By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com
Des Moines — It’s probably not where they wanted to end up, but the KILJ-area trio of Dominic Lopez (New London), Quinten Aney (Mediapolis) and Josh Glendening (New London) all found ways to win their final bout and in doing so all will be on the podium later tonight.
Lopez, who suffered a tragic 1-0 TB-1 loss to No. 2 Cael Rahnavardi (Don Bosco) looked like a wrestler on a mission on Saturday.
The terrific Tiger sophomore earned a 12-1 major decision over Jesup’s Jarret Delagardel before pinning Nick Hageman (Beckman Catholic) in the consolation championship to clinch his third place finish.
Lopez finishes his sophomore season with an incredible 59-3 ledger, with his only losses coming to the two men who will meet in the 145-pound State Finals: the aforementioned Rahnavardi and Lisbon’s Robert Avila Jr.
Mediapolis’ Quinten Aney improved on his 8th-place finish one year ago, securing a 5th place medal this year after working over Don Bosco senior Michael McClelland in the 5th place bout.
Aney pushed No. 2 Gable Porter (Underwood) — who is now in the state finals — to the brink in the 132-pound quarters 1-0.
The Mediapolis junior responded from that loss with wins over Bryce Shaha (Mount Ayr), Trey Nelson (Nashua-Plainfield) and McClelland by major decision in the 5th place match.
He wrestled one heck of a tournament and the fine folks of Mediapolis should be proud of their competitor, who’s bringing some hardware back from the state capitol.
New London sophomore Josh Glendening also ended his season with a win, earning a decision victory (4-0) over Lisbon’s Lincoln Holub.
Glendening responded well after losing via to fall to Columbus Catholic’s Maximus Magayna earning a fall win over Trey Hanson (Missouri Valley) before being beaten by Ben Foelske (Denver) moving him to the 7th place match.
All three of them — Lopez, Aney, Glendening — will be on the podium tonight.