L-S edges C-M by half-point at SICL tourney

SIGOURNEY — Staying on the mat for an entire season hasn’t always been easy for Colfax-Mingo’s Garrett Chapman.

Chapman battled through being ineligible for his first three high school seasons and never got to experience competing at a conference wrestling tournament.

But with hard work and dedication in the classroom, Chapman finally got that chance in his final year as a Tigerhawk. He took full advantage, too.

Chapman went 3-0 in the 285-pound weight class and claimed his first tournament title of any kind Saturday during action at the South Iowa Cedar League Invitational at Sigourney High School.

“This is the best I have ever done at any tournament, the best condition I have ever been in and the most athletic that I have ever felt before,” Chapman said. “It feels good to see how far I’ve come from freshman year until now.”

The Tigerhawks won two individual titles on the day as junior Adam Teed won the 132-pound bracket, and Colfax-Mingo finished fifth in the team standings despite having five open weights.

Lynnville-Sully was one of two SICL schools without a conference champion, but the Hawks claimed eight top-five finishes and benefited from only having three open weights.

The Hawks finished a half-point ahead of Colfax-Mingo for fourth place.

“I feel very good,” Lynnville-Sully coach Steve Squires said. “It was a very solid day and we are ready for sectionals next week.”

Host Sigourney-Keota crowned three champions and won the team title with ease, scoring 203.5 points. Two Iowa Valley wrestlers won individual titles, and the Tigers finished second with 169.5 points.

Tri-County/Montezuma was the other program to not claim an individual title, but it still finished ahead of Lynnville-Sully and Colfax-Mingo in third.

TCM scored 112 points, while L-S had 109.5 and Colfax-Mingo ended up with 109.

“Overall, it was a good day, a good team effort,” Colfax-Mingo coach Erin Hume said. “I wish a few things would have went the other way, but I am proud of how we wrestled.

“Numbers are always an issue, but we do what we can with what we have.”

North Mahaska (100) led the second group of five in sixth, while English Valleys (90), HLV (87), BGM (79) and Belle Plaine (60) rounded out the field.

The Tigerhawks had a chance to surpass both L-S and TCM in the placing matches. They fell short when Colton Lourens lost his championship match to ninth-ranked Noah Boender of Sigourney-Keota and Ty Carlson suffered a surprising defeat to Lynnville-Sully’s Josh Dunsbergen in the 120-pound third-place match.

Colfax-Mingo went 3-1 in head-to-head competition against L-S on the day, but the one loss in the final round played a part in the final team standings. The Tigerhawks were deducted a team point, too, when a wrestler removed his singlet straps while still on the mat.

“I was hoping to go top four. I thought that was realistic,” Hume said. “We accomplished what I hoped to accomplish today though. Losing that team point hurt us, obviously.”

Carlson, who was 4-1 against Dunsbergen heading into the weekend and is now 36-14 on the year, was in control again when he locked up his Hawk rival with a cradle.

Unfortunately, Carlson’s shoulders hit the mat together during his attempt to pin Dunsbergen, and the bonus points went to the Hawks.

“Sometimes it works out,” Squires said. “They have had a lot of battles this year. It was good for him to get the win today.”

The five open weights also played a factor in the final standings. But Chapman is glad to not be one of the Tigerhawk wrestlers who watched the tournament from the stands Saturday.

“It feels pretty good,” Chapman said. “I am really glad I kicked it in gear and got my homework turned in.”

So are his teammates, who made sure to congratulate Chapman at the end of his championship bout.

“He’s a good example of making changes for the better,” Hume said. “The underclassmen can look at him and say ‘this can happen if I work at it.’

“He has earned everything he has gotten. He has worked hard to get himself here and to improve himself and he worked hard today to get his first-ever conference championship.”

The Hawks had two finalists on the day. Carson Dunsbergen lost to Teed by fall in the 132-pound final, and Sage Zylstra was pinned by Iowa Valley’s Jacob Krakow in the 138-pound championship match. Krakow is ranked second and improved to 44-4 on the year.

Carson Dunsbergen went 2-1 on the day and is now 27-16 on the season.

Zylstra improved to 33-11, but he had to rally from a large deficit in the semifinals to reach the championship.

Zylstra trailed BGM’s Dalton Roberts, 9-2, in the third period before a five-point move eventually gave the Hawk sophomore a win by fall.

“Roberts pinned him earlier in the year. So that was a big win for Sage,” Squires said. “I am sure we’ll see him next week at sectionals, too.”

Josh Dunbsergen’s third-place finish was the best L-S mark after Carson Dunsbergen and Zylstra. Jack Hardin (182) and Cooper Scandridge (285) were fourth at their respective weights, while Ty Breeden (126), Kyle Kramer (152) and Max Knapp (170) were all fifth and Aaron Van Der Krol (220) ended up sixth.

The Hawks were without Cayden Johnson and Shannon Dunsbergen due to injuries. Squires expects Shannon Dunsbergen (285) to be back for sectionals this weekend.

Chapman (29-13) won his first match with a first-period fall. In the semifinals, Chapman downed TCM’s Tyler Thompson 3-0.

He got a chance at revenge in the finals. Iowa Valley’s Gabe Hartman defeated Chapman in overtime earlier this year when Chapman suffered an ankle injury. He never trailed against Hartman the second time around though.

Teed wrestled twice on the day and won both matches by fall. He improved to 30-17 on the season after losing a pigtail match in conference action last year.

“It feels great. I could never have imagined winning a conference title this year,” Teed said. “Last year, I would get turned and just give up. This year, I am fighting from every position that I get into.”

Colfax-Mingo’s day also included a runner-up finish from Lourens, who wrestled in the 195-pound weight class for strategic purposes.

Lourens (26-13) lost earlier this season to the third- and fourth-place finishers at 182.

At 195, Lourens received a first-round bye and won his second match by fall.

“There weren’t very many kids weighing in at 195,” Hume said. “I knew he could wrestle with the 195 pounders. I just thought it was a smart move.”

Outside the three Tigerhawk finalists were Carlson (120), Joe Carolus (126) and Will Dunsbergen (145), who all finished fourth. Ben Mead (220) finished fifth.

Both Lynnville-Sully and Colfax-Mingo wrestle at noon Saturday in the Class 1A Sectional 9 tournament at Belle Plaine.

Also competing will be SICL rivals BGM, HLV, North Mahaska and host Belle Plaine along with West Marshall and Pleasantville.

The top two finishers in each weight class at sectionals advance to the district meet, which is at noon on Feb. 13 in Pleasantville.

The top two finishers at districts advance to the state tournament at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.