Amare Chavez locks up CP-U’s Teegan Fuessley in the opening round of the WaMaC Tournament in Solon last Saturday. Chavez was the runner up in the 120-pound class with a 5-4 win over seventh-ranked Kale Wieland of Independence and a 6-1 decision loss to Carson Less of West Delaware in the finals. – Photo by Darvin Graham

The South Tama County wrestling team finished in the center of the WaMaC Conference Tournament on Saturday, placing seventh out of 13 teams with 110 points.

Class 2A’s top-ranked West Delaware Hawks dominated the field for 278 points and first place. Independence finished second (236.5), and Mount Vernon came in third (177).

South Tama advanced three wrestlers to their respective finals but were unable to emerge with a champion. Amare Chavez (120 pounds), Logan Arp (138) and Gavin Bridgewater (220) all reached their title bouts, but were each turned away by ranked opponents.

Chavez (30-6), ranked 11th, advanced through the semifinals with a 5-4 decision over No. 7 Kale Wieland of Independence, but he lost a 6-1 outcome against No. 3 Carson Less of West Delaware in the finals.

Third-ranked Arp (36-2) downed No. 10 Carter Straw of Independence in the semifinals 5-4, but fifth-ranked Brent Yonkovic of West Delaware handed Arp a 7-2 defeat in the title bout.

South Tama’s Logan Arp waits for instruction from the referee before taking his position against Clear Creek-Amana’s Max Carlson in his opening round bout at 138 pounds. Arp got a swift pin over Carlson and followed that by a 5-4 decision win over Carter Straw of Independence in the semifinals. However it was upstart freshman Brent Yonkovic that upended the third-ranked Trojan’s title run with a 7-2 upset decision win in the finals. – Photo by Darvin Graham

Bridgewater (34-5) marched into the 220 finals with a pin and a major decision before coming up short against top-ranked Clark Younggreen of Mount Vernon by a 7-5 decision.

Sixth-ranked Boden Koehler of STC went 3-2 at 170 with two losses to ranked opponents, one of which he later avenged in the fifth-place match. Koehler (33-7), who lost to Mitch Johnson of Independence by fall in the quarterfinals, pinned Johnson in 47 seconds of their placewinner contest.

Rudy Papakee (195) also placed fifth at 195, going 3-2 and finishing with a 9-4 decision over Curtis Erickson of Vinton-Shellsburg in the medal round.

In WaMaC girls wrestling action, South Tama sophomore Maeley Elsbury brought home a conference title in the 132-pound class with pins against Rachel Bane of Vinton-Shellsburg and Olivia Bonnema of Solon.

STC will head up the road to Grinnell on Saturday for the 2A Sectional tournament where they will meet up with five other teams including Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont, East Marshall/GMG, Grinnell, Oskaloosa and West Marshall.

Maeley Elsbury settles in moments before securing the fall against Vinton-Shellsburg’s Rachel Bane during the WaMaC Girls Conference Tournament on Jan. 29. Elsbury came away the champion out of the 132-pound class. – Photo by Darvin Graham