Four Johnston wrestlers  placed second at districts Feb 9, advancing them to wrestle at the State Wrestling Tournament on Thursday Feb. 14. Sophomore Henry Pohlmeyer will be competing in the 106 weight class, sophomore Travis Price in the 113 weight class, senior Zack Robinson in the 145 weight class, and senior Logan Walkup in the 160 weight class.

“All four of our qualifiers have put in countless hours on the mat and in the weight room both in and out of the wrestling season in order to get to this point,” wrestling coach Steve Price said. “It is my hope that they are peaking at the right time and have their best performances of the year.”

The first round competitor for Walkup, Dakota Digmann  is a senior at LinMar-Marion. He is ranked seventh in the state for his weight class and has a record of 35-10. Walkup has a record of 30-15. “My competitor is definitely beatable and I’m up for the challenge,” Walkup said.

For Pohlmeyer’s first round, he is wrestling a sophomore from Fort Dodge, Erik Birnbaum, who has a record of 35-6. Pohlmeyer has a record of 33-5. “I’ve already beat him once at the beginning of the season, and I beat him in 11 seconds,” Pohlmeyer said. “He’s a good kid who has gotten better throughout the season, but I know I can beat him again.”

Pohlmeyer and Walkup both have goals to possibly win state. Pohlmeyer is the number two seed in his weight class, while Walkup is the number 10 seed in his weight class.

“I would like to win state,” Walkup said. “It’s definitely my goal, I’ll just work hard to do what I can to make it happen,”

Pohlmeyer’s goal the whole season was to get to state, and now that he has reached it, he can focus on winning. “Hopefully I win the whole thing,” Pohlmeyer said. “I know I can do it, it’s what I’ve worked for this whole season.”