March 29, 2024

Cards split action in wild Roosevelt double dual

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DES MOINES — Taking to the road for the last time this season, the Newton wrestling team couldn't have earned a more satisfying victory.

The Cardinals not only recovered from a lopsided loss in their first dual, but they also earned coach Bill Reed a solid emotional victory over a former mentor in the second.

Indianola topped the Cards by a 44-21 final in the first of those two duals, but Newton came back with a wild 45-22 victory in front of a raucous crowd over host Des Moines Roosevelt and coach Jay Groth.

"This was a pretty important meet for both of us coaches seeing as how we coached together for four years," Reed said. "We still keep in contact and we're good friends, so whenever you have that type of matchup, you want to win. I know coach Groth stressed to them how bad I wanted to beat him and how bad he wanted to beat us."

The Indianola dual got off to a good start for Newton as junior Koby Hull (106 pounds) earned a 9-5 decision in overtime. Hull led 4-0 after the first period and trailed 5-4 after the second, but managed to tie things up in the third before scoring a takedown in the sudden victory period.

It was all Indianola for the next 10 weights after that, however, as the Indians jumped out to a commanding lead despite only recording three pins in those weights. Senior Tanner Hull (120 pounds) dropped a close 5-0 decision and Indianola’s RJ Kimbre earned a narrow 3-0 decision over Newton sophomore Dakota Dawson at 132.

“I think we definitely wrestled the tougher team in the first dual, but we didn’t lay down for them,” Reed said. “We only won four matches, but I think the guys wrestled hard and we didn’t really lose any matches we should’ve won. We just don’t match up with them very well.”

Newton finally snapped the skid at 195 when junior Ray Schroder recorded a first-period pin for the victory. Fellow junior Jacob Williams followed that up with another pin at 220, and senior Derrick Hurt ended the first dual with a third-straight Newton pin on Indianola’s Colby Vlieger, who defeated Hurt at the Cards’ home tournament.

Newton opened the Roosevelt dual with a forfeit at 113, and that would be the last chance the crowd would have to breathe for the next hour-and-a-half. Roosevelt quickly regained the lead with a major decision and fall at 120 and 126, respectively, but that lead wouldn’t last long.

Dawson avenged his earlier loss with a 5-1 decision over Roosevelt’s Jacob Harmon, which may have been the most heated match of the night. After neither wrestler scored in the first period, some jawing and extracurricular activity ensued before Dawson scored a takedown in the third to clinch the victory.

Sophomore Brett Wolf then followed Dawson with a pin at 138, scoring a reversal and sticking Roosevelt’s Collin Modde with just 14.3 seconds left in the first period. Roosevelt took the next two weights to take a 19-15 lead, but it would be their final one of the night.

At 160, Newton freshman William Lillo, wrestling on a sore knee from earlier in the night, scored a big decision over Chandler Thompson. Tied 2-2 in the second, Thompson lost the lead to Lillo on a takedown and three-point nearfall before losing his front tooth and the match by a final of 9-5.

“William Lillo fought the whole match and ended up on top,” Reed said. “He was kind of banged up, but he wrestled really smart and stayed in good position in that third period.”

Junior Sean Cook made quick work of his foe at 170, turning a reversal into a first-period pin to give the Cards a 24-19 lead. Joey Wright extended Newton’s lead to 30-19 at 182 with a lighting-fast pin managed on his first takedown of the matchup.

Roosevelt earned its final victory of the night in a marathon match at 195, where Schroder fell victim to Class 3A No. 7 Sawyer Kotchel in four overtimes. Kotchel entered the night with just one loss, and he was able to fend off Schroder with a 3-2 decision.

Williams all but sealed the win for Newton 220, scoring his second pin of the night with 30 seconds to go in the second period. Hurt then earned a 3-0 decision at 285 and Koby Hull received a forfeit at 106 to end the long night on the mat.

“It was just a nice win,” Reed said. “I was getting a little worried there when they had a few pins, but fortunately the guys wrestled through that and the team rallied faor a nice team win. This has always been a loud gym to wrestle in, so it was a good atmosphere.”

The Cards will return home for Senior Night next Thursday before the district meet at Grinnell next Saturday.

Indianola 44, Newton 21

*106: Koby Hull (N) sv-1 Joe Howard (I), 9-5. 113: Nate Sams (I) pinned Jac Fisher (N), 0:36. 120: John Gioffredi (I) dec. Tanner Hull (N), 5-0. 126: Joe McGinnis (I) tech. fall Bryce Tish (N), 19-3. 132: RJ Kimrey (I) dec. Dakota Dawson (N), 3-0. 138: Landon BeLieu (I) pinned Brett Wolf (N), 3:05. 145: Matt Victor (I) dec. Nicoli Allspach (N), 11-4. 152: Casey Crawford (I) maj. dec. Jacob Herduin, (N) 9-0. 160: Elijah Clutter (I) dec. William Lillo (N), 6-1. 170: Trenton Cheers (I) pinned Sean Cook (N), 1:47. 182: Hayden DeBlieck (I) pinned Joey Wright (N), 5:42. 195: Ray Schroder (N) pinned Ben Swaim (I), 1:29. 220: Jacob Williams (N) pinned Brock VanLoon (I), 1:48. 285: Derrick Hurt (N) pinned Colby Vlieger (I) 2:21.

Newton 45, Des Moines Roosevelt 22

106: Koby Hull (N) received a forfeit. *113: Jac Fisher (N) received a forfeit. 120: Jake Kristensen (R) maj. dec. Tanner Hull (N), 11-2. 126: Charlie Rose (R) pinned Bryce Tish (N), 4:57. 132: Dakota Dawson (N) dec. Jake Harmon (R), 5-1. 138: Brett Wolf (N) pinned Collin Modde (R), 1:03. 145: Tanner Murray (R) dec. Nicoli Allspach (N), 4-2. 152: Daniel Lewis (R) pinned Jacob Herduin, (N), 3:43. 160: William Lillo (N) dec. Chandler Thompson (R), 9-5. 170: Sean Cook (N) pinned Tyler Robinson (R), 1:29. 182: Joey Wright (N) pinned John Kluding (R), 0:52. 195: Sawyer Kochel (R) dec. UTB Ray Schroder (N), 3-2. 220: Jacob Williams (N) pinned Dustin Hunter (R), 4:00. 285: Derrick Hurt (N) dec. Romeir Loggins (R) 3-0.

*Starting weights