MINERAL POINT  — Five Iowa–Grant Panthers wrestled at Saturday’s WIAA Division 3 Mineral Point Sectional.
All five are moving on to this weekend’s WIAA individual state tournament.
Senior Sawyer Sarbacker, juniors Max Maylor and Brady Peat, and sophomore Drew Hennessey all won individual sectional titles to earn first-round byes when the D3 state tournament begins Thursday night at the Kohl Center in Madison.

Junior Clayton Kite earned his first trip to state with a third-place finish at 145 pounds.

The Panthers finished second as a team at sectionals with 104.5 points. Fennimore, which crowned five champions and had 10 state qualifiers won the sectional title with 179.5 points.

“To have four sectional champs was pretty special for our program and sending five guys to this sectional and getting all five to state was pretty awesome too,” said Panthers’ head coach Ryan Allen. “It really shows how dedicated these guys have been to working hard and improving every time they wrestle. I really think we can place all five guys in Madison. It’s a win or die type of playing field up there and you have to take it one match at a time, but I think the way we have been wrestling we can get it done. It will be a very exciting weekend for Iowa–Grant/H wrestling.”

Sarbacker (43–1) had little trouble had little trouble earning his third straight trip to state. The Iowa–Grant senior pinned Waterloo’s Brandon Springer in the opening round, then scored a 15–0 technical fall over New Lisbon’s Jacob Rogers before winning a dominating 15–2 major decision over Fennimore freshman Aiden Nutter in the 120-pound final. It was Sarbacker’s third victory over Nutter in as many weeks. Sarbacker lost his first-round match at 113 at last year’s state tournament and did not place.

Maylor (43–1), who also has just one loss all season, earned his third straight trip to state with a 12–2 major decision over New Lisbon’s Gunnar Pedersen, then scored back-to-back pins to win the 152-pound sectional title. The Highland junior pinned Brookwood’s Joey Perrigo in just 59 seconds in the finals. Maylor lost his opening round match at state at 132 and did not place. He finished sixth at state at 126 as a freshman.

Peat (40–6) dominated his sectional competition with three straight pins, including two in less than 30 seconds, to win the 170 pound title and earn his second consecutive trip to state. The Iowa–Grant junior recorded a 27-second pin of Darlington/Black Hawk’s Tyler Mosely in the 170-pound champion match. Peat placed fifth at state at 160 pounds last year.

Hennessey (34–9), who finished second at 170 pounds at state a year ago as a freshman, was equally as dominant on Saturday with three straight pins to win the 195-pound sectional title. He pinned Lancaster’s Troy Klein in just 41 seconds in the finals.

Kite (33–12) earned his first trip to state by battling through the consolation bracket. After a semifinal loss to Ben DeWitt (38–5), Kite scored a 15–9 decision over Parkview’s Byron Brown in the consolation semifinals, then notched a 12–2 major decision over Marshall’s Dylan Horstmeyer to finish third at 145 pounds.
Kite will begin the state tournament with a first-round matchup against Ladysmith senior Steven Jerry (29–5) in Thursday’s 7:15 p.m. session.

The other four Panthers earned first-round byes by virtue of their sectional titles and will first take to the mat during Friday morning’s quarterfinal session, that begins at 11:15 a.m.

WIAA Division 3 Mineral Point Sectional
(from Saturday, Feb. 18 @ Mineral Point)
Top 10 team scores — 1.Fennimore 179.5, 2.Iowa–Grant/Highland 104.5, 3.Marshall 65, 4.Riverdale 58.5, 5.Darlington/Black Hawk 53.5, 6.Westby 51.5, 7.Mineral Point 51, 8.New Libson 38, 9.Deerfield 33, 10.Lancaster 32.5
Iowa–Grant sectional qualifiers
120 — Sawyer Sarbacker (43-1) placed 1st and scored 22.50 team points.
Quarterfinal - Sawyer Sarbacker (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 43-1 won by fall over Brandon Springer (Waterloo) 27-15 (Fall 0:19)
Semifinal - Sawyer Sarbacker (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 43-1 won by tech fall over Jacob Rogers (New Lisbon) 32-6 (TF-1.5 4:54 (15-0)
1st Place Match - Sawyer Sarbacker (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 43-1 won by major decision over Aidan Nutter (Fennimore) 36-11 (MD 15-2)
145 — Clayton Kite (33-12) placed 3rd and scored 11.00 team points.
Quarterfinal - Clayton Kite (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 33-12 won by decision over Ty Costello (Cashton) 21-14 (Dec 8-2)
Semifinal - Ben DeWitt (Brookwood) 38-5 won by fall over Clayton Kite (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 33-12 (Fall 3:24)
Cons. Semi - Clayton Kite (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 33-12 won by decision over Byron Brown (Parkview) 28-14 (Dec 15-9)
3rd Place Match - Clayton Kite (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 33-12 won by major decision over Dylan Horstmeyer (Marshall) 35-14 (MD 12-2)
2nd Place Match - Ben DeWitt (Brookwood) 38-5 won by rule over Clayton Kite (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 33-12 (RULE)
152 — Max Maylor (43-1) placed 1st and scored 23.00 team points.
Quarterfinal - Max Maylor (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 43-1 won by major decision over Gunnar Pedersen (New Lisbon) 32-12 (MD 12-2)
Semifinal - Max Maylor (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 43-1 won by fall over Logan Scoville (De Soto) 25-10 (Fall 2:53)
1st Place Match - Max Maylor (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 43-1 won by fall over Joey Perrigo (Brookwood) 34-9 (Fall 0:59)
170 — Brady Peat (40-6) placed 1st and scored 24.00 team points.
Quarterfinal - Brady Peat (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 40-6 won by fall over Justin Erdman (Westby) 19-24 (Fall 0:25)
Semifinal - Brady Peat (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 40-6 won by fall over Walt Easley (Marshall) 37-14 (Fall 4:49)
1st Place Match - Brady Peat (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 40-6 won by fall over Tyler Mosely (Darlington/Black Hawk) 24-18 (Fall 0:27)
182 — Drew Hennessey (34-9) placed 1st and scored 24.00 team points.
Quarterfinal - Drew Hennessey (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 34-9 won by fall over Cade Netteshiem (Ithaca/Weston) 23-11 (Fall 3:42)
Semifinal - Drew Hennessey (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 34-9 won by fall over Peter Riley (Aquinas) 13-14 (Fall 1:02)
1st Place Match - Drew Hennessey (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 34-9 won by fall over Troy Klein (Lancaster) 25-17 (Fall 0:41)