NFV sends 4 to Districts

 

Tyler Johansen controls the head of Oelwein’s Travis McMillan in the Sectional title round at 220. Johansen won the championship for NFV by dominating his Husky opponent, 15-3. (Jerry Wadian photo)

By Jerry Wadian
Sports Editor

jwadian@thefayettecountyunion.com

 

 

NFV sends 4 to Districts

North Fayette Valley came out of the Class 2A Sectional Wrestling Meet by advancing four grapplers to this week’s District Meet Saturday, Feb., 15 in New Hampton.

Nick Baumler (160), Tyler Johansen (220), and Dalton Lape (Hwt) all won two matches apiece to win their respective weight classes; all three are ranked in the top 10 in Class 2A. Zach Bruns, ranked fourth at 138, lost in the title match to the third-ranked wrestler, but he advances as the runner-up at 138.

All four wrestlers made the trip to Districts last year.

As a team, the TigerHawks were a solid third. Crestwood and Osage were the top two teams and will be part of the Regional Duals this week.

NFV head coach Jacob Pedersen said, “You always want more, but I’m pretty content with advancing four in a very tough Sectional where a lot of kids with 30 wins did not advance. But all wrestling coaches are a little greedy and want more.

“We got the people through we expected to and came close to advancing several others. In fact, if a couple of bouts had gone just a little different, and we might have passed Osage and be in the Regional Duals. We had five wrestlers place third, and two more were fourth. It wouldn’t have taken much in any of their matches to have several more advance, he continued.

“Looking at the results from the 1A Sectional, if we had been there, we might have advanced the whole team. There were guys who finished fifth in the UIC Meet who advanced to Districts. However, that’s wrestling,” Pederson said.

One thing that hurt the TigerHawks was the third round in which Johnny Wander, Jordan Larson, and Austin DeMuth all won but couldn’t earn a wrestleback, thus placing third. Jared Kerr and Nashua Lansing did get wrestlebacks but lost to finish third.

DeMuth’s second round at 145 was the epitome of TH frustration. Trailing by a point, DeMuth was in the act of lifting his foe for the takedown late in the match, when his opponent made a quick, twisting move to throw DeMuth off-balance. The two grapplers crashed to the floor with DeMuth on the bottom, and he was pinned shortly thereafter.

For the four advancing wrestlers, it will be a busy week preparing for Districts.

Pedersen stated, “I think we have a good chance of advancing all four to the State Meet.”

As for the wrestlers not advancing, Pedersen said, “We hope it’s a spur to keep them working in the off-season so they have a chance of going to State next year.”

In summing up the year, Pedersen noted, “I’m proud not only of how well we wrestled at Sectionals, but how hard the team has worked all season and how they put themselves in a position to succeed.

“We only lose Nick Wander (152) and Lape, so there is a real possibility, if they keep working, of having a very, very good team next year that can advance a lot of wrestlers.

Team Results

1. Crestwood, 237.5; 2. Osage, 205.5; 3. North Fayette Valley, 184; 4. Oelwein, 158; 5. New Hampton, 136; 6. Waukon, 123.

Individual NFV Results

106 - Bradley (9-12), 5th, 8 team points- thrown by Beck (CR), 1:28; bye; threw Wright (OS), 1:20. 113 - Jensen (23-14), 4th, 9 team points- dec. Benzing (W), 4-1; thrown by Mayer (CR). 0:23; lost, 5-4 to Geerts (NH). 120 - Wander (12-11), 5th, 8 team points- lost, 4-2, to Cota (W); bye; threw Hershey (OE), 0:44. 126 - Larson (8-4), 3rd, 12 team points- bye; thrown by Slifka, 5:17; dec. Gorman (CR), 3-0. 132 - Kerr (25-12), 3rd, 14 team points- dec. Wheelock (NH), 4-2; tech. fall by Slifka (CR), 16-1; threw Benzing (W), 4:25; lost, 12-0 to Jennings (OS). 138 - Bruns (30-5) 2nd, 17 team points- bye; maj. dec. Pecinovsky(CR), 12-1. Lost, 5-1, to Fox (OS). 145 - DeMuth (32-11) 3rd, 13 team points- maj. dec. Glaser (NH), 10-2; thrown by Goodale (OS), 5:18; dec. Grangaard (W), 3-0. 152 - Wander (15-13) 4th, 10 team points- maj. dec. Lyons (W), 13-2; thrown by Hover (CR), 2:56; lost, 9-6 to Duffy (OE). 160 - Baumler (37-2) 1st, 20 team points- bye; dc. Kramer (NH), 9-2; dec. Woods (OS), 8-4; 170 - Guyer (10-17) 5th, 6 team points- lost, 10-2, to Roth (W); bye; bye.

182 - Caldwell (6-23) 5th, 8 team points- thrown by Mitchell (W),0:35; bye; threw Farlinger (CR), 2:37. 195 - Lansing (13-22) 3rd, 14 team points- bye; lost, 6-4 to Lamphere (OE), threw Low (OS), 5:29; thrown by Slifka (CR), 3:58. 220 - Johansen (35-2) 1st , 21 team points- bye; dec. Ring (OS), 8-4; maj. dec. McMillan (OE), 15-3. Hwt- Lape (28-6) 1st, 24 team points- bye; threw Weber (NH), 0:27; threw Miller (CR), 3:03. 

Rate this article: 
No votes yet
Comment Here