Newton trio advances at 3A state wrestling

DES MOINES — Newton High senior Jaise Gulling said his first-round opponent at the Iowa High School State Wrestling Championships on Thursday beat him up pretty good during an offseason freestyle tournament.

But Gulling responded on the biggest stage at Wells Fargo Arena. Down 2-0, Gulling rallied for a 6-4 win over Class 3A No. 9 Dalton Sell of Muscatine.

Gulling was one of three Cardinal grapplers who survived the first day of the 3A state tournament. Eighth-ranked junior Destin Schroder won his first-round match at 182 to stay on the championship side of his bracket, and senior Gage Linahon (30-10) stayed alive with a win in a 220-pound wrestleback.

Freshman Brennan Amos (26-14) lost both of his 113-pound matches by fall against ranked wrestlers and was eliminated from the tournament.

“It feels amazing. I was kind of the underdog so I don’t know what to say. I am just so happy right now,” said Gulling, who was 1-2 last year at the state tournament but was never on the winner’s side of the bracket. “ I almost cried. I know it’s just the first round but it just feels so good to win. The stage doesn’t seem as big this year. Being here last year helped.”

Schroder was the favorite in his match against unranked Justin Brindley of Southeast Polk. Schroder scored a takedown in the first period and won 3-1.

“I didn’t feel too affected by the atmosphere, but I got tired,” Schroder said. “I wasn’t working well off my front headlock either. So that will have to get better.”

Linahon’s win at 220 came on the consolation side of the bracket. He was pinned in his first match but got some redemption with a 5-4 win over rival and fifth-ranked Nate Heckart of Norwalk.

Heckart was 2-0 against Linahon this season before Thursday, but the Cardinal junior flipped the script against his Little Hawkeye Conference foe this time around.

Heckart led 1-0 early after two stalling calls went against Linahon. Linahon rallied to lead 3-1 and then held on for the one-point win.

“It gives me the opportunity to advance and keeps me on track for a medal,” Linahon said. “I got on my offense early and was able to get it done this time. I just wasn’t trying to give up a big move so the stalling calls were fine. That’s only one point.”

It’s the second straight season Newton has advanced its 182-, 195- and 220-pound wrestlers to the second day. None of them medaled last year though.

“Three out of four are still alive, and it feels fantastic,” Newton head coach Andy Swedenhjelm said. “We came down here to get medals so we’ll work on getting that done.”

Swedenhjelm liked that Schroder scored first against Brindley but wants his junior grappler to stay on his offense. Schroder (36-4) faces second-ranked Devin Ludwig (33-2) of Epworth Western Dubuque in the quarterfinals.

“He needs to get on his offense more. That’s what we’ll work on for tomorrow, but it’s always easier after you wrestle here once,” Swedenhjelm said.

Gulling (27-8) gets fifth-ranked Cade Parker (33-3) of Cedar Rapids Kennedy in his first match on Friday. Swedenhjelm loved Gulling’s offensive action throughout his first match and wants that to continue into Friday.

“He tried an elevator throw early on and I knew it could be a good match,” Swedenhjelm said. ‘When he’s moving and shooting, he’s at his best. To me, that early move showed he was relaxed and ready to go.”

Linahon’s consolation elimination match on Friday won’t be known until Friday morning. He will wrestle either third-ranked Cam Jones (29-4) of Cedar Rapids Kennedy or Travis Thiesen (41-6) of LeMars.

Swedenhjelm said Linahon wrestled a lot smarter against Heckart on Thursday. But he would have rather have had that match in Friday’s quarterfinals.

“Ideally we wanted that match on the front side, but it’s two kids that know each other,” Swedenhjelm said. “I always think it’s hard to beat a guy three times in one season. Gage wrestled a lot smarter this time. He got to where he wanted to be.”

For Amos, qualifying for and wrestling at the state tournament is an experience he can learn and grow from. Both of his matches ended in first-period pins to wrestlers ranked in the top nine of the 113-pound weight class.

“It was about as tough of a draw as you can get. It was a good experience for him though,” Swedenhjelm said. “Now he understands what it takes and can learn from it. He has to get bigger and stronger.”

The 3A quarterfinals and second-round consolations begin at 9 a.m. on Friday. The semifinals and third-round consolations get going at 2:30 p.m. on Friday.

Contact Troy Hyde at
641-792-3121 ext. 6536 or thyde@newtondailynews.com