pounds. She pinned Emma Hopper of Pekin in 3:24 and another Pekin competitor, Lexa Nelson, in 26 seconds. She had a bye in the third round then pinned Chloe Goodman of Cardinal in 28 seconds to reach the finals match. In the finals Layla Ewing of Moravia scored a major decision 10-0.
Eleven North Mahaska boys earned placings at the meet. Ryan Groom at 113 pounds was the lone first place winner while runnerup spots were garnered by Joel DeJong (120), Hunter Wernli (138), Peter Stout (152) and Wyatt Van Weelden (170). Three more took third, two at fourth and a sixth place finisher.
Groom improved his season mark in the finals with a pin of senior Wyatt Stewart of Albia in 4:57. Groom pinned freshman Chariton’s Drew Chandler in the opener in 56 seconds. In the second round, Groom felled senior Jacob Chapman of Chariton in 3:31 to advance to the finals. Stewart was the top seed in the bracket.
In the 120 pound bracket, DeJong pinned Sebastian Shaw in 2:41 and scored a major decision over Cardinal’s Mason Shepherd 14-0 before losing to Conner Pickerell of Albia by fall in 1:50. Hunter Wernli pinned William Kok in 57 seconds and decisioned Albia’s Kael Hutchinson 9-4. In the finals Wernli was pinned by Keeton Ellison of Moravia in 4:57.
Stout pinned Keegan Peden of Cardinal in 45 seconds and added a pin of Davis County’s Dean Bragg in 2:45 to reach the finals. Justin Keller of Albia scored a fall in 53 seconds for 152-pound title. Van Weelden battled for the title at 170. He pinned Brett Plants of Montezuma in 3:02 and followed it up with an 8-3 decision of Brock Lewman of Cardinal. In the finals Pekin’s Logan Baker scored a narrow 10-8 decision.
Dylan Meland at 132 pounds, Gage Reis at 145 and Gage Vande Voort at 285 all placed third. Chance Angle picked up a fourth place at 160 as did Max Reed at 182. Jakob Clark scored a sixth.
Girls Team Scores
Pekin Comm. 50
No. Mahaska 32
Cardinal 26
Moravia 20
Five teams did not score
Boys Team Scores
Albia Comm. 222
No. Mahaska 163
Moravia 93
Van Buren 92
Pekin Comm. 88
Chariton 86
Davis Co. 85
Montezuma 81
Cardinal 63
