Several Place at Home Meet

William Penn University Athletics

Oskaloosa–A few Statesmen grapplers gave the home crowd a great show Saturday as the program hosted the 3rd Annual William Penn Open.

Five team members placed in the top six, highlighted by bronze finishes from 149-pounder Carey Cloud (Fr., Havelock, N.C., Tucker HS) and 184-pounder Kyle Soderblom (Fr., Newton, Lynnville-Sully HS).

Cloud was making his collegiate debut and impressed with a 3-1 record (all decisions). Unfortunately, his bracket was one person too small for his bronze to make him a national qualifier.

Soderblom lost his opening match, but then reeled off four straight victories (4-1), including three falls and a major decision to place third.

Charlton Benjamin (Fr., Atlanta, Ga., Miller Grove HS) also posted four wins Saturday (4-2) and, in contrast to Cloud’s bad luck, his sixth-place finish garnered him national-qualifying status. He becomes the 11th Statesmen to qualify this year. Benjamin pinned three foes on the day.

141-pounder Tyler Schneider (So., Belleville, Mich., Belleville HS), 157-pounder Ishmael Rempson (Fr., Olympia Fields, Ill., Rich Central HS), and 174-pounder Joe Sumner (So., Delaware, Ohio, Rutherford B. Hayes HS) also had their hands raised on two occasions at the Open.

Rempson placed fourth with a 2-2 record (one fall and one major decision), while Sumner was sixth in his weight class (2-3) with two major decisions. Schneider managed a 2-2 mark with one fall.

Next: The Statesmen travel to Pella next Saturday for the Central Open. Action begins at 9 a.m.