Double trouble: Cards send two wrestlers to state tournament

IOWA CITY — Nothing this season has been easy for Newton senior Brennan Amos.

And after winning the district championship at Iowa City High School on Saturday, he couldn’t help but get emotional in a corner of the gym.

“I was standing in the corner over there and I was tearing up,” Amos said. “It’s been a long ride. The hip surgery. The hand surgery. So many things have tried to hold me back. It’s hard not to tear up. It’s not something I ever want to go through again.”

The start of Amos’ senior season was delayed after he had hip surgery in June. And when he finally got on the mat at practice he injured his hand, which required another surgery in December.

His path to another state wrestling tournament was rocky. And it got a bit more challenging at districts as the 152-pound weight class was the only bracket with four ranked wrestlers in it.

After what Amos went through leading up to his first competition this season, the bracket was hardly the most challenging though.

Class 3A No. 8 Amos improved to 15-1 this season with victories over No. 12 Gavin Wiseman of Fort Madison and No. 11 Elijah Mendoza of Bettendorf.

Amos’ toughest competition inside his own wrestling room is Colin Sharp, and both will compete at the Iowa High School State Wrestling Championships inside Wells Fargo Arena this week.

Amos won the 152-pound district title and Sharp was 2-0 for his day and claimed the 160-pound district championship.

“They scrap against each other in the room more days than not. They get after it a lot. It’s been iron sharpens iron,” Newton head wrestling coach Adam Hale said. “That’s why it’s common to see two good wrestlers at similar weights because they are making each other better all season long.”

The Cardinals were seventh in the eight-team field overall with 68 points. They had open weights at 195, 220 and 285.

The next best finisher after Amos and Sharp was Kaiden Rogers, who finished fourth at 106. Dayton Petithory (113) and Nathan Milburn (170) were fifth at their weights.

The top two finishers at each weight class at each site advance to next week’s state wrestling tournament in Des Moines.

The rest of the Newton roster included Seth Adams (120), Konner Jimenez (126), Emma Lopez-Garcia (132), Avery White (138), Conner McPartlin (145) and Wyatt Weter (182) and they all went 0-2.

Amos was the No. 1 seed at 152. He was the highest ranked wrestler at the weight, but that’s never a guarantee.

“At the end of the day, I was ranked last year and got beat,” Amos said. “The rankings don’t matter, but it felt good to beat them. It was like any other match for me though. It’s a stepping stone to the next match.”

No. 8 Amos downed No. 12 Wiseman (32-11) 6-3 in the semifinals after receiving a first-round bye. In the finals, Amos scored a win by fall over No. 11 Mendoza (31-13).

No. 10 Zach Shoemaker (38-5) of Ottumwa also was in the field but suffered an injury in his semifinal match with Mendoza and did not finish the tournament.

“He faced a brutal bracket last year with a place winner and the champion. It was another tough draw today,” Hale said. “To even get to the point of practicing this year was tough. The toughest part of overcoming injuries is the mental side. He’s done well with that because of his attitude and work ethic. He’s kicking the excuses out of his mind.”

Sharp (19-9) was the No. 2 seed at 160. He’s a district champion though after upsetting No. 11 Teague Smith (37-10) of Fort Madison by fall in the finals. He won his first match by fall, too.

In the championship bout, Sharp lost the lead late but got it back on a reversal and eventually put Smith to his back.

“There wasn’t much thinking going on. I have been in that position a thousand times at practice. We work on end-of-the-period stuff all the time,” Sharp said. “Beating a ranked kid gives me a lot of confidence, too. But I wrestle Brennan every day in practice and he’s a top five guy. That helps.”

Sharp gave a lot of credit to Amos, saying there’s no way he’s a state qualifier without his senior teammate.

“Brennan has helped me a lot. He’s beat the crap out of me for four years, and I thank him for that,” Sharp said. “It’s made me better.”

Hale also gave plenty of credit to Sharp, who flipped a switch mentally after going into the holiday break in December around.500.

“Colin deserves a ton of credit, too, because he kept showing up for the butt kickings every day,” Hale said. “He just kept grinding. He’s closing the gap on Brennan in the room and giving out some butt kickings himself.

“The level of fight he’s willing to put in on the mat is what has changed. That guy was in deep on a shot, and Colin fought it off and then looked to his own offense. He’s got a lot more fight now.”

Amos will make his second trip to the state tournament after qualifying at 113 as a freshman. He wasn’t alone for that one and won’t be by himself this time around either.

“I have been telling Colin all year when he starts believing in himself he will do amazing things,” Amos said. “The only thing holding him back was himself. He deserves this moment. He’s worked hard.”

Rogers won his first match at 106 13-2. That put him on the winner’s side of the bracket, but he lost his next two bouts by fall to settle for fourth.

Petithory lost his only match of the tournament and was fifth in the five-person bracket at 113.

Milburn was fifth at 170. He dropped his first match 6-5 but recovered to win his next two 12-4 and 16-7.

Several Cardinals were in tight matches throughout the day but couldn’t finish for wins.

Hale said some of that was his lower seeded wrestlers performing above their seeds, which is what they wanted to see.

“Our youngness showed a little bit. We have to get the kids in the weight room more, we need them to get bulked up more and they need more mat time,” Hale said. “Those are the biggest things to do this offseason. We are taking good steps with our fight and attitude, but the technical stuff and muscle wise we still have growing to do to close the gap on other teams. I was really happy with our effort today.”

Class 3A No. 4 Bettendorf won the team championship with 228.5 points. The rest of the top five included Pleasant Valley (184), Fort Madison (167), 12th-ranked Iowa City High (160.5) and Ottumwa (142.5) and Iowa City Liberty (115.5) was sixth and Burlington (46) finished eighth.

Notes: Lopez-Garcia was the first female to compete for Newton at the district tournament in at least 25 years. She’ll also be the last. “That was good for Emma to get that experience,” Hale said. “She wanted to see where she stacked up against the guys. She wrestled tough and had a lot of fight.” … Every weight class had at least one ranked wrestler in it. The 152 bracket had four and the 126 featured three. … Newton’s White was seeded seventh but had a significant lead on the No. 2 seed Braylon Griffiths (21-9) of Ottumwa in his first match of the day. Griffiths rallied for a 7-6 win, but Hale made sure to tell White that he’s right there against a solid opponent. “The takeaway is outside the Newton crowd, no one in the gym thought Avery would even be in that match,” Hale said. “That kid had to pull something out at the end to win. That’s positive for Avery.”