C-M’s Strohmeyer, L-S’ Walston stay alive at state wrestling tourney

DES MOINES — Colfax-Mingo senior Noah Strohmeyer wasn’t aware that he faced South Hamilton’s Keyton Remsburg earlier this season.

He didn’t know he won that match 11-8. And he didn’t even know he was leading Thursday’s consolation bout 4-1 after one period.

Strohmeyer stayed focused on the task at hand, did his stuff and came away with a second-period pin to stay alive at 113 pounds at the Iowa High School State Wrestling Championships.

Strohmeyer was joined by Lynnville-Sully sophomore Gentry Walston as area wrestlers in Class 1A who avoided elimination on Thursday inside Wells Fargo Arena.

Both grapplers lost their first-round matches but came back to win by fall in their elimination matches.

“It can get in your head,” Strohmeyer said of losing the first match at state. “But I was just focused on the next one. No one knows what will happen, but I just did my stuff. I wrestled like I needed to.”

Strohmeyer is a veteran to the state tournament. He has dealt with a first-round loss before.

Walston has not. He had to bounce back after a first-round loss for the first time in his career. But he jumped out to an early lead and scored a second-period pin.

“I was upset how the first one went. It helped me learn to work on my feet a little better though,” Walston said. “I am just happy I found a way to stay alive.”

Unfortunately, Colfax-Mingo freshman John McGill and Baxter freshman Aiden McFadden couldn’t avoid elimination. Both young grapplers went 0-2 on the day.

Class 1A No. 7 Strohmeyer (35-5) opened his third state tournament with an 11-5 loss to No. 6 Dawson Bergan of Edgewood-Colesburg at 113. He scored first but couldn’t sustain the momentum.

He bounced back with an impressive win over Remsburg in the consolation wrestle back. He led 4-1 after one and was up 4-2 at the time of his pin.

“I didn’t even look at the points. I just wrestled. I thought the kid was aggressive to start,” Strohmeyer said. “I just kept at it. He got tired really quickly.”

Walston lost by fall in the first period against No. 1 Braden Graf (40-0) of West Sioux in his opening-round match at 113.

In his consolation match, he went up 7-1 before turning Logan-Magnolia freshman Kai Carritt (28-15) for the pin.

“It’s great. No better feeling. I am proud of him,” said L-S wrestling coach Jason Walston, who also is Gentry’s father. “He came back after a tough loss. He wrestled hard and was determined to win.”

McGill (38-9) had a tough draw at 126. He lost to No. 6 Damon Huston (38-2) of Midland by fall in the opening round and then lost by a 16-0 technical fall to No. 8 Brooks Meyer (34-5) of Denver.

“He wrestled two really good upperclassmen. He’s one of two freshmen in that weight class,” Colfax-Mingo wrestling coach Erin Hume said. “Does he need to be disappointed because he had goals? Yeah, that’s ok. But he shouldn’t be disappointed in how he wrestled. He faced some tough kids. This is something to build on. The future is bright.”

McFadden (23-19) lost both of his matches by fall after also dealing with a tough draw. The first loss came against No. 2 Dane Johnson (35-2) of Pocahontas Area. He faced No. 6 Mack Ortner (33-8) of Don Bosco in the elimination match and was pinned in the second period.

“None of our guys are ever satisfied with a loss,” Baxter wrestling coach Joe Amadeo said. “We are disappointed to leave on Thursday, but the future is bright.

“Aiden’s a young kid with a high ceiling. We are excited to see what he can do in the program moving forward. Today was about learning for him. It’s about using this to get better.”

Strohmeyer and Gentry Walston will wait until the quarterfinals to find out who they face in another elimination match. One more win by either of the area grapplers will get them a place on the podium on Saturday night.

“We have been stressing that any of these matches could be his last,” Hume said of his senior grappler. “He just needs to give it everything he has. He kept wrestling and found an opportunity to put the kid on his back in that last one.”

The next 1A session begins at 9 a.m. on Friday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.