The Iola Mustangs and Humboldt Cubs distinguished themselves among a field of more than 10 teams with multiple medals at Tuesday’s Iola Middle School Invitational.
While Iola more than held its own in the advanced division of the tournament, Humboldt showed fans will have plenty to look forward to in the beginner’s bracket.
Iola’s Milo Franklin took first overall in the 134-pound advanced division after opening with a pair of first-period pins of Chanute’s Moses Durand, then Burlington’s Wayne Brown before ending the evening with a second-period pin of Chanute’s Sycere Mosley. Jaxson Bernstein of Iola took first in the 236-pound advanced division by winning the first two matches in a best-of-three series against Chanute’s Brodhyei Blackwell. He took the first match with a first-period pin then pinned Blackwell again in the second period.
In beginners’ action, Iola’s Colton Hall, 79 lbs., took first with a pair of consecutive second-period pins of Chanute’s Hunter Hurt and Prairie View’s Kingsey Case. Iola 117-pounder Ruben Scroggins took first after defeating Chanute’s Wylie Thompson by 17-1 tech-fall, then downed Prairie View’s Darion Kellerman with a third-period pin before ending the evening with a 14-0 major decision over Hank Welsh of Anderson County.
At 132 lbs., Humboldt’s Lincoln Gwillim took first after opening with an 8-7 decision over Iola’s Matthew Holding, who later finished third. Gwillim then defeated Burlington’s Dylan Hanson via first-period pin and Prairie View’s Tim Nickell in a 10-8 decision. Holden took third after pinning Hanson in the third period. One weight class higher, Humboldt’s Marcus Whitcomb, 139 lbs., took first after felling Chanute’s Lucas Jones via third-period pin, then won a 11-3 major decision over Prairie View’s Brody Blanchard before sealing the title with a 9-1 decision over Santa Fe Trail’s Donovan Trump.
Nearing the middle weights, Case Schomaker took the 140-pound division after opening with a first-period pin of Prairie View’s Brayden Bowers, then defeated teammate Izaac Cruse, who later took fourth, before ending the evening with a third-period pin of Iola’s Caleb Jankovich-Sette. Jankovich-Sette took second after a pair of second period-pins of Cruse and Bowers.
At 164 lbs., Iola’s Kaiden Jones took first after opening with a first-period pin of Uniontown’s Kevin Billings, then defeated Humboldt’s Kamrin Wooden, who later took second, via first period in before defeating Prairie View’s Zander Schideler via second-period in in the finale. Wooden took second after defeating Schideler via second-period pin then Billings via first period pin. 
Silver medalists
Zaden Mellen, 94 lbs., of Humboldt took second after opening with a third-period pin of Chanute’s Toryn Ellsworth, then won via 12-3 major decision before falling in the finale to Prairie View’s Colden McAvoy in a 9-4 decision. Humboldt’s Jaxson Gillespie, 140 lbs., took second after opening with a second-period pin of Iola’s Ron Ballard, then defeated Chanute’s Carson Allen by 15-5 major decision but fell to Anderson County’s Matthew Price in a third-period pin. Ballard defeated Allen for third place in the finale with a second-period pin.
Following his run to a Tri-Valley League title last week, Humboldt’s Dakota Haigler, 153 lbs., took second after opening with a second-period pin of Anderson County’s Timmy King but fell to eventual champion Michael Johnson of Chanute via first period pin.
Third and fourth place
Advanced bracket: Dusting Findley, 69 lbs., took second after falling to Ehtan Phillips of Burlington via second-period pin. Humboldt’s Orval LeClair, 280 lbs., took second after falling to Santa Fe Trail’s Ryan Strother 5-0, then fell to Strother via first-period pin.
Iola’s Daegan Rodriguez took third in the 197-pound advanced division. He pinned Chanute’s Elijah Parker in the second period of his opener but fell to Uniontown’s Blaine Hathaway via first-period pin before ending the evening with a 7-1 decision loss to Santa Fe Trail’s Caleb Goltz.
Beginners bracket
Jyler Granere and Joshua Emeka, 74 lbs., took third and fourth respectively after losing their first two matches, then Granere defeated Emeka via third-period pin in the finale.
Cieson Kidwell took third after opening with a loss to Prairie View’s Eli Foster via first-period pin, then fell in a 13-10 decision to Prairie View’s Haven Edgman, then fell in a second-period pin to Chanute’s Drake Russell. At 123 lbs., Aaron Wille of Humboldt and Zeth Miller took third and fourth respectively after the pair fell in their first two matches, then Wille defeated Miller via third-period pin for third place.
