by Kinsey Phipps

On Feb. 8, the PCM wrestlers were sent to Centerville for Sectionals. For some of the senior wrestlers, this would be their last time wrestling in a tournament. Thankfully, PCM sent three boys onto Districts, two of them being seniors.
The three wrestlers who were sent on were sophomore Xavier Miller and seniors Tristan Clark and Ron Marshall. Marshall, having the best team score when he got first place in the 170-pound category, scored a total of 24 team points. Next was Clark in the 126-pound weight class; he also place first, but he scored 22 team points. And Miller placed second, scoring 20 team points in the 132-pound weight class.
Miller lost the first place match, forcing him to wrestle a wrestle-back for the second place position. If one wrestler gets third place, but doesn’t beat the second-place finisher, he gets the chance to wrestle back for second place and secure his position in the District tournament. Therefore, Miller had to wrestle one more match at the end of the tournament to make sure he got second place. He was successful, as he pinned his opponent in 5:10.
“I think I did good in my first match, but after that, I felt a little off. Going into my wrestle-back, I just knew there was no option but to win, no matter how I felt,” Miller said.
PCM came in third as a team behind Knoxville and Albia, with a total score of 161 points.
“I was overall pleased with getting three through to Districts. I felt bad for Jaret Maggard coming so close. I am proud of Skyler Koder and Trent Malone as they finished their high school careers,” Head Coach Cory Waddell said. “I’m looking forward to this weekend and seeing if we can get Tristan, Xavier and Ron on to the State tournament.”
Come join the wrestlers for Districts on Saturday, Feb. 14, to see who will advance on to the State wrestling tournament.