Contributed photo
(Front, from left) Macklen Meyer, Sawyer Blum, Andrew Smith, Dalton Johnson, Ricky Ryan. (Back, from left) Quinlan O’Connor, Eli Casey, Beckett Curran, and Beckett Meyer.
Local athletes Macklen Meyer, Sawyer Blum, Andrew Smith, Dalton Johnson, Ricky Ryan, Quinlan O’Connor, Eli Casey, Beckett Curran, and Beckett Meyer wrestled recently in the Iowa AAU State Wrestling Championships held at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines on March 1-March 2.
Volunteer Mount Vernon Wrestling club coach Jacob Ryan commented on the state AAU tournament, “We had a good showing at the AAU as our guys grabbed three medals and we had a couple others that were in the hunt,” said Jacob Ryan volunteer Mount Vernon Wrestling Club coach. “All of these guys showed great courage working through the district qualifier a couple weeks ago and then going toe to toe with the top 32 kids in the state. Fourth grader Sawyer Blum, fifth grader Ricky Ryan, and eighth grader Quinlan O’Connor all fought their way to the podium over the weekend. Dalton Johnson (fourth grade) wrestled well, but fell one match short of placing.”
Blum, Ryan, and O’Connor joined a long list of Mount Vernon Wrestling Club medalists over the past 30 seasons. The historical medalist list includes: Billy Thomsen, Matt Kroul (2X), Derrick Alger (2X), Jacob Craig (4X), Dustin Smith, Skylar Smith (3X), Jacob Ryan (2X), George Zacharakis-Jutz (2X), Tyler Craig (2X), Jared Parker, Ryan Cox, Mitchell Jilovec, Nathan Simons, Trey Ryan (3X), Charlie Engelbrecht, Zach Perry, Paul Ryan (2X), Lincoln Holub, Logan O’Connor, Clark Younggreen (5X), Jackson Jaspers (3X), Jase Jaspers (4X), Mikey Ryan (3X), Ethan Wood (2X), Libby Dix (3X), Maddie Plotz, Jackson Hird, Gracie Pinckney, Ricky Ryan (2X), Sawyer Blum, and Quinlan O’Connor.
2025 State AAU Results for Mount Vernon Wrestlers were as follows:
Name Division Class Record (finish)
Dalton Johnson A60 3rd-4th Grade 2-2 (round of 12) Macklen Meyer A75 3rd-4th Grade 1-2 (round of 24) Sawyer Blum A100 3rd-4th Grade 4-2 (Fifth place) Andrew Smith B77 5th-6th Grade 0-2 (round of 32) Beckett Meyer B89 5th-6th Grade 0-2 (round of 32) Ricky Ryan B98 5th-6th Grade 3-3 (Sixth place) Eli Casey C135 7th-8th Grade 2-3 1-2 (round of 24) Quinlan O’Connor C215 7th-8th Grade 2-3 (Sixth place) Beckett Curran C260 7th-8th Grade 0-2 (round of 32)