By Savannah Sorensen and Laeni Pelzer

Fueled by home-field advantage and an ecstatic home crowd, five Trojans advanced to the state wrestling tournament this week. Six Trojan wrestlers got the opportunity to wrestle at the district meet held at AHS this last Saturday, with five advancing to state: seniors Dillion Cox, Darrian Schwenke, Tyler Christensen and Jez Phippen; and freshman Carter Cox.  Schwenke and Dillion Cox are both returning state qualifiers and place winners.

Carter Cox won by a fall over Brandon Gross of Kuemper with one second left in the match to advance to the finals. He won his first match with a 5-3 decision over Will Beach of Harlan. Carter was on the three champions for the Trojans. He said, “Being a freshman in the finals and going against a junior was a little nerve racking, but I just had to keep my composure and just wrestle it like any other match. After winning it, it was a little emotional because I was just supposed to be a freshman that was just there but I proved everyone wrong and won it all. Now that I’ve made it to state, I don’t want to stop there. I plan on taking it one match at a time and have fun doing it. Try to show why Atlantic wrestlers are on another level when we wrestle.”

Dillion Cox won by decision over Gisaveri Niyibizi of Perry to advance to the finals. In the finals, he went head-to-head with Clarinda’s ranked senior Blake Luna. Dillion started out strong with a takedown going into the second period, before Luna got an escape. The score was 2-1 going into the third period. Dillion Cox then got an escape, and Luna answered with a takedown to tie the score at three. Cox got an escape and a stalling call, when he was up by one with under 30 seconds to go.  With 15 seconds on the clock, Luna got one last takedown to win the match 5-4.  Dillion Cox said, “I felt good going all the way up until the third period, then I thought I had it in the bag and I let up. And you can never do that. But I’d rather have that mistake now than later.”  Dillion Cox’s second-place finish at districts secures him a spot at the state tournament. He said, “The next four matches are the only ones that are going to matter. Everyone is going to remember how well you performed on the big stage.”

Schwenke won by fall in the first period (0:47) over Ivan Garcia of Perry for a spot in the finals. Schwenke then went on to tech-fall (19-3) Dylan Forkner of Greene County to earn a spot in the state tournament. This will be Schwenke’s third appearance at the Wells-Fargo arena after missing the last portion of the 2013 season with an  injury.

Christensen asserted himself with a win by fall in the first period of his first match on Saturday. Christensen put Seth Gehling of Kuemper on his back at 1:36. With a 5-1 decision over Dallon Bendorf of Harlan in his next match, Christensen came out a champion and earned a spot at the state tournament.

Phippen won by fall over Joe Olvera of Perry, then lost by decision (1-5) to Dakota Calfee of Clarinda. Phippen and Calfee have gone head-to-head all season. Phippen placed second and a earned his first trip to state.

Junior Reid Nichols was the sixth Trojan representing AHS at districts. Nichols lost by decision to Jared Eischeid of Kuemper (6-9), then lost to Harlan’s senior Broghan Kelly (3-6). Nichols, a member of the AHS 100-win club, placed fourth at districts.

The Iowa State Wrestling Tournament will be held in Des Moines on Feb. 20-22.