Warriors 170-pounder Tony Greve went 4-3 at the Chris Davis Invitational at Wapsie Valley on Saturday to take fourth place. The sophomore was one of two Warriors to have three pins in the tournament, joining classmate Lane Quandahl (145 pounds). (Marie Conway photo)
SW grapplers 3rd at Davis Invitational
Zakary Kriener
News Writer
zkriener@fayettepublishing.com
The South Winneshiek wrestling team was on the mats for the first time this season on Saturday when the Warriors participated in the Chris Davis Invitational at Wapsie Valley.
“With 16 teams present, there were a lot of good wrestlers and I’m pretty excited that we were able to place nine of our 10 wrestlers in the top six of the tournament,” said coach Jacob Elsbernd after the event. “We had a lot of guys step up and wrestle through some tough matches to get big wins throughout the day. We are a really young team and we didn’t have our only senior (Logan Schnuelle) wrestling today, which is promising for the future.”
The Warriors took third place in the team standings, scoring 137 points and finishing above of traditional powers North Linn (fourth, 126.5 points) and Class 1A No. 10-ranked Eagle Grove (sixth, 100 points).
Leading the way for South Winn was sophomore 170-pounder Logan Hageman who took first place and recorded a pair of falls on the day. Hageman won a 12-9 decision over Waterloo Columbus’ Carson Hartz in the finals.
“Logan had a really good day,” said Elsbernd. “You could see his confidence continue to grow throughout the tournament).
Also having a good day was sophomore Phillip French who placed second at 120 pounds. French picked up a fall in the semifinals before falling to No. 4-ranked (113 pounds) Clayton McDonough of Central Springs.
Sam Conway (152 pounds) went 3-1 on the day to take third place, while No. 8-ranked (195 pounds) Damon Meyer jumped up to 220 pounds to go 3-1 and take third place. Meyer’s loss came in the semifinals as No. 10-ranked Teddy Behrends of Central Springs grinded out a 5-3 decision.
“This was a great tournament to begin the year with and after watching a lot of matches, we have a good idea of what we need to do to get better,” closed Coach Elsbernd. “We will be back in action on Thursday at Oelwein!”
On Saturday, the Warriors will host the South Winneshiek Invitational in Calmar. Teams that will be in attendance include Decorah, (Class 1A No. 5) Denver, GMLOS (Minnesota), New Hampton, North Fayette Valley, (Class 2A No. 3) Osage, Waukon, and (Class 2A No. 1) West Delaware.
