March 29, 2024

Two Newton wrestlers place second at Cardinal Classic

Hunter Versteegh and Dakota Dawson stayed on track through the day to contend for individual championships at Saturday’s 2014 Newton High Cardinal Classic. The two Cardinal wrestlers were on the mat at the end of the tournament shooting for titles.

Versteegh faced Ethan Ksiazek of Johnston, who is ranked eighth in Class 3A, in the 113-pound finale. Versteegh was down 2-0 and working on a reversal to tie the match up in the first period when action was stopped because of Ksiazek’s bloody nose.

Ksiazek maintained the advantage, added five points in the second period on his way to a 12-0 win over Versteegh. Versteegh had pinned Tanner Steemken of Sioux City North, Ben Wooldridge of Knoxville and Elijah Humpel of Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson and post a 13-8 decision over Zach Fisher of Indianola.

At 138, Dawson went 4-0 with pins over Robert Daley of Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson and Scout Dishman. He had a 6-1 decision over Adrian Jurado of Sioux City North and won 11-4 over CodyRay Smith of Knoxville.

Dawson, who is ranked eighth in Class 3A, and Shane Vaughn of Johnston went two periods without any scoring. Vaughn used an escape and a takedown to beat Dawson 3-0 for the 138-pound championship.

Johnston ran away from the other five teams at the tournament. It racked up 346 points to win the team title. Sioux City North was second with 213 followed by Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson and Indianola with 197 each and Knoxville with 194.

Newton finished sixth with 184 points. The Cardinals had five wrestlers finish third in their respective weight classes, one took fourth, two were fifth and three placed sixth.

“I think we did a decent job. I think that the wrestlers will tell you that they aren’t satisfied with the result, but they came out and competed hard,” said Andy Swedenhjelm, Newton head coach. “The nice thing about this tournament is that it has a high level of competition, and the kids stepped up to match it.”

Bryce Tish went 4-2 at 145 pounds and the second loss was because of an injury so he didn’t wrestle his final match. Brett Wolf and Duncan Lee each had a 2-2 mark on the day to place third at 152 and 195, respectively.

J.T. Thongvanh, Newton’s 170-pounder, was ranked seventh in Class 3A. He went 1-2 for third place, losing to ninth-ranked Nathanie Standish of Johnston 5-4 and was pinned by third-ranked Casey Crawford of Indianola. Thongvanh suffered an injury to his shoulder in his last match of the day against Crawford.

“Hunter wrestled well and he will learn a lot from this. Dakota wrestled well overall. He’s made some big strikes recently as a leader, and I am excited for the rest of his season,” Swedenhjelm said. “Jeffery (J.T.) will be OK and I expect him to wrestle next week.”

Jordan Henning was 1-2 for third in the 220-pound division. Freshman Reece Thurmond recorded his first high school win — a 16-9 decision over Alex Peterson of Sioux City North — Saturday. He opened the day by facing 3A’s 10th-ranked Travis Price of Johnston, who won 14-2. Thurmond was fourth at 132 pounds.

The 106-pound class featured Class top-ranked McGwire Midkiff of Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson and seventh-ranked Zach Price of Johnston. Ross Hull of Newton was fifth in the tournament. Brady Smith went 1-4 to place fifth at 160 for Newton.

Alex Bentley, Peyton Patterson and Lucas Montgomery were sixth in their divisions.

“The kids who competed Saturday tended to wrestle better than they did on Thursday in our opener. Now we have a good week to get healthy before the Council Bluffs tournament,” Swedenhjelm said.

“It’s really important for our kids to not get caught up in wins and losses, but take something from each match and apply it to the future. This season is way too long to get caught up in the moment and worry about specific matches. We will improve as the season goes on.”

Newton competes in the Lewis Central Council Bluffs Classic Friday and Saturday.

2014 Newton Cardinal Classic

Team scores: Johnston (J) 346; Sioux City North (SCN) 213; Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson (CBJT) 197; Indianola (I) 197; Knoxville (K) 194; Newton (N) 184.

Newton Results

106 - Ross Hull (1-4), fifth

Round 1 - Josh Barretta (I) pinned Hull (5:36)

Round 2 - McGwire Midkiff (CBTJ) pinned Hull (1:19)

Round 3 - Brady Hodgins (SCN) pinned Hull (1:17)

Round 4 - Zach Price (J) pinned Hull (0:39)

113 - Hunter Versteegh (5-1), second

Round 1 - Versteegh pinned Tanner Steemken (SCN) (4:00)

Round 2 - Versteegh pinned Ben Wooldridge (K) (1:41)

Round 3 - Versteegh won by 13-8 dec. over Zach Fisher (I)

Round 4 - Versteegh pinned Elijah Humpel (CBTJ) (5:29)

Round 5 - Ethan Ksiazek (J) won by 12-0 maj. dec. over Versteegh

126 - Alex Bentley (0-5), sixth

Round 1 - Colton Downing (CBTJ) pinned Alex Bentley (1:57)

Round 2 - Joe Hollinrake (K) pinned Bentley (5:11)

Round 3 - Sterling Brunk (J) won by 4-1 dec. over Bentley

Round 4 - Alex Torno (SCN) won by 7-0 dec. over Alex Bentley

Round 5 - Joe Howard (I) pinned Bentley (1:05)

132 - Reece Thurmond (1-4), fourth

Round 1 - Travis Price (J) won by 14-2 maj. dec. over Thurmond

Round 2 - Mathew Landsberger (K) won by 8-2 dec. over Thurmond

Round 4 - Thurmond won by 16-9 dec. over Alex Peterson (SCN)

Round 5 - Jacob Jones (CBTJ) pinned Thurmond (5:42)

138 - Dakota Dawson (5-1), second

Round 1 - Dawson pinned Robert Daley (CBTJ) (2:47)

Round 2 - Dawson won by 6-1 dec. over Adrian Jurado (SCN)

Round 3 - Dawson won by 11-4 dec. over CodyRay Smith (K)

Round 4 - Dawson pinned Scout Dishman (I) (0:30)

Round 5 - Shane Vaughan (J) won by 3-0 dec. over Dawson

145 - Bryce Tish (4-2), third

Round 1 - Tish pinned Brayden Elbert (I) (0:42)

Round 2 - Tish won by 17-6 maj. dec. over Michael Ullestad (K)

Round 3 - Collin Hushagen (J) pinned Tish (3:27)

Round 4 - Tish pinned Rylee Bush (SCN) (4:30)

Round 5 - Colton Clingenpeel (CBTJ) won by medical forfeit over Tish

152 - Brett Wolf (2-3), third

Round 1 - Wolf pinned Kade Kolarik (I) (4:26)

Round 2 - Wolf won by 17-4 maj. dec. over Jacob Axtell (CBTJ)

Round 4 - Austin Garcia (J) won by 12-2 maj. dec. over Wolf

Round 5 - Connor Coyle (SCN) won by 11-7 dec. over Wolf

160 - Brady Smith (1-5), fifth

Round 1 - Elijah Clutter (I) won by 8-4 dec. over Smith

Round 2 - Anthony Piagentini (J) pinned Smith (1:47)

Round 3 - Smith won by 9-0 maj. dec. over Tanner Clawson (CBTJ)

Round 4 - Deion Clayborne (SCN) pinned Smith (1:16)

Round 5 - Jake Kindley (K) pinned Smith (Fall 1:19)

170 - J.T. Thongvanh (2-2), third

Round 1 - Nathaniel Standish (J) won by 5-4 dec. over Thongvanh

Round 2 - Thongvanh won by 8-6 dec. over Wisam Najdawi (SCN)

Round 3 - Casey Crawford (I) pinned Thongvanh (5:41)

182 - Peyton Patterson (1-5), sixth

Round 1 - Dom Endrizal (I) won by 10-5 dec. over Patterson

Round 2 - Jac Agan (K) pinned Patterson (5:25)

Round 3 - Ben Wilson (J) won by 8-2 dec. over Patterson

Round 4 - Brendan Anderson (CBTJ) won by 10-2 maj. dec. over Patterson

Round 5 - Zach Kraus (SCN) pinned Patterson (2:43)

195 - Duncan Lee (3-2), third

Round 1 - Lee won by 5-2 dec. over Jordan Beal (K)

Round 2 - Lee pinned Gabe Barrera (SCN) (4:43)

Round 4 - Boris Petrusic (J) won by 8-4 dec. over Lee 3-2

Round 5 - Gage Fisher (CBTJ) won by 4-3 dec. over Lee

220 - Jordan Henning (1-3), third

Round 1 - Brad Nielsen (J) won by 7-3 dec. over Henning

Round 2 - Henning pinned Edgar Flores (SCN) (0:28)

Round 3 - Travis Poffenbarger (K) won by 5-1 dec. over Henning

285 - Lucas Montgomery (0-6), sixth

Round 1 - Brock Caviness (K) pinned Montgomery (0:33)

Round 2 - Tom Dusen (J) pinned Lucas Montgomery (0:55)

Round 3 - Brock VanLoon (I) pinned Lucas Montgomery (2:23)

Round 4 - Nick Mitchell (CBTJ) pinned Montgomery (4:58)

Round 5 - Kyle Eichmann (SCN) pinned Montgomery (3:23)

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at 641-792-3121 ext. 6535 or jsheets@newtondailynews.com