Warhawks advance two to district

NASHUA — Both of West Fork district qualifiers reached it in different ways, but the thing that matters is that the duo of Kale Petersen (106) and Levi Janssen (285) are moving on.

Petersen, ranked ninth via IAWrestle.com, lost to second-ranked Garret Rinken of N-P in the sectional final and didn’t have to wrestleback to go to this Saturday’s district meet in Denver.

He had to face Rinken last week in the Top of Iowa Conference final, losing by a major decision. This time, he was pinned in the first period.

“Last week lasted a little longer and I had a little more time to prepare between matches,” Petersen said. “This week, it was so hectic and didn’t have much time to prepare. I was really tired…

“(The game plan is) Better sleep, better practice and just warming up better before my matches."

At 20-4, he’s had a truncated season with a knee injury and transfer rule that kept him out until January.

“I wouldn’t say it (conditioning) was the best,” Petersen said. “It’s getting there.”

Janssen, meanwhile, ran into top-ranked Chet Buss of North Butler-Clarksville in the heavyweight final, losing by fall in 3 minutes, 23 seconds.

“We do (have two moving on), so that’s a great thing,” West Fork head coach Jared Arbegast said. “Levi came back strong against a guy he’s beaten all year, so that’s good.”

Janssen got the opportunity to wrestleback, however, pinning Jacob Titus of Rockford in 1:11 to clinch a sectional runner-up finish.

“Levi has to step up next week,” Arbegast said. “Obviously, with (second-ranked Chandler) Redenius (of West Hancock) and (Chris) Eastman (of Riceville as the other two opponents) I believe the two who made it from the other sectional.

“He’s been working hard in the room and the last month. Obviously, we all know that Chet Buss (of North Butler) is very good. Not to say we can beat him, but it looks like the other three have to duke it out to move on. If he wrestles well, he can do it.”

Arbegast said that he thinks that Petersen has the potential to face Rinken again the next two weekends.

“Kale Petersen ran up against Rinken again today, obviously, he’s a tough opponent, so he has to go back to the drawing board, keep working,” Arbegast said. “Next week (Saturday), I believe we have the Northwood-Kensett and Lake Mills are the two in our cross sectional, the ones who made it. I like those match-ups. We have a good shot of continuing on. It will probably weekend No. 4 of Rinken and Petersen.

“We are going to have a good week of practice, get to next Saturday, and see what we can do.”

The Warhawks finished sixth in the eight-team sectional with 92 points. Nashua-Plainfield and Denver were first and second by the closest of margins (241-240.5) and the two advanced to Class 1A regional duals this week.

West Fork got a third-place finish from Kaden Petersen, Kale’s older brother, who advanced last year while a 106-pound sophomore at Rockford. Petersen won the third-place match by fall, but didn’t get a chance to wrestleback.

Four others finished fifth.

2020 Class 1A District 2 Sectional

Team Scoring

1. Nashua-Plainfield 241; 2. Denver 240.5; 3. North Butler-Clarksville 158; 4. Sumner-Fredericksburg 132; 5. AGWSR 108; 6. West Fork 92; 7. Rockford 33; 8. Tripoli 15.

West Fork results

106— Championship match, Garret Rinken (N-P) pinned Kale Petersen 1:16

113— Fifth place match, Rate Arbegast won by forfeit.

126— Third-place match, Kaden Petersen pinned Brady Wilkinson (S-F) 3:32

145— Fifth-place match, Christian Dixon rec. a bye

152— Fifth-place match, Dakota Lau pinned Ben Puente Moralles (AGWSR) 0:43

160— Fifth-place match, Dawson Testroet (NB-C) pinned Ki Janssen 3:06

170— Fifth-place match, Daniel Alariksson (AGWSR) dec. Carson Nuehring 6-3

195— Fifth-place match, Tristan Halfpop pinned Jared Granzow (AGWSR) 1:01

285— Championship match, Chet Buss (NB-C) pinned Levi Janssen 3:23. Wrestleback, Janssen pinned Jacob Titus (Rock) 1:11.