MAQUOKETA, Iowa Although he was a district champion after Saturday's Class 2A meet in Maquoketa, West Liberty's Bryce Esmoil was more proud of someone else.

"Will (Esmoil) was like a hammer today," Bryce Esmoil said. "Today wasn't really my day but overall it was pretty fun. (Will) and I challenge each other. I'm just really happy for him."

Bryce Esmoil, a junior, punched a ticket to his third straight state tournament by winning the 195-pound division. He will be joined by younger brother and Comets freshman Will Esmoil, who won the 106-pound title.

Will Esmoil won both his matches by fall, taking out Alaina Sunlin from Monticello in the semifinals and then beating Jack Streicher of Mount Vernon.

Joe Kelly will join the Esmoil brothers at state as he claimed the championship at 152 pounds. Kelly won his 40th match of the season by pinning Beckman Catholic's Cody Feldman in 3 minutes, 47 seconds.

Bryce Esmoil said having his brother on the varsity team has helped both wrestlers reach their potential during the season.

"We really push each other," Bryce said. "Sometimes I do better at tournaments than him and then sometimes he does better than me, so it's great to be able to share those experiences."

Behind the three champions and third-place finishes from Talen Dengler (113), Coy Ruess (126), Noah Bierman (132) and Austin Beaver (145), the Comets were able to take second place in the team standings with 98 points.

Davenport Assumption won the meet with 117.5 points.

West Liberty coach Jeff Wiele said he was proud of the state qualifiers and how the rest of the team battled during the tournament.

"Our kids wrestled hard," Wiele said. "We were right there in many of the matches. All the matches were tough. I think Bryce and Will really help each other. They watch each other and try to help each other out. Those three (qualfiers) should make it a lot of fun in the next week."

COLUMBUS QUALIFIES TWO: Columbus Community senior Tucker Morrison won a 170-pound district title at Fairfield on Saturday, his third straight state tournament berth.

He'll be joined in Des Moines starting on Thursday by sophomore teammate Jarod Kadel, who lost a 10-0 major decision to top-ranked Grayson Kesterson of Williamsburg in the final to secure his first state berth.

Morrison, who improved to 45-2 on the season, won by pinfall in his semifinal before beating Solon's Mike Hoyle by major decision, 9-0, to clinch his return to Wells Fargo Arena.

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Prep wrestling roundup: Comets' Esmoil brothers, Kelly clinch state berths - Muscatine Journal