Culture Creates a Three-peat

The West Delaware wrestling team takes on state

Janette Voss

West Delaware advanced to the class 2A State Dual Tournament with a 74-0 win over South Tama on Feb. 9.

Carlee Smith, Staff

The West Delaware wrestling team earned the class 2A team title for the third consecutive year in addition to sending 11 qualifiers to the individual tournament in Des Moines.

The team tournament started with a 70-6 win over Sergeant Bluff-Luton in the quarterfinals, a 61-12 triumph over Independence in the semifinals and a 49-21 victory over Crestwood in the finals.

The Hawks finished the individual tournament with 11 wrestlers placing. Two wrestlers earned a state individual title: senior Carson Petlon at heavyweight and junior Wyatt Voelker at 195 pounds. The remaining wrestlers also earned a podium position: 152-pound Jadyn Peyton (3rd), 182-pound Cael Meyer (4th), 132-pound Reily Dolan (5th), 170-pound Jared Voss (5th), 113-pound Carson Less (6th), 126-pound Blake Engel (7th), 145-pound Logan Peyton (7th), 106-pound Brayden Maury (8th) and 138-pound Staveley Maury (8th).

Petlon believes that West Delaware’s success these past few years had a lot to do with team chemistry.

“We had a lot of kids go out, and a lot of them stuck through it,” Petlon said. “The team aspect was great with just all the different grades bonding together, so the team bonding and relationship was a lot stronger this year than in the past.” 

According to Coach Jeff Voss, many contributions added to the success of this year’s squad.

“Winning the state duals for three years in a row reinforces that the culture we have in our room is promoting improvement and holding each other accountable to a high standard of improvement,” Voss said. “I love the state duals because it is a total team effort. The effort has to come in the practice room from every wrestler on our team so they can make each other better.”