EV/TC’s Moore and Pekin’s Lauderman Secure Spots in 2024 State Wrestling Meet

PLEASANTVILLE—On February 10, Pleasantville high school hosted the District #5 Boys' Wrestling Tournament, and the SK, EV/TC and Pekin teams all participated.

Two wrestlers secured bids to the 2024 IHSAA Boys’ State Wrestling Meet: EV/TC’s Luke Moore and Pekin’s Reed Lauderman. 

Moore was the champion of the 215 bracket with a 1-0 decision win over Quityn Rocha of West Branch in the championship match. His only other match was a semifinal pin over North Mahska’s Chance Angle via pin in 2:31 because Moore earned the second overall seed with a regular season record of 24-9 ,and a first round bye.

When asked about his mentality heading into the match, Moore responded with, “Just go out there and wrestle smart and hard. Whatever happens, happens. Just wrestle like I always do.”

Heading into the championship bout, Moore described what he was focusing on as, “Head, hands and feet. Focus on defense. Don’t give up any stupid points. Don’t get onto my back. Wrestle smart and stay out of stupid stuff.”

The pinnacle of the day for Moore was the championship match against Quintyn Rocha of West Liberty. Moore secured the first, and only points, of the match in the second round with a reversal. Despite a stalling call in the second round, Moore was unblemished the rest of the match. Moore spoke on the mentality he had throughout those two periods with, “I was just mainly trying to stay calm. An escape doesn’t hurt me, my stalling point doesn’t really hurt me, it just goes to overtime and just needs a takedown for the win. Just mainly staying calm, and keeping him down the right amount.” 

Moore described the emotions after getting the 1-0 decision victory, and the bid to the state meet, with, “A lot of credit to Coach Edmunson, both of them actually, and all the hard work we put into making this happen.”

Lastly, when asked about any goals for the upcoming state meet, Moore responded with, “Same as districts. Just go in and wrestle smart. Whatever happens, happens. Just go wrestle.”

Pekin’s Reed Lauderman started his day off with back to back pins to secure his spot in the championship match. Those two matches lasted an average time of 50.5 seconds to pin.

“Just go do your job, and let the chips fall where they may. Just wrestle as hard as I can, and see what happens,” described Lauderman on his mentality heading into the championship match.

Despite the loss in the championship, Lauderman bounced back and won the second place match of Pleasantville’s Tanner Booth by a 6-1 decision. He spoke on the emotions of securing his bid to the state meet with, “I was just excited, but I knew once I get to state, I have another job to do. So, I am ready to go.”

Lastly, Lauderman’s goals for the state meet were described as, “Just wrestle as hard as I can, and have fun. Enjoy the experience.”

For the SK wrestling team, they were unable to send an athlete to the state meet. Brady Clark (138) and Jake Moore (157) were close, but were unable to secure wins in the second place match. 

The 2024 IHSAA Boys’ State Wrestling Tournament will commence on February 13 at the Well Fargo Center in Des Moines. 

EV/TC’s Luke Moore, ranked 19 in the tournament, will face off against Nashua Plainfield’s Aiden Sullivan (33-8), who holds the 14 seed.

Pekin’s Reed Lauderman was ranked 20 in the 106 bracket, and will face the 13 seed in Earlham’s Max Millage (34-8).