The week of Feb. 8-14 saw high school boys wrestlers from the Ames area compete in district tournaments across the state.
The Ames area had 10 wrestlers qualify for state on Feb. 14. The Ames boys swimming team also competed in the boys state swimming meet on Feb. 14 in Iowa City.
It was also a full week of boys basketball featuring teams from the Ames area. Ames, ranked No. 6 in Class 4A, rolled to a 64-21 win over Ottumwa and 3A No. 1 Ballard blasted Des Moines Hoover (83-47), North Polk (68-35) and Winterset (75-43).
There were several outstanding individual performances by male athletes from the Ames area during the week.
Here are the Ames Tribune male Athlete of the Week nominees for the week of Feb. 8-14. AmesTrib.com readers vote to determine the winner, who will be announced at the end of the week.
Braxtyn Brown, Ames
Brown earned his first trip to the boys state wrestling tournament after placing third at 157 pounds during the 3A District 1 meet in Ankeny on Feb. 14.
Brown went 3-1 during the district meet to take a 32-17 record into state. He pinned Des Moines East’s Alexander Mayorga, defeated Carlisle’s Noah Callies by technical fall (18-3) and earned an 11-2 major decision over Ankeny’s Gavyn Gatewood, with his only loss coming to Linn-Mar’s Conner Wandler by a 4-2 decision in the semifinals.
Easton Enyeart, Ballard
Enyeart, ranked No. 3 at 132 in 2A by IAwrestle.com, claimed a district title for Ballard at the 2A District 1 boys wrestling tournament in Huxley on Feb. 14.
Enyeart went 2-0 during the tournament to take a 32-4 record into state at 132. He defeated Mount Vernon’s Jake Shady by technical fall (19-4) in the semifinals and No. 10 Cam Roberts of Alburnett in the finals by major decision, 13-1.
Caden Latch, Roland-Story
Latch, ranked No. 5 in 2A at 138, claimed a district title at Huxley to punch his ticket to state.
Latch heads to state with a 39-4 record after earning a 12-9 win over Alburnett’s Clayton Strang in the semifinals and then dominating Perry’s Townes Wilson by technical fall (19-2) in the finals.
Mason Wibholm, Gilbert
Wibholm qualified for his first state wrestling tournament by placing second at 157 for Gilbert at the 2A District 6 meet in Independence.
Wibholm earned wins by tech fall and major decision to reach the finals at 157, where he lost by a 7-4 decision to North Fayette Valley’s Brooxton Lundgren. Wibholm bounced back from that loss to win a wrestleback match over Union’s Brock Bergmeier by major decision, 18-10, to punch his ticket to state with a 34-15 record.
Isaac Williams, Nevada
Williams is headed to the IHSAA boys state wrestling tournament for the first time after winning a 2A district title at 175 during the 2A District 2 meet in Van Horne on Feb. 14.
Williams dominated his three matches at Van Horne to take a 32-4 record into state. He pinned Grinnell’s Jonathan Austin-Simpson and Dike-New Hartford’s Bryce Bass to reach the finals, where he scored a 20-2 tech fall over South Tama County’s Marcus Bear.
Joe Randleman covers high school sports for the Ames Tribune. Contact him at jrandleman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JoeRandleman
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Vote for Ames Tribune male Athlete of the Week for Feb. 8-14
