By Becky Walz,
Teams from the Northeast Iowa Conference converged on Decorah Saturday to compete in the annual conference wrestling tournament. While the temperatures began to fall outside, the competition inside was fierce. With 189 points, the combined New Hampton/Turkey Valley squad finished third behind Class 3A No. 1 Waverly-Shell Rock (287) and Class 2A No. 2 Crestwood who had 206 points. The Vikings ended the day with 177 in the team standings, finishing fourth.
The Vikings’ day
Class 2A No. 5 Jackson Rolfs was the lone Viking to be crowned a champion, winning the 145-pound title. The senior started his day with a quarterfinal bye to immediately advance into the semifinal match versus Robert Poyner of Waverly-Shell Rock. Rolfs threw Poyner in 3:33 to advance to the finals against NH/TV’s Cade Murray, defeating the Chickasaw wrestler by a 9-0 decision. With the win, J. Rolfs became the 17th Viking in program history to be a four-time conference champion.
In the finals at 132 pounds sophomore Brady Stille faced Class 3A No. 1 Ryder Block of Waverly-Shell Rock, falling by tech fall at the 5:09 mark, to finish runner-up. Following a quarterfinal bye, Stille won a 13-1 major decision over Carsen Jeanes of Oelwein in the semifinal match to advance to the finals.
Keenen Tyler fell to Class 3A No. 1 McCrae Hagarty of W-SR in the finals in 1:52 to earn silver at 182 pounds. A quarterfinal bye moved the junior on to the semifinal versus Crestwood’s Class 2A No. 9 Landen Schemmel where the Viking survived a 4-0 decision to move on.
Those finishing third for Decorah were Kollin Henry (106 pounds), Lane Rolfs (126), Austin Wilkins (138), Cael Gulrud (195) and Edwin Holyoake (285).
NH/TV on the mats
New Hampton/Turkey Valley put two grapplers on the top of the podium Saturday with Carson Babcock and Jacob Reicks earning titles.
At 170 pounds, Class 2A No. 2 Babcock received a first-round bye to advance to the semifinal. There, the Chickasaw matman pinned his way past Brendon Dixon of Crestwood in 56 seconds. Babcock met up with Class 2A No. 2 Caden Collins of Charles City in the finals, winning by a 6-2 decision.
Cade Murray found himself in the finals at 145 pounds after throwing Oelwein’s Ricky McKeeman in a 32-second quarterfinal match. Murray followed it up with a 4-2 decision over Bryce Shea of Crestwood to meet Class 2A No. 5 Jackson Rolfs in the championship match, falling by 9-0 decision.
Also in the finals was Ryan Pickar at 160 pounds. A bye in the quarterfinal pitted Class 2A No. 8 Pickar against Sean Mwangi of W-SR in the semifinal, where the Chickasaw earned the 7-4 decision. Crestwood’s Hunter Bye stopped Pickar’s quest for the title by a 5-2 final decision.
In third for the Chickasaws were Edgar Nunez (113) and Ethan Praska (120).
Waukon’s finish
At the end of Saturday’s tournament, Waukon finished with 73 points in sixth place.
Jakob Regan came away with the best finish for the Indians as the 120-pound runner-up. The sophomore opened the day with a quarterfinal bye before overtaking Crestwood’s Cole Schmauss by a 10-0 decision in the semifinal. Advancing into the finals, Regan was met by Class 3A No. 2 Bailey Roybal of Waverly-Shell Rock, falling in 2:38 to earn silver.
Sectional wrestling
The sectional meet is up next for Decorah. Grapplers will take the mats at home Saturday, Feb. 6, at 12 p.m. The top-two wrestlers at each weight move on to the district meet.
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