Kuboushek, Cajthaml Wow at State Wrestling

South Winneshiek’s Kyle Kuboushek has taken third place at Boys State Wrestling while NH/TV’s Carter Cajthaml took runner-up to mark a very successful year for both teams at State.

It was an impressive recovery after Kuboushek’s quarterfinal appearance at 165 pitted him against MFL MarMac’s Quinn McGeough with McGeough taking an 8-5 win by decision.

Kuboushek took the loss and fought to stay alive, earning win after win in the Consolation bracket 

Four straight wins would follow as Kuboushek won by 4-0 decision, 7-2 decision, 6-4 decision and then in the third-place match by 16-10 decision as he just would not quit.

“Kyle Kuboushek made his third trip to the State Tournament and this was his best performance yet,” said Coach Jacob Elsbernd. “Kyle went 5-1 on the week and secured a 3rd place medal. Kyle has been one of the top kids at his weight all year and our conversations have always revolved around him being at the top of the podium. He didn’t reach his ultimate goal of being [State] champion, but he was very close and had some unbelievable matches throughout the week.  3  weeks ago, Kyle broke his hand and for him to battle through that [injury] and still wrestle and beat some of the best kids in the state shows how tough of a kid he is.”

Teammate Landen Schnuelle at 175 took a win in the first round with a 1-0 decision over Regina’s Leren Fernandez before a loss by 13-0 major decision next brought him over to the Consolation Bracket. Schnuelle would advance in the Consolation Bracket with a win by major decision 11-0 over AC/GC’s Jackson Pfrang and then by 6-5 decision over Riverside’s A.C. Roller before a loss by major decision 14-3 against Treynor’s Zach Robbins brought an end to his state ambitions.

“Landen Schnuelle made his second consecutive trip to the State Tournament,” said Elsbernd. “Last year he came up short of winning any matches, but this year he wouldn’t be denied and eneef up winning 3 matches. Landen had some incredibly gutsy performances to win some big matches, he was 1 win shy of earning a medal as he got beat out of the tournament in what we call the blood round. I am very proud of how her battled all week and it was exciting for him to win his 100th career match to stay in the bracket!”

Also competing for the Warriors at State was Ray Lienau.

“Ray Lienau made his first trip to the State Tournament and competed very hard but fell short of winning a match. In the first round he met a familiar opponent Donovan Farrell from Denver. Ray had wrestled and lost to him previously this season and came up short in Des Moines as well. In the consolation round Ray met another tough opponent in Carson Edney from Logan Magnolia. What makes this special is the fact that Ray just started the sport of wrestling as a freshman and has made some incredible progress in the last few years.”

For NH/TV, Cajthaml at 132 began with a bye, then saw a win by fall over Okoboji/HMS’s Tyce Hanson and then a win by 10-6 decision over Washington’s Aaron Boone in the quarterfinal before a a win by fall in the semifinal over Humboldt’s Cyler Cirks. His only loss came in the first-place match with a loss by fall against Union’s Jace Hedeman.

Also doing battle at State, Jayden Bucknell at 138 saw a win right way against OABCIG’s Caden Spetman before falling in the second round to Assumption’s Cadyn Wild by 15-4 major decision. Bucknell worked to battle back in the Consolation Bracket with a win by fall against Center Pint-Urbana’s Will Griswold and then a win by tech fall against Perry’s Ben Kusar before a win against Ballard’s Jacob Harrison. Facing Wild again, Cajthaml fell by tech fall to end his run.

Chase Humpal at 165 lost by fall in the first round to Algona’s Carter McGregor before seeing a bye in the first round of the Consolation Bracket and then taking a loss by fall to Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont’s Blake Johnson.