West Branch wrestled its way to a second straight fifth-place finish at the Eastern Iowa Hawkeye Conference Tournament on Saturday in Tipton.


Seven of the nine Bears who competed earned a fourth-place finish or better, and sophomore Kyle Kober was crowned conference champion at 275 pounds.

Mount Vernon won the team title for the fourth straight year, edging Wilton by two points. Williamsburg and Tipton rounded out the Top 4.

Kober, whose record stands at 32-1, dominated his competition at the EIHC, pinning three opponents on his way to his first conference title. He pinned Iowa City Regina’s Adam Fuller in 2:50 and Wilton’s Adam Greenwald in 1:31 before pinning Solon’s August Hadenfeldt in the championship match.

Kober had lost to Solon’s Adam Hadenfeldt in the 275-pound title match last year.

Senior Brad Exline (30-7) came within an overtime period of an EIHC title at 125, placing second. Wilton’s Tigue Snider needed the extra frame to defeat Exline, 8-6. Exline had pinned Mid-Prairie’s Ryan Merck and won a major decision over Mount Vernon’s Adam Hale in the early rounds.

Freshman Matt Smith (27-11) also fell to a Wilton wrestler in his title match at 103 pounds, placing second to the Beavers’ Kyle Paulson. Smith pinned I.C. Regina’s Nick Eickelshulte and was a technical fall winner over Williamsburg’s Paul Huinker.

West Branch’s Dustin Fobian (14-11), at 215, Tyler Bailey (27-8), at 189, and Dexter White (32-9), at 140, all worked their way back through the consolation bracket to finish third on Saturday. Cory Depoorter (24-11), at 152 pounds, placed fourth.

Last Wednesday, the Bears dropped a pairi of dual meets to West Liberty and Mount Vernon at West Liberty. The Mustangs squeaked by the Bears, 42-36. Of the matches that were actually wrestled, West Branch won seven and Mount Vernon won two. The Mustangs picked up five victories by forfeit.

The Bears fell to the Comets, 37-25.

West Branch will travel to Midland-Wyoming on Saturday, Feb. 10 for the Sectional meet. Kober, who is ranked third in the state at heavyweight, will be heavily favored to advance to districts, which are Feb. 17 in Tipton. Bears Coach Shawn Voigt has said that seven or eight of his wrestlers have a very good shot at making districts.



EIHC Tournament

Saturday, Feb. 3 at Tipton

Team results: 1. Mount Vernon 180.5; 2. Wilton 178.5; 3. Williamsburg 148; 4. Tipton 129; 5. West Branch 124.5; 6. Solon 116.5; 7. Durant 97; 8. West Liberty 71; 9. Mid-Prairie 65; 10. I.C. Regina 63; 11. Clear Creek Amana 32.

West Branch individual results:

103—Matt Smith, 2nd. Smith pinned Nick Eickelshulte (ICR), :46; Smith won by tech. fall over Paul Huinker (WBG), 2:25; Kyle Paulson (WIL) pinned Smith, 1:38.

112—OPEN

119—OPEN

125—Brad Exline, 2nd. Exline pinned Ryan Merck (MP), 3:27; Exline won by maj. dec. over Adam Hale (MV), 14-3; Tigue Snider (WIL) won by dec. over Exline in OT, 8-6.

130—OPEN

135—Jayson Madsen, DNP.

140—Dexter White, 3rd. White pinned Ryan Hartman (TIP), 1:59; Nick Campbell (WL) won by maj. dec. over White, 10-1; White won by dec. over Matt Winder (MV), 11-5; White won by dec. over Jake Masterson (WBG), 5-3.

145—J.J. Wombacher, DNP.

152—Cory Depoorter, 4th. Depoorter pinned Tyler Thompson (WIL), 4:28; Clint Grantham (SOL) won by dec. over Depoorter, 8-3; Depoorter won by dec. over Dan Cunningham (DUR), 13-6; David Pope (WBG) won by dec. over Depoorter, 6-3.

160—OPEN

171—OPEN

189—Tyler Bailey, 3rd. Bailey pinned Ben Skelley (WIL), :31; Joe Boone (MP) won by dec. over Bailey, 7-4; Bailey pinned James Morris (SOL), 4:31; Bailey pinned Ben Vozenilek (MV), 2:54.

215—Dustin Fobian, 3rd. Fobian won by dec. over Tommy Mosher (WIL), 6-2; Jon Thuerauf (MV) pinned Fobian, 1:49; Fobian won by forfeit over Justin Brown (SOL); Fobian won by dec. over Kurtis Crawford (WL), 5-3.

275—Kyle Kober, 1st. Kober pinned Adam Fuller (ICR), 2:50; Kober pinned Adam Grunewald (WIL), 1:31; Kober pinned August Hadenfeldt (SOL).



Mount Vernon 42, West Branch 36

Wednesday, Jan. 31 at West Liberty

189—Tyler Bailey (WB) pinned Ben Vozenilek, 2:57; 215—Jon Thuerauf (MV) pinned Mitch Slocum, 1:26; HWT—Kyle Kober (WB) pinned Kevin Wolter, 1:50; 103—Matt Smith (WB) pinned Ryan Binsfield, 1:46; 112—Zeb Light (MV) won by forfeit; 119—Devon Gonzales (MV) won by forfeit; 125—Brad Exline (WB) won by maj. dec. over Adam Hale, 12-1; 130—Eyasu Russell (MV) pinned Loren Hemingway, 1:45; 135—David Zacharakis-Jutz (MV) won by forfeit; 140—Dexter White (WB) won by dec. over Matt Winder, 9-5; 145—J.J. Wombacher (WB) pinned Rob Penn, 5:04; 152—Cory Depoorter (WB) won by tech. fall over Nick Young, 16-1; 160—Jacob Ryan (MV) won by forfeit; 171—George Zacharakis-Jutz (MV) won by forfeit.



West Liberty 37, West Branch 25

Wednesday, Jan. 31 at West Liberty

215—Kurtis Crawford (WL) pinned Mitch Slocum, 1:00; HWT—Kyle Kober (WB) won by maj. dec. over Marion Sagastume, 8-0; 103—Matt Smith (WB) pinned Derek Kline, :51; 112—OPEN; 119—WL won by forfeit; 125—Brad Exline (WB) won by forfeit; 130—Joey Nguyen (WL) won by maj. dec. over Loren Hemingway, 13-2; 135—OPEN; 140—Joshua Marin (WL) won by dec. over Dexter White, 3-2; 145—Nathan Smith (WL) pinned J.J. Wombacher, 4:54; 152—Cory Depoorter (WB) pinned Jonny Martin; 160—Tomas Lira (WL) won by forfeit; 171—Aaron Campbell (WL) won by forfeit; 189—Tyler Bailey (WB) won by dec. over Lenny Larson, 4-0.