Arrendell and Smith will represent Pella at State

By Perry Bell

A.J. Arrendell (189) and Brent Smith (140) each have extended the wrestling season at Pella High.

The two Pella seniors each earned a trip to the State Meet in Des Moines.

Smith moved up a weight and competed at 140 pounds. He won his weight class with three wins Saturday at the Class 3A District Meet in Knoxville.

Likewise, Arrendell will move on to Des Moines after finishing in second place at 189 pounds.

Arrendell won two of his three matches Saturday.

Both Pella wrestlers were somewhat under the radar when it came to health.

Smith reported having a bad cold that he has been fighting, while Arrendell wasn’t sure if it was a cold or flu symptoms that kept him from having the normal energy level he is use to.

“I was very pleased with the outcome of the District Tournament,” commented Pella High Wrestling Coach Joe Burch. “We lost a lot of tough first round matches, but our guys battled back and got some wins on the backside. I was very proud of the two state qualifiers AJ and Brent for their effort and hard work. Their efforts in the off season have begun to pay off and we are ready to make some noise at state.”

Smith won in the finals with an 11-9 decision over Zach Cooper, of Des Moines Lincoln.

“I’m excited about this year,” Smith said after improving his season mark to 32-4 overall.

He added, “This means a lot that A.J. and I get to go to state together. The last time I qualified for state was as a freshman.”

Arrendell lost in the finals 10-0 to Brandon Abernathy of Indianola. Arrendell takes a mark of 29-4 into Wells Fargo Arena.

“My goal is to take out as many guys as possible at state,” Arrendell said. He finished 5th at state at 171 pounds a year ago.

“I need to continue working on conditioning. I’ve been drilling a lot with Coach Burch and that helps a lot,” Arrendell said.

Class 3A District Wrestling - Team Scoring - 1. Indinaola 247.5, 2. S.E. Polk 219.5, 3. Norwalk159, 4. Oskaloosa 124.5, 5. Knoxville 96.5, 6. Ottumwa 90, 7. Des Moines Lincoln 83.5, 8. Pella 71.

Pella High Individual Results

103: David Wiley (6th Place)

-Lost vs. Jay Fresh - Knoxville by fall in 1:21

-Won vs. Dalton Burnstedt of Ottuma 13-10

-Lost vs. Anthony Treager of Des Moines Lincoln 2-4.

112: Kyle Langstraat (5th Place)

-Lost vs. Jacob Howard of Indianola by tech fall 0-16

-Won vs. Dominic Rizzuti of Des Moines Lincoln by pin in 5:03

119: Austin LaFollette (DNP)

-Lost vs. Karsten Van Velsor of Ottumwa by fall in 1:55

-Lost vs. Caleb Hoferman of LIncoln - by tech fall 6-22

125: Christian Stafford (DNP)

-Lost vs. Wade Edgington of Indianola by fall in 0:40

-Lost vs. Cody Baker of Knoxville by fall in 3:32

130: Open

135: Josh Ravestein (5th Place)

-Lost vs. Connor Humphrey of Indianola 2-10

-Won vs. Bret Carter of Knoxville by pin in 1:59

-Won vs. Justin Powell of LIncoln - 13-5

140: Brent Smith (1st Place)

-Won vs. Jose Rodriguez of Ottumwa by pin in 0:31

-Won vs. Aaron Crossett of Knoxville 12-2

-Won vs. Zach Cooper of Lincoln - 11-9

145: Zakk Belloma (6th place)

-Lost vs. Brett Sams of Oskaloosa by fall in 0:17

-Won vs. Luke Oberbroeckling of Knoxville 8-6

-Lost vs. Zach Vasey of Lincoln 6-12

152: Jesse Blauw (6th Place)

-Lost vs. Colton Spaur of Knoxville 2-14

-Won vs. Jacob Brouillette of Lincoln by pin in 3:52

-Lost vs. Ryan Smithhart Oskaloosa by tech fall 1-17

160: Open

171: Open

189: AJ Arrendell (2nd place)

-Won vs. Jake Sears of Knoxville by pin in 0:29

-Won vs. Joe Bell of SE Polk 15-10

-Lost vs. Brandon Abernathy of Indianola 0-10

215: Wes Hoksbergen (DNP)

-Lost sv. Kyle O’Mara of Indianola by fall in 1:38

-Lost vs. Hunter Reid of Norwalk by fall in 4:26

HWT: Open

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