Soderblom’s experience shows at sectionals
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PLEASANTVILLE — When it comes to the postseason, experience shows.
Take Lynnville-Sully junior Kyle Soderblom.
A two-time state qualifier, Soderblom wasted little time Saturday at a Class 1A sectional meet at Pleasantville High School by pinning both of his competitors at 189 pounds to take first place and advance down the postseason trail.
“He looked pretty good,” Lynnville-Sully coach Steve Northcutt said. “He was aggressive against that Eddyville kid (Jesse Demmon). He kept going at him, getting the big lead and did end up getting him pinned. That was good to see.”
Soderblom was just one of two Jasper County wrestlers to advance to this Saturday’s district meet at Eddyville-Blakesburg. A total of 18 wrestlers from Colfax-Mingo and Lynnville-Sully were in the semifinals — three made the finals and only two advanced to the district meet.
Joining Soderblom will be Colfax-Mingo senior Dalton Mindham. Mindham took second at 135 pounds after being pinned in the finals by third-ranked Tasker Phillips of Pleasantvile.
Mindham (19-8) trailed 5-2 after the first period and got pinned in the second period in 3 minutes, 22 seconds. Mindham made it to the finals with a pin of Lynnville-Sully sophomore Blake Dunsbergen in 1:25.
“He came through a little bit of a mid-season slump, and he’s put his last weeks together here, much better mentally prepared and with a good attitude,” Colfax-Mingo coach Bryan Poulter said. “He wants to take this season as long and as far as it will take him.”
Soderblom (36-1) — ranked No. 4 in Class 1A — opened his tournament with a pin of Colfax-Mingo sophomore Jacob Halferty in just 27 seconds. In the finals, Demmon was down 5-0 after the first period, and Soderblom’s takedown in the second period provided a pin in 3:02.
“I thought I wrestled good,” Soderblom said. “I didn’t have the best week of practice because the kid I usually wrestled with was sick (Kyle Terlouw), so that kind of hurt. I wasn’t in the best shape and didn’t work on the best moves, so that hurt a lot.”
He’s now 113-14 in his high school career. Soderblom said family is a big pushing point this season.
“My sister is a big part of it, she’s pushed me through of it,” Soderblom said. “I just want to do the best that I can — that’s all I can do.”
Only one athlete from Jasper County had the opportunity at a wrestleback — senior Kaid Weideman at 112 pounds. After pinning Colfax-Mingo freshman Jayell Woods in the semifinals, Weideman was pinned by Taylor Hagen of Martensdale-St. Marys in 2:43.
In a wrestleback for second with Cody Wilson of Wayne, Weideman fell behind 2-0, went down 7-0 after two periods and lost by a 9-2 decision. Weideman, along with Bill Trettin (112) and Dylan Nelson (130) were district qualifiers last year.
“I knew coming in we could possibly take five —it was just going to be real close,” Northcutt said. “And it was. Things didn’t go our way in the second round. That’s the way it goes. You have to step up this time of year.”
Trettin, Nelson, Dunsbergen, senior Aaron Van Dyke (140) and junior Jesse Thompson (145) were all third for the Hawks. Colfax-Mingo senior Jeff Tiffany (160) also was third.
“I thought we had chances two, three, four spots,” Poulter said. “We had a good first round. Second round we had some mistakes that when you get to this level, you just can’t make those mistakes and get away with them and expect to win.”
Eddyville-Blakesburg won the team title with 244.5 points, while Martensdale-St. Marys was second with 190. Both teams advance to Tuesday’s regional duals.
Lynnville-Sully finished fifth with 140 points, with 14.5 points separating third to fifth place. Colfax-Mingo was sixth of seven teams with 95 points.
