Count on Hunter: Maitland ends wrestling career on state podium

DES MOINES – Some of the celebrations from state wrestling are just waiting to be viral social media posts.

That's not Hunter Maitland's style.

The senior on the Aplington-Parkersburg/Grundy Center wrestling team kept a steady hand in his first trip to Des Moines, and it was a hand that got raised enough times to get him to fifth place on the podium in a tough 182-pound draw in Class 2A.

It can be easy to lose your edge when you drop your first match at state like Maitland did to eventual state runner-up Kyler Fisher of Southeast Valley in a 9-3 decision.

Not Hunter, though.

"He's a classic not-too-high, not-too-low kind of guy," A-P/GC head coach Brian Benning said. "You come here wanting to win two before you lose two and when you lose that first one, the heat's on, you're under the gun and the deck's stacked against you. But I think that honestly played to his benefit coming through the backside, being the tough kid he is."

Read more in this week's Eclipse.