March 28, 2024

Cards earn split at Oskaloosa

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OSKALOOSA — Slow starts have been an issue for the Newton wrestling team in its last few double duals, but Thursday night presented a whole new issue.

With a late-arriving bus, the Cardinals had even less time to prepare than usual, but managed to overcome their recent issues.

Battling back in the first dual of the night against Oskaloosa, the Cards eventually fell 41-36, but recovered in the second dual to handle Keokuk by a final score of 49-24.

“I think they’re adjusting better,” Newton coach Bill Reed said. “The bus got here a little late tonight, so I actually think we did better getting ready because we were under the gun. We’re starting to wind down, but we’re definitely moving in the right direction.”

Osky had a surprising start to the night as it managed pins at 182, 195 and 220 pounds. Newton senior Derrick Hurt got the Cards’ first victory with a pin at 285, but the Indians then managed a pin and technical fall at 120 and 126, respectively, to take a 29-12 lead.

The middle weights were where the Cards made their move, however. Sophomore Dakota Dawson got things going with a pin at 132 and was followed by three consecutive sticks by Brett Wolf — who was back in action for the first time since suffering a broken nose — Nicoli Allspach and Jacob Herduin. Just like that, Newton was up 36-29.

“Brett, Dakota and Nicoli all had good nights for us,” Reed said. “They really put us back into the meet and gave us an opportunity to win. With Thongvanh in there, we probably win that weight and the match.”

A double forfeit at 113 pounds had some repurcussions down the line in terms of matchups, and Osky pulled back to within one at 160, where Newton regular Jeff Thongvanh is out with a shoulder injury and could miss the rest of the season. The Indians then got the dual-clinching pin at 170 to sneak away with a 41-36 victory.

“I don’t know if it was a slow start. They just have some tough kids in their upper weights that jumped out and got some pins on us,” Reed said. “The double forfeit at 113 was probably the difference in the meet because they’re not very strong at 126.”

Things were much different in the Cards’ second dual against Keokuk. Juniors Ray Schroder and Jacob Williams, in his first action since battling the flu recently, both earned pins to put Newton up 12-0. After a Keokuk win at 285, the Cardinals quickly regained control with pins by junior Koby Hull at 106 and Tanner Hull at 120.

The dual slowed down considerably after that, however, as Dawson, Allspach and Herduin became the only two-match winners for Newton on the night when Dawson earned a 6-0 decision, Allspach managed an 11-0 major decision and Herduin scored his second pin.

Besides another pin by Newton freshman William Lillo at 160, Keokuk claimed the remaining weights to close the gap to the eventual final of 49-24 in favor of Newton.

“They were just different matchups,” Reed said. “We ran into Osky’s best wrestlers in those first few matches, and I don’t think we ran into Keokuk’s better kids until later in the dual.”

The Cardinals will continue their season with a tournament at Adel-DeSoto-Minburn this weekend before traveling to Des Moines for a double dual against Indianola and Des Moines Roosevelt next Thursday.

Oskaloosa 41, Newton 36

106: Koby Hull (N) received a forfeit. 113: Double foreit. 120: Skylar DeJong (O) pinned Tanner Hull (N), 3:27. 126: Nate Caves (O) tech. fall Bryce Tish (N), 16-0. 132: Dakota Dawson (N) pinned Nick Beebe (O), 1:43. 138: Brett Wolf (N) pinned Nick Rutledge (O), 1:41. 145: Nicoli Allspach (N) pinned Hunter Simmons (O), 1:38. 152: Jacob Herduin (N) pinned Phillip Ringgenburg (O), 2:26. 160: Cody Jones (O) pinned William Lillo (N), 1:07. 170: Andrew Landgrebe (O) pinned Sean Cook (N), 1:52. *182: Keoki Gibson (O) pinned Joey Wright (N), 1:32. 195: Mason Wisse (O) pinned Ray Schroder (N), 1:07. 220: Drea Lamb (O) pinned Jacob Williams (N), 2:59. 285: Derrick Hurt (N) pinned Zane McKay (O), 0:37.

Newton 49, Keokuk 24

106: Koby Hull (N) pinned Gage Hawkins (K), 1:29. 113: Hunter Versteegh (N) received a forfeit. 120: Tanner Hull (N) pinned Austin Hughes (K), 4:48. 132: Dakota Dawson (N) dec. Shea Hawkins (K), 6-0. 138: Tyler Bitting (K) dec. Brett Wolf (N), 15-13. 145: Nicoli Allspach (N) maj. dec. Nathan Elkin (K), 11-1. 152: Jacob Herduin (N) pinned Jacob Briscoe, 4:52. 160: William Lillo (N) pinned Lee Alberts (K), 4:24. 170: Dakota Shaw (K), pinned Sean Cook (N), 0:55. 182: Brendan Sadeghi (K) pinned Joey Wright (N), 2:45. *195: Ray Schroder (N) pinned Drake Seitz, 3:35. 220: Jacob Williams (N) pinned Alex Meek (K), 0:37. 285: Alex Goss (K) dec. Derrick Hurt (N), 5-2.

*Starting Weights