Newton’s Amos wins LHC title, Cards finish fifth

OSKALOOSA — The last time Brennan Amos faced a ranked opponent, he came up just a little bit short.

Amos wasn’t going to let that happen again when he got another shot. And his latest win this season was a statement victory and it came in the 152-pound championship match of the Little Hawkeye Conference tournament.

Amos claimed the conference title on Saturday following a major-decision win over Class 3A No. 12 Dominic Tigner of Norwalk.

Outside of 10th-ranked Amos, the Cardinals had a bit of an up and down day.

Newton finished fifth in the seven-team field with 80.5 points. The Cardinals edged both Grinnell (79) and Oskaloosa (79) after placing seventh last season.

The top four finishers in the final standings had more than 190 points. Indianola (254.5) won the team championship, Norwalk (214.5) was the runner-up and Dallas Center-Grimes (198) edged Pella (194) for third.

Amos, who was second in the conference tournament at 145 last year, improved to 12-1 on the season following a 2-0 day. After a first-round bye, he won his semifinal match by a 20-4 technical fall. The major decision win over Tigner was 16-6.

The Cardinals entered 11 wrestlers in the field. The next best finisher after Amos was fifth. Konner Jimenez (126), Avery White (138), Cole Swank (145), Colin Sharp (160) and Wyatt Weter (182) all were fifth at their weights.

White, Swank and Sharp each went 2-2 for the day. White lost twice by decision and won twice by fall, Swank won once by fall and once by medical forfeit and Sharp (16-9) claimed two wins by decision.

Weter was 1-2 with his win coming by a 10-1 major decision. Jimenez was 0-2.

Kaiden Rogers (106), Seth Adams (120), Bryen Hernandez (132) and Nathan Milburn (170) all placed sixth in their weights.