Throughout the winter, the Pleasant Valley Spartans wrestling team has had a season to remember that was led by a strong senior class.
On Feb 11, the Spartans traveled to North Scott High School for the individual district qualifier to make it to state. The team sent 10 wrestlers to state, a school record, and topped the other seven schools in team points to bring home the district championship.
It was a successful and exciting way to start off the postseason. Senior Holden Willett, an essential member of the team, was excited after seeing the team’s amazing results from the tournament. “It was a good feeling to pull out the win at a tournament like this,” he said. “It was even better to watch my fellow teammates and practice partner make it to state as well.”
The Spartans departed for the state competition in Des Moines on Feb. 15 and had the first round of wrestling that night. The wrestling continued up until Feb 18 with placement rounds and the state finals.
Out of the 10 Spartans that made it to state, 4 of them made it on the podium. Joey VanWetzinga placed 7th, Rusty VanWetzinga placed 5th, and Duncan Harn placed 6th, with senior Caden McDermott finishing on top with gold. In addition, the team finished 13th overall in the 3A class.
With many of the varsity wrestlers graduating, the Spartans will look for new leadership headed into the next season. Sophomore Duncan Harn comments on the loss of the senior wrestlers. “It sucks to see the seniors leave,” he said. “They were a big part of our team, but more importantly they brought a lot of fun into the room.”
After the successful weekend, the Spartans headed home and took it all in. “It is definitely something that I am going to miss,” says Willett. “We complained about it all the time, but now I don’t want it to be done.”
The season is now officially over and the Spartans ended their season with a couple impressive accomplishments to remember. They had multiple 100-win wrestlers, beat North Scott for the first time in 5+ years, won a district championship and sent a record 10 wrestlers to state. It was a successful season for all of the team’s wrestlers to remember.
