Dom Ridout

SUMNER — The East Marshall/GMG wrestling team sent four wrestlers into the finals and emerged with one champion from the North Iowa Cedar League Tournament on Saturday at Sumner-Fredericksburg High School.

Second-ranked senior 138-pounder Dom Ridout (36-2) claimed his third NICL championship, cruising through the competition with a 3-0 showing that included two first-period pins and lastly a 12-4 major decision over Keegan Ellsworth of Union Community for the title.

Three other Mustangs advanced to their respective finals: Brody Augspurger (106), Kordell Negrete (145) and Tim Benson (152). Augspurger was pinned in the first period by Union’s second-ranked Jace Hedeman; Negrete lost by fall to Class 1A No. 3 Karter Krapfl of Hudson; and Benson was beaten by decision, 8-4, by No. 3 Hunter Worthen of Union.

East Marshall/GMG’s Garrett Kerber (33-5) was bounced to the back side of the 160-pound bracket by 2A No. 7 Stone Schmitz of Union after a narrow 9-7 loss in sudden victory. Kerber came back to win twice, finishing in third with a 4-3 victory over Kade Pekarek of South Hardin-BCLUW.

Wyatt Benson finished in fourth at 113 for the Mustangs, going 3-2 with two losses by pinfall to Denver’s 11th-ranked Rhett Bonnette.

East Marshall/GMG finished sixth in the 13-team tournament with 121 points, just one point back of host Sumner-Fredericksburg for fifth. Ninth-ranked Union Community came away with 191.5 points and the team title.

South Hardin-BCLUW finished in 13th place with 54 points, only three behind Aplington-Parkersburg/Grundy Center. The Storm were led by fourth-place finishes for Pekarek (160) and Caden Steding (285).

Pekarek (23-5) advanced to the semifinals before falling to 1A No. 1 Maximus Magayna of Waterloo Columbus. Pekarek bounced back with a first-period pin of Denver’s Ethan Krabbenhoft, but lost a 4-3 decision to EM/GMG’s Kerber.

Steding started his day with a first-period pin of Dike-New Hartford/Gladbrook-Reinbeck’s Henry Mussig, but lost in the semifinals to Oelwein’s Christian Stoler by fall. Steding pinned Denver’s Cade Bonnette in the consolation semifinals, but was pinned by AGWSR’s Tate Miller in the third-place match.

Lane Hartwig (138) and Sean May (220) finished in fifth for the Storm.