April 18, 2024

Cockerton, Zibert nab golds at Ottumwa

By Jocelyn Sheets

Newton High sophomore Blake Cockerton turns an opponent on his back during a match earlier this season. On Saturday, Cockerton went 5-0 to win the 113-pound championship at the Ottumwa Invitational wrestling tournament. (Jocelyn Sheets)

OTTUMWA — Blake Cockerton didn’t have a match off during Saturday’s Ottumwa Invitational. The Newton High sophomore had five matches and won all five to claim the 113-pound championship.

Cockerton pinned Ottumwa’s Nathanael Schoemaker in 1 minute, 45 seconds in the title bout. Cockerton recorded two pins, a technical fall and two decisions on the mat. He was the first of two tournament champions for the Cardinals.

At 152 pounds, senior Logan Zibert came up with a 4-3 decision over Burlington’s Brennan Creelman to go undefeated and win his weight class Saturday. Zibert had a first-round bye then won twice by falls and had a major decision victory before his final match.

The Cardinals had a strong day on the mats at Ottumwa with three wrestlers going after weight division titles. Senior Tanner Petro, who won three matches by pins, was pinned by Sigourney’s Noah Reeves (23-3) in the final match to finish second at 170 pounds.

Newton took third as a team with 164 points. Iowa City High won the team championship with 264 points and Sigourney was second with 175.5 points.

Des Moines East placed fourth with 158.5 points just ahead of host Ottumwa with 157 points. Burlignton took sixth with 136 points and Fairfield had 81 points for seventh. The Ottumwa junior varsity scored nine points for eighth.

Newton seniors Brady Smith and Alex Miller and junior Ross Hull finished third in their respective weight classes — 182, 220 and 126. Taking fourth place were seniors Aren Sorensen at 120 and Noah Hammer at 160 and sophomore Jaise Gulling at 195.

Gulling opened with a pin of Shai Guido of Ottumwa then lost three straight matches to ranked opponents. Iowa City High’s Jacob Dykes is ranked sixth in Class 3A, Sigourney’s Kaleb Reeves is sixth ranked in 1A and Fairfield’s Michael Fritz is ranked third in 2A.

Miller was pinned by two ranked wrestlers — 3A No. 3 Jordaain Buckland of Iowa City High and Sigourney’s Noah Boender, No. 5 in 1A — at 220. Smith lost 7-2 to 3A third-ranked Spencer Sherwood of Burlingtonat 182.

Newton freshman Noah Cook was sixth at 132 pounds and one of his three losses was to Iowa City High’s Joey Harney, who is ranked No. 10 in Class 3A. Freshman Zane Kohlmeyer, sophomore Coltin Whitten and junior Landon Hansen placed sixth at 128, 145 and 285, respectively.

Newton will compete in the Bettendorf Invitational Friday and Saturday.

Here are the complete Newton results from Ottumwa:

Ottumwa Invitational 2017

113 - Blake Cockerton (15-9), 1st

Rnd 1 - Cockerton tech fall 19-1 over Ian Taylor (Burlington) (TF-1.5 4:17)

Rnd 2 - Cockerton pinned Morgan Lawson (Ottumwa JV) (Fall 1:53)

Rnd 3 - Cockerton dec. Michael Santoro (Iowa City High) (Dec 10-7)

Championship Bracket - Cockerton dec. Trenton Burkheimer (Des Moines East)(Dec 11-4)

1st Place Match - Cockerton pinned Nathanael Schoemaker (Ottumwa) (Fall 1:45)

120 - Aren Sorensen (3-4), 4th

Rnd 1 - Michael Clark (Ottumwa) pinned Sorensen (Fall 1:17)

Rnd 2 - Sorensen, Bye

Rnd 3 - Sorensen pinned Luke House (Sigourney) (Fall 3:32)

Championship Bracket - Christian Milligan (Des Moines East) pinned Sorensen (Fall 0:31)

3rd Place Match - Ryan Ceynar (Iowa City High) dec. Sorensen (Dec 10-8)

126 - Ross Hull (15-10), 3rd

Rnd 1 - Hull tech fall 15-0 over Dallas Peebler (Fairfield) (TF-1.5 4:00)

Rnd 2 - Hull pinned Thomas Stout (Sigourney) (Fall 0:20)

Rnd 3 - Brock Espalin (Des Moines East) pinned Hull (Fall 1:20)

Championship Bracket - Lance Bormann (Iowa City High) pinned Hull (Fall 1:07)

3rd Place Match - Hull tech fall 20-4 over Jacob Fitzner (Ottumwa) (TF-1.5 3:52)

132 - Noah Cook (5-13), 6th

Rnd 1 - Zach Barnes (Fairfield) pinned Cook (Fall 0:29)

Rnd 2 - Joey Harney (Iowa City High) pinned Cook (Fall 1:03)

Rnd 3 - Cook pinned Blake Klein (Ottumwa) (Fall 0:46)

Consolation Bracket - Cook, Bye

5th Place Match - Bryce Angle (Burlington) dec. Cook (Dec 10-6)

138 - Zane Kohlmeyer (4-3), 6th

Rnd 1 - Jack Anson (Iowa City High) pinned Kohlmeyer (Fall 2:58)

Rnd 2 - Deville Dentis (Des Moines East) pinned Kohlmeyer (Fall 0:40)

Rnd 3 - Kohlmeyer, Bye

Consolation Bracket - Kohlmeyer dec. Calvin Nguyen (Burlington) (Dec 5-3)

5th Place Match - Tyler McCoy (Ottumwa) pinned Kohlmeyer (Fall 1:42)

145 - Coltin Whitten (5-17), 6th

Rnd 1 - Alex Kooker (Iowa City High) pinned Whitten (Fall 3:22)

Rnd 2 - Jonathan Morales (Ottumwa) won by maj. dec. over Whitten (MD 11-3)

Rnd 3 - Tyler Woodyard (Des Moines East) pinned Whitten (Fall 5:50)

Consolation Bracket - Whitten pinned Charles Heisel (Fairfield) (Fall 3:58)

5th Place Match - Tyler Woodyard (Des Moines East) pinned Whitten (Fall 1:31)

152 - Logan Zibert (18-3), 1st

Rnd 1 - Zibert, Bye

Rnd 2 - Zibert pinned Jack Stubbs (Des Moines East) (Fall 2:41)

Rnd 3 - Zibert won by maj. dec. over Wilfred Kadohou (Iowa City High) (MD 12-3)

Rnd 4 - Zibert pinned Cian Borra (Sigourney) (Fall 1:19)

Rnd 5 - Zibert dec. Brennan Creelman (Burlington) (Dec 4-3)

160 - Noah Hammer (3-3), 4th

Rnd 1 - Hammer pinned Carter Spalla (Fairfield) (Fall 1:44)

Rnd 2 - Hammer dec. Micheal Boylan (Des Moines East) (Dec 6-2)

Rnd 3 - Alec Schuster (Sigourney) pinned Hammer (Fall 3:25)

Championship Bracket - Kyle Hefley (Iowa City High) pinned Hammer (Fall 5:12)

3rd Place Match - Alec Schuster (Sigourney) pinned Hammer (Fall 1:37)

170 - Tanner Petro (15-10), 2nd

Rnd 1 - Petro pinned Brody Johnson (Burlington) (Fall 5:06)

Rnd 2 - Petro pinned Tucker Shepard (Ottumwa) (Fall 0:44)

Rnd 3 - Petro, Bye

Rnd 4 - Petro pinned Brandon Lalla (Iowa City High) (Fall 2:58)

Rnd 5 - Noah Reeves (Sigourney) pinned Petro (Fall 6:00)

182 - Brady Smith (18-7), 3rd

Rnd 1 - Smith dec. Tanner Tillotson (Des Moines East) (Dec 5-4)

Rnd 2 - Smith, Bye

Rnd 3 - Spencer Sherwood (Burlington) dec. Smith (Dec 7-2)

Championship Bracket - Brock Hunger (Iowa City High) pinned Smith (Fall 1:47)

3rd Place Match - Smith tech fall 17-1 over Bryan Corndora (Ottumwa) 13-9 (TF-1.5 5:43)

195 - Jaise Gulling (4-6), 4th

Rnd 1 - Gulling 4-6 pinned Shai Guido (Ottumwa) (Fall 5:52)

Rnd 2 - Jacob Dykes (Iowa City High) 24-0 pinned Gulling (Fall 2:25)

Rnd 3 - Kaleb Reeves (Sigourney) pinned Gulling Fall 3:16)

Rnd 4 - Michael Fritz (Fairfield) dec. Gulling (Dec 4-2)

Rnd 5 - Gulling, Bye

220 - Alex Miller (15-9), 3rd

Rnd 1 - Jordain Buckland (Iowa City High) pinned Miller (Fall 1:09)

Rnd 2 - Miller, Bye

Rnd 3 - Miller, Bye

Rnd 4 - Noah Boender (Sigourney) pinned Miller (Fall 3:00)

Rnd 5 - Miller pinned Trenton Sheets (Ottumwa) (Fall 0:50)

285 - Landon Hansen (6-8), 6th

Rnd 1 - Cooper Greiner (Sigourney) pinned Hansen (Fall 3:30)

Rnd 2 - Jacob Murry(Iowa City High) pinned Hansen (Fall 1:07)

Rnd 3 - Hansen, Bye

Consolation Bracket - Hansen, Bye

5th Place Match - Broc Garlow (Burlington) pinned Hansen (Fall 2:51)

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