Four Viking wrestlers punch state meet tickets

 UNDERWOOD (Feb. 15) -- Four AHSTW wrestlers will finish their season in Des Moines after placing in the top two of their bracket at Saturday’s Class 1A, District 7 Tournament in Underwood.
 Viking senior Gavyn Fischer won the district title at 195 pounds while senior Jaedan Rasmussen (152) and sophomores Hayden Fischer (120) and Denver Pauley (160) all placed second.
 They will now compete in the 2020 State Wrestling Tournament starting Thursday (Feb. 20) at 6:00 p.m. inside Wells Fargo Arena.
 AHSTW placed second as a team on Saturday, scoring 91 points as seven of its eight district qualifiers won at least one match. Underwood claimed the district title with 141.5 points and led the 13-team field with six state qualifiers and five district champs.
 Gavyn Fischer, ranked seventh in Class 1A, improved to 45-5 with a pair of dominant victories at 195. He pinned his first opponent in 1:07, then won a 12-2 major decision over Treynor’s Corey Coleman.
 Gavyn’s younger brother Hayden Fischer (27-24) has now qualified for state in both of his high school seasons after going 1-1 with a pin. Rasmussen (36-8, ranked 7th) and Pauley (35-8) took the same path to placing second with a first round pin and a championship loss.
 None of the Vikings’ three runners-up were required to compete in a wrestleback match for true second, but three of their teammates lost wrestlebacks and placed third. Seniors Joel Sampson (132), Seth Kiesel (170) and Brady Canada (285) all lost to eventual champions in the first round, pinned their third-place match opponents and lost wrestlebacks by fall or major decision.
 Also competing at the district meet for AHSTW was senior Leland Barr at 220. Barr was pinned twice and placed fourth. He finished the year 25-25.