PCM crowns four champs at host invitational

MONROE — Area wrestlers had the chance to show what they were made of Saturday during the PCM Invitational.

Prairie City-Monroe sophomore Jarron Trausch had the chance to get his season back on track after dropping out of the rankings earlier this season.

Trausch’s teammate, sophomore Lucas Roland, faced somebig-time adversity against another ranked wrestler, too.

Colfax-Mingo sophomore Cauy Fitch finally got his shotagainst two quality opponents, while Lynnville-Sully junior Cayden Johnsoncontinued to prove his season could run deep into the postseason.

In all, six area wrestlers reached title matches in theirrespective weight classes and five were crowned champions.

Fitch perhaps made the biggest impression on the state’s rabidwrestling fraternity when he pinned Class 3A No. 10 Carter Logue of Carlisle inthe semifinal round. In the 113-pound championship match, Fitch blasted 2016state tournament qualifier Brennan Brown of Westwood Sloan, 11-2. It was thesecond PCM Invitational title for the Tigerhawk sophomore.

Fitch was joined at the top of the podium by four PCMwrestlers – Trausch, Roland, senior Xavier Miller and freshman Payton Drake.Johnson came up short of the title but claimed runner-up honors at 152 pounds.

“I was nervous coming into today. I wrestled (Brown) last year, so I knew some of his moves, but I didn’t know anything about (Logue). Gettingthree wins feels good. I feel good. This title was tough. My arms hurt today.”

The four individual championships led the Mustangs to afifth-place finish in the team standings. Not having the services of 2A No. 7Wes Cummings (152) and seniors Leevi Telfer (195) and Jakeb Fenton (120) hurtthe host team’s chances at hoisting the team trophy on its home mat. Cummingsand Telfer were projected to win their weight brackets, but both wrestlers didnot compete because of illness.

Class 1A Westwood (162) won the team title by two pointsover 3A Pella (160). Gilbert finished third with 145.5 points followed bySaydel (131) and PCM (127.5). Class 3A Carlisle finished .5 points behind PCMin sixth.

Moravia ended up seventh with 116.5 followed byPleasantville (111), Knoxville (109.5) and Colfax-Mingo (81). Lynnville-Sullyfinished 11th in the 15-team field with 71 points. Chariton (64.5),Riceville (57), Des Moines North-Hoover (52) and Pekin (50.5) completed thefield.

Trausch had the most impressive for the Mustangs on theday. After falling out of the rankings following two losses at the AnkenyCentennial dual tournament before the holiday break, Trausch appears to haverighted the ship.

Trausch had to win four matches to claim his second 170-poundPCM tourney title, but he opened with a pin and a technical fall. Trauschadvanced to the finals with a 10-3 win over Carlisle’s Travis Johnston (16-5)and then dominated 3A No. 10 Ashton Messer (16-2) of Pella in the finals.Trausch is now 20-3 on the season.

“Most of it was just my mentality,” Trausch said. “I gotdown to a low point when I lost those two matches at Centennial. It took me acouple weeks to get back into it. Then, I lost again at Solon, and that was awake-up call. I know I can be beaten if I am not doing what I have to do. Ijust changed a lot of stuff, including how hard I worked in practice.”

Roland spent the first few weeks of the season battlingan injury. So with less than 10 matches on the year, the 2016 place winner hasnot yet shown he belongs in the top three of the 2A 160-pound weight class. Hehad the chance to do that Saturday against Pleasantville’s Griffen McBride, whois ranked 10th in 1A and 2016 place winner.

Roland reached the finals following a technical fall win inthe quarterfinals and a 9-3 victory in the semifinals.

McBride scored an early takedown against Roland in thefinals. Leading 4-2, McBride rode out Roland in the second and nearly did soagain in the third. However, a third caution violation closed the gap to 4-3.While trying to earn an escape point, Roland (9-1) was pushed out of bounds ontwo consecutive attempts, which gave the Mustang sophomore back-to-backstalling points.

“It was definitely a growing point for me. I had to kindof strap in and decide which way I wanted the ride to go. I just decided that Ihad to keep working because I have bigger goals later this season,” Rolandsaid. “It was a good win. I haven’t had a lot of matches yet this year so to goand get a win against a good opponent is just getting me that much closer tobeing ready for state in February.”

Miller won his third PCM tournament title with three morewins. He is now 20-2 on the season after a win by pin, technical fall anddecision at 145 pounds. Miller now has 128 wins in his career.

“I was frustrated that I couldn’t turn him in the finals,”Miller said of his performance on the day. “I need to be able to score morepoints. Winning 5-0 is just not good enough for me.

“Other than the two losses, I am happy with the season sofar. I just need to figure out how to score more points against guys who don’tdo much against me.”

Drake won his first PCM tournament title as the No. 3seed. He won his first-round 106-pound match 5-4 and then recorded a pair ofpins to close out his day. He is now 17-5 on the season.

“It’s a real pleasure to be a part of this team,” Drakesaid. “I had some success with the cradle today, and I did well with the slideby, too. This will give me some confidence.”

The Mustangs’ lineup included 12 wrestlers. Clay Van Wyk(113) and Caleb Peter (120) both finished seventh, while Brady Fagen (152) andDalton Schlangen (182) ended up eighth.

Fitch came into the day as the No. 2 seed. He improved his overall record to 20-1 and scored bonus points in all three matches. He pinned his way to the finals, and then rallied from an early 2-0 hole againstBrown to win by major decision.

Colfax-Mingo junior Colton Lourens reached the semifinals at 220 pounds and finished third. His only loss came by fall to 1A No. 8 Quinton Castell of Moravia. Lourens went 4-1 on the day with four pins and isnow 20-3 on the season.

The Tigerhawks only brought nine wrestlers to the tournament. Freshman Zack Barnes (15-7) placed fourth at 106, seniors Adam Teed (138) and Will Dunsbergen (152) finished sixth in their respective weights andjunior Nick Barnes claimed eighth at 195.

Lynnville-Sully also brought over nine wrestlers.

Johnson improved to 10-4 on the season with a win by pin and major decision. His only loss came against Westwood’s Drew Anderson by fall. Anderson is ranked No. 6 at 160 pounds in 1A.

“It was a good day. I had to fight to get to where I was,” Johnson said. “Getting second isn’t ideal, and it’s not what you want, but it’sbetter than I have ever done here or anywhere really. So this feels amazing.”

Junior Josh Dunsbergen placed fourth for the Hawks at 126pounds. One of his two losses came against 2A No. 8 Gabe Ruepke of Chariton.

Colten Arment reached the semifinals at 182 pounds but finished sixth on the day. Senior Caden Dunsbergen (138) and junior SageZylstra (160) finished seventh in their weight classes and Jacob Dehoedt placedeighth at 106.

Miller, Roland and Trausch like wrestling in front oftheir home fans. They all have different views on what this tournament means tothem though.

“It feels good to win in front of the fans,” Trauschsaid. “This one was important for me because I need to get back on track. Ineeded this one.”

Roland puts a special emphasis on wrestling in theMustangs’ home invitational but knows he can’t overboard with the emotions.

“It’s always really nice to win at home,” Roland said. “Itallows us to show the home fans what we have been working on all season, but atthe same time you can’t overthink it. It’s just another tourney.”

Miller added, “It feels good. I don’t want to lose infront of my home fans, but other than that, it’s just another tournament for me.”

Colfax-Mingo hosts Collins-Maxwell/Baxter in a non-conference dual at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The Tigerhawks wrestle at 6 p.m. Thursday in Montezuma.

PCM hosts a Heart of Iowa Conference rival triangular with South Hamilton and Greene County at 6 p.m. Thursday.

Lynnville-Sully hosts BGM and Iowa Valley in a South Iowa Cedar League triangular at 6 p.m. Thursday.