Mt. Pleasant, IA- The Mt. Pleasant Youth Wrestling Club saw nine wrestlers place at state over the course of the last two weeks and here’s a recap of their success.
At the end of February, district champions Levi Evans, Jaxton Kremer, and district runner-up Aven Beauchamp earned the right to wrestler at the AAU grade school state championships at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.
Kremer would advance all the way to the semifinals before finishing in 8th place at the 180-pound weight class.
Early March saw ten wrestlers compete at the Super Pee Wee state championships, where 1,500 kindergarteners through second graders attended to wrestle, and seven Mt. Pleasant girls competed at the Iowa AAU girls’ state championships.
On March 2nd for the Super Pee Wee state championships, Kamden Ettinger grabbed 7th place in the kindergarten 55-pound weight class and Braxton Hamilton earned 8th place in the kindergarten 60-pound weight class. Joseph Howard, Cooper Mason, and Greyson Beelman were also state qualifiers.
On March 3rd, Jayden Maher, Kolton Kruger, Karter Ettinger, Kenai Mason, and Liam Grandinetti also participated in the Super Pee Wee state tournament with Ettinger finishing in 8th place in the second grade 68-pound weight class.
At the Iowa AAU girls’ state tournament, Bianca Russo placed in 8th as Josyln Swinscoe and Klara Shelby each finished in 5th place. Milli Norton grabbed 3rd place and Cece Aranda earned 2nd place. Angela Reyna and Karli Swinscoe were state qualifiers.
Nick Ettinger, the head coach of the Mt. Pleasant Youth Wrestling Club, thanked all of the wrestlers, parents, coaches, and community members who supported the team as he discussed how resilient his team was.
“I couldn’t be more proud of this team! These kids showed a lot of heart this entire season and the results show how great they are. Our ability to face adversity in tough matches was one of the biggest factors of our success and I attribute that to the grit of our athletes.”
There’s plenty of reasons to be excited about the future of the program as TrackWrestling currently has the Mt. Pleasant Youth Wrestling Club ranked 23rd in the nation for distinguished club rankings.