C-M’s McGill scores area’s lone podium finish at state tournament

DES MOINES — John McGill came into the state wrestling tournament having never won a match on the big stage.

He walked out of Wells Fargo Arena on Saturday night with a handful of victories and a state medal and McGill’s sixth-place finish led all area grapplers at the Iowa High School State Wrestling Championships.

McGill was joined by freshman Cason Fitch and they combined for six wins, which also was more than any other Jasper County program.

“They have been our two hardest workers all year and it showed down here,” Colfax-Mingo head wrestling coach Stacey Rice said. “We have a solid foundation with those two. Now, we need the team to follow their leadership.”

McGill went 4-2 for the tournament at Class 1A 160 pounds and Fitch finished 2-2 at 113.

McGill, a junior who came into the week ranked 11th in the state, received a first-round bye after earning the No. 8 seed in the bracket.

He opened the tournament with a loss to ninth-seeded Avery Vaske of Starmont but won his next two matches to stay in the tournament.

He got some good news on Thursday when he found out his fourth match of the week would be a medical forfeit. That guaranteed him a spot on the podium and his first state medal.

“This is the best feeling of my life. I have been working toward medaling my whole life,” McGill said. “To finally have a really good shot at it, that’s amazing. Heck yeah.”

McGill trailed Vaske (11-4) 5-1 after getting put on his back early in their match on Wednesday afternoon. It was 5-1 after one period and the Tigerhawk junior lost by fall later in the match. He also landed on his head and neck after getting tossed to the mat.

“He got a roll through and I didn’t post it,” McGill said after the loss. “He got me good on that one. That and the neck slam didn’t help. I’m a little sore. But we’re good.”

McGill’s first elimination match came against a familiar opponent. He defeated No. 23 seeded Bode Stanley (23-19) of Interstate 35 at the district tournament and faced him again at state.

This time, he won by fall in the second period after pulling away from a 2-all tie with a takedown and back points.

His second match on Thursday came against 16th-seeded Quinn McGeough of MFL-Mar Mac. McGill (47-8) won the match 7-0.

He used a quick double-leg takedown to grab an early lead then went up 5-0 after two periods. He scored all three of his takedowns in different ways.

“I took whatever was there. He gave (the double leg) to me so I took it,” McGill said. “The second one was a single-cut double. On the third one, I went for the single again. But I pulled him to his butt, he fell and I just kind of dove on him.

“I have never had one win here so this feels nice. It’s like a weight off my shoulders.”

The medical forfeit on Friday was given by fourth-seeded and sixth-ranked Louden Huisenga of WACO. Huisenga (44-8) was injured the night before and couldn’t return to action.

McGill’s final match on Friday was a rematch against Vaske. The winner stayed alive for third and the loser went directly to Saturday’s seventh-place match.

This time, McGill was up to the challenge and pinned Vaske in the first period. Vaske went on to place eighth.

“It feels absolutely amazing,” McGill said. “This is a huge milestone for me after going 0-2 as a freshman and not making it to state last year.”

McGill’s final day featured a pair of losses. He started with a 16-0 defeat to third-seeded and third-ranked Kaden Broer of West Monona Whiting. He then lost by fall to fifth-seeded and fourth-ranked Max McGill of Woodbury Central in the fifth-place match.

Max McGill (34-4) led John McGill 4-2 after one before ending it in the second. Broer (50-4) finished fourth after losing 11-2 to 10th-ranked Connor Timm of Belle Plaine in the third-place match.

“John exceeded where everyone else thought he could get,” Rice said. “It’s not necessarily what we thought he could get. His goal was top five and he got sixth. That’s a good foundation to build on.”

Rice said Fitch split his time with racing prior to this season but went all in this winter and set a freshman wins record at C-M with 40.

Fitch was seeded 15th at 113 and his first match came against 18th-seeded Mason Fogt of Hudson.

Trailing 5-3 in the match, Fitch got Fogt (32-13) in a spladle and scored a win by fall with 26 seconds left in the second period.

“I started on top. He kind of did a tripod onto his feet and then just sat there,” Fitch said about setting up the spladle. “So I put a leg in, was really patient, took my time, got my arms where they needed to be and then dove for his ankle. Then I went from there.”

Fitch (40-11) was overmatched in his second bout on Wednesday. He faced second-seeded and second-ranked Cael Morrow of Akron-Westfield and lost 15-0.

Morrow went on to win the 113-pound championship after four relatively easy wins.

Fitch stayed alive with a second-period pin over 16th-seeded Keyin Steeve of Nodaway Valley.

He led Steeve (37-11) 2-0 early but the match was tied at 4-all after one. Fitch then went up 8-4 before scoring the fall.

“Cason hasn’t been 100 percent wrestling. He’s always had racing on the side,” Rice said. “But he committed 100 percent this season and throughout the year you saw the jumps he made.”

In an elimination match that determined a spot on the podium, Fitch fell short against 10th-seeded Cole Frost (32-17) of Don Bosco. Frost, who went on to place eighth, downed Fitch 5-2 and a three-point near fall at the end of the first period was the difference.

“It’s pretty tough down here. I wasn’t expecting to get this far,” Fitch said. “I’m just working hard and having fun. I’m still a freshman so I have many years to come.”

McGill’s junior season included a new school-record 37 pins. He now has 80 pins in his career. His goal for next season is a top-three finish.

“I feel like I’ve gained so much confidence just finishing sixth, but I’m still hungry. I’m probably shooting for third or higher next year,” McGill said. “It was a learning experience. I’m not scared of the state-tournament mat anymore. It’s not quite as intimidating.

“I need to have better upper-body conditioning. In every match I have been in the last half of the season, my shoulders have been smoked. I definitely need to do arms more.”

Top-seeded and top-ranked Wyatt Reisz of Logan-Magnolia completed an undefeated run to his state championship at 160.

Reisz (52-0) had one pin and two technical falls on his way to the title. He defeated second-seeded and second-ranked Dominic Lopez (57-1) of New London 6-4 in SV-1 in the championship match.

Notes: In the new 24-person bracket, no one is eliminated on Day 1. Losers in the first round go straight to an elimination match on Thursday. First-round winners wrestled again on Wednesday to set up Thursday’s quarterfinals and elimination bouts. ... In previous seasons, Fitch’s two wins would have been good enough for a podium finish, but the expanded brackets make that no longer the case.