EV/TC’s Moore and Pekin’s Lauderman Make Trip to State

DES MOINES—On February 14, the IHSAA 2024 Boys’ State Wrestling Tournament was held at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. Pekin’s Reed Lauderman (106) and EV/TC’s Luke Moore (215) made the trip as individuals.

Lauderman and Moore were asked about the emotions of walking out on the mat for the first time at the Wells Fargo Arena. 

Lauderman described it with, "It was exciting. It was a first-time experience, but it was a great first experience."

Moore spoke of his emotions with, "I was pretty nervous going in. It was a mess. Everyone is running around trying to find their matches. Everybody is screaming and cheering, it's pretty loud. Just nervous at first, but I got used to it."

EV/TC’s Luke Moore fell in the first round to Nashua-Plainfield’s Aiden Sullivan, and received a bye in the first round of the consolation bracket.

In the second round of the consolation bracket, Moore secured a 10-2 major decision victory over Hinton’s Bode Binneboese. 

The senior spoke on getting the victory in the state meet with, , "It felt pretty good. I knew I could do it. I just had to go through with it, and just go win a match. It felt pretty good to win a match up at the state tournament."

He then lost a tight contested match against AGWSR’s Aiden Heitland by a 4-2 final decision.

Moore described his experience at the state meet as, "It was pretty fun. I really think everyone needs to go enjoy it. If you really want to get there, you have to get there. It's a lot of fun. Everyone can be nervous as much as they want, but after a while you get used to it and it is really fun."

In his first round matchup, Lauderman was pinned by Earlham’s Max Millage. He also received a bye in the first round of the consolation bracket.

In the second round of the consolation bracket, Lauderman was unable to get past Riverside, Oakland’s Kingston Carrigan. 

Lauderman spoke on the experience with, "Just have fun and enjoy it while I can. I was there to do a job, even though I couldn't get it done, I had fun."

While it is only his sophomore year, Lauderman has hopes to be back. "Make it back and do better at state. Place at state, and be on that podium," explained Lauderman about his goals for next year.