By Becky Walz,
After finishing second in the team standings last year, the MFL MarMac wrestling team has risen back to the top of the Upper Iowa Conference. The Bulldogs bested the field with 234 points, while South Winn was runner-up with 219 points. The 2020 champion, North Fayette Valley, finished with 153 in third place with Postville taking fourth with 119.5 points.
Bulldog champs
In all, MFL MarMac had seven wrestlers in the finals, with four earning titles.
Winning the first title for the Bulldogs at 120 pounds was Holden Mathis, winning by fall over Daniel Royer of Central in the semifinals in 1:54 and a 7-4 decision over Nick Kock of NFV in the championship bout.
Two falls at 138 pounds, gave Class 1A No. 9 Karter Decker the individual crown. Decker pinned Chance Adam of SW in 1:07 and followed it up with 1:19 throw of NFV’s Jesse Grimes.
Kashton Mathis improved to a 35-6 record with a title at 145 pounds. Mathis won by fall over SW’s Toby Conway in 1:40, then posted a 9-6 decision over Alex Streif of NFV. In round three, he threw Postville’s Alan Millin in 2:49.
Now holding a 37-1 season record, Class 1A No. 4 Gabe McGeough (160) picked up a title for the Bulldogs, tossing Sean Wilwert of Central in 15 seconds semifinal and Lane Quandahl in 38 seconds in the final.
Scoring second-place finishes for MFL MarMac were Konnor Barat-Klimesh (113), Andrew Heins (126) and Class 1A No. 6 Jacob Trudo (285).
SW runners-up
Two Warriors stood atop the podium including Ethan Maldonado, Logan Hageman and Damon Meyer.
At 126 pounds, Maldonado utilized a bye in the quarterfinal to advance to face Caden Kerr of NFV, throwing him in 2:55. The final pitted the SW junior against MFL MarMac’s Andrew Heins, where Maldonado earned a 7-5 win for his third conference title.
Picking up a bye and two falls earned junior Logan Hageman the 170-pound title. Hageman’s first fall in the semifinals came in 3:14 over Austin Schlee of MFL MarMac. It took him 2:16 to put Central’s Nate Shirbroun on his back in the finals.
Class 1A No. 4 Damon Meyer earned his second conference title with a pair of falls in the semifinal and final matches. The senior threw Postville’s Dorian Gutierrez in 3:38 during the semifinals to match up with Class 1A No. 9 Mitchel Marr of Riceville in the championship bout. There Meyer put Marr on his back in 5:21 for the 220-pound title.
Also in the finals for South Winn were Aiden Feickert (106), Zach Taylor (152), Lane Quandahl (160) and Tony Greve (195).
“It is a little disappointing to come up short on winning the conference team title, but I thought overall we wrestled really well. Having the lead going into the final round was pretty exciting for our team and everyone was wrestling hard and trying to do their part,” said SW Coach Jacob Elsbernd. “We knew it would be difficult to hold off MFL and hats off to them for finishing off with a great final round to get the championship. We had half of our team in the finals and the majority of them in the top three, that shows the consistency that we have up and down our lineup this year. I think we have been pretty focused lately and we had some really good practices in the later part of the week.”
TigerHawks third
North Fayette Valley crowned one champion and had five other grapplers in the finals to earn runner-up.
Jackson Blue was the lone champ for the TigerHawks, going 2-0 at 285 pounds. He first threw Ethan Timp of South Winn in 2:43, before claiming a 3-2 decision over MFL MarMac’s Jacob Trudo.
Runners-up for NFV were Nick Koch (120), Braeden Ellis (132), Jesse Grimes (138), Alex Streif (145) and Kale Rodgers (182).
Postville efforts
The Pirates had two matmen crowned as champs including Jackson Wedo (113) and Riley Rankin (132).
Wedo went 2-0 for the day, throwing South Winn’s Bo Wangsness in 1:38 and earning a 10-7 decision over Konnor Barat-Klimesh of MFL MarMac.
Moving to a 35-4 record with two wins Friday, Rankin turned Kaden Bullerman of South Winn in 1:52 in the semifinal. In the championship bout, he slid by Braeden Ellis of NFV by a 2-1 decision.
Sectionals Saturday
The quest for a date at the state wrestling tournament begins for all Iowa teams Saturday, Feb. 6 at 12 p.m.
MFL MarMac will host the Class 1A Sectional 6 tournament with Central Elkader, Denver, Edgewood-Colesburg, Postville, Starmont, Sumner-Fred and Wapsie Valley participating.
The South Winn Warriors will see action at Lake Mills in the Class 1A Sectional 7 meet with Central Springs, Lake Mills, Newman Catholic, Northwood-Kensett, Riceville and Saint Ansgar.
North Fayette Valley are in Class 2A and will be on the mats at Decorah’s Sectional 11. Competing against the TigerHawks will be Charles City, Crestwood, Decorah, New Hampton/Turkey Valley and Waukon.
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