Smith is LHC wrestling 182-pound champion

GRIMES — Brady Smith missed most of his junior season because of a shoulder injury. He was able to come back at the end of last year, finishing fourth in 170 pounds at the 2016 Little Hawkeye Conference wrestling tournament.

Newton High’s Smith set goals for his senior season on the wrestling mat — the ultimate one of being on the state podium. Smith achieved another goal Saturday. He became the 182-pound Little Hawkeye Conference champion.

Smith put up a 13-5 major decision over Norwalk’s Nick Foster in the 182-pound title bout. He had a first-round bye then defeated Indianola’s Chayton Reif, 13-6, in a semifinal match.

Smith (27-8) was one of two Cardinal wrestlers reaching championship matches at the LHC meet hosted by Dallas Center-Grimes. Newton had six wrestlers finished third in their respective weight divisions.

Class 3A eighth-ranked Indianola made an impact in its first season in the Little Hawkeye Conference, winning the 2017 LHC team title with 244.5 points. Dallas Center-Grimes was second with 199.5 points and Norwalk was third with 183.5 points.

Newton finished fourth with 143 points followed by Grinnell in fifth at 119.5. Oskaloosa was sixth with 104 points and Pella was seventh with 96 points.

“I thought we wrestled well. It was great to see our guys compete well all day,” Newton head coach Andy Swedenhjelm said. “It was nice to have so many kids place in the top three.”

Senior Alex Miller used two pins to advance to the 220-pound title match. He was leading Norwalk’s Drake Leek 8-3 when the Class 3A 10th-ranked Leek reversed him and pinned Miller at the 3:44 mark.

Miller, who was fourth at 285 as a junior at the LHC meet, finished second at 220. He pinned Oskaloosa’s Tyson Breuklander in 3 minutes, 47 seconds in the quarter finals. Miller (18-15) pinned Indianola’s Sam Wolff right at the end of the second period of their semifinal match.

Sophomore Blake Cockerton (20-15) won his third-place match at 113 pounds by defeating Grinnell’s Dalton Gosselink, 8-7. Junior Ross Hull (23-15) pinned Pella’s Lane Rodamaker not once but twice in the tournament as he did it in 1:35 during a quarterfinal 126-pound bout then in 51 seconds in the third-place math.

Sophomore Joe Carolus lost to Indianola’s 3A fourth-ranked Lance Runyon in a semifinal match at 132. Carolus (9-8) bounced back to edge out Dallas Center-Grimes’ Harrison Livingston, 5-4, to claim third place.

At 152-pounds, Newton senior Logan Zibert met Class 3A ninth-ranked Alan Moore of Norwalk in the semifinals and lost 11-7. Zibert (26-7) worked his way to the third-place match, beating Indianola’s Brennan Meacham by an 11-3 major decision.

Junior Tristin Langmaid claimed third at 160 for Newton. His loss was by a fall to DCG’s Ben Fisher in the semifinals. Langmaid (17-17) pinned Grinnell’s Gabe Osborne in the consolation semifinal to reach the third-place match. Langmaid faced Norwalk’s Tyler Gearhart, who he had pinned in the quarterfinals, and pinned Gearhart in 59 seconds.

In the 195-pound division, sophomore Jaise Gulling came back from a semifinal loss to win two matches in a row for third place. Gulling (19-8) pinned Grinnell’s Isaiah McAlexander in 5:47 to win the third-place bout.

Freshman Blake Iske (18-20) finished fifth at 120 pounds. After losing twice on the mat, Iske pinned Pella’s Matthew Widmar in 2:43 in the fifth-place match.

Senior Tanner Petro had a tough draw in the 170-pound division. He lost 10-8 to 3A sixth-ranked Pella’s Ashton Messer in the quarterfinals. After a bye, Petro met Norwalk’s Jack Livingston, ranked No. 7, in the consolation semifinals, losing 2-1. Petro (19-14) was pinned by DCG’s Bain Broderick to finish sixth.

Junior Landon Hansen placed sixth at 285. He lost his quarterfinal match, dropping him into the consolation bracket. Hansen met Oskaloosa’s Callan Tomlin, who is ranked No. 9, in the consolation semifinal and was pinned. Hansen (10-15) was pinned by Norwalk’s Bryce Kohls in the fifth-place match.

Sophomore Reece Caves (7-18) at 138 pounds and senior Jon Lawton (6-11) at 145 pounds lost their first two matches and did not place in the tournament.

“Our conference tournament is a great tune-up for districts in two weeks,” Swedenhjelm said. “We always use it as an evaluation to see what we need to focus on and clean up before our real postseason begins in two weeks.”

Newton concludes its regular season at a non-conference double dual at 5:30 p.m. Thursday with Des Moines Lincoln and host Ames.

Newton has qualified for a Class 3A duals regional on Feb. 8 at Indianola. The Cardinals wrestle Glenwood at 6 p.m. and the winner of that dual wrestles Indianola the same night. The regional winning team advances to the 3A state duals tournament on Feb. 15 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

On Feb. 11, the Cardinals compete in a Class 3A district meet starting at noon at Waukee. Along with Newton and ninth-ranked Waukee in the 3A District 7 tournament are top-ranked Valley, sixth-ranked Dowling Catholic, Carlisle, Des Moines East, Des Moines Roosevelt and Urbandale. The top two wrestlers in each weight class qualify for the 3A state tournament Feb. 16-18 at Wells Fargo Arena.

Little Hawkeye Conference Tournament

Results for Newton

113 - Blake Cockerton (20-15), 3rd

Quarterfinal - Cockerton, Bye

Semifinal - Ayden Kovaleski (Dallas Center-Grimes) dec. Cockerton (Dec 4-3)

Cons. Semi - Cockerton won in sudden victory - 1 over Keaton Morret (Norwalk) (SV-1 14-9)

3rd Place Match - Cockerton dec. Dalton Gosselink (Grinnell) (Dec 8-7)

120 - Blake Iske (18-20), 5th

Quarterfinal - Ethan Vetterick (Norwalk) pinned Iske (Fall 1:09)

Cons. Round 1 - Iske, Bye

Cons. Semi - Alex Farmer (Grinnell) dec. Iske (Dec 5-1)

5th Place Match - Iske pinned Matthew Widmar (Pella) (Fall 2:43)

126 - Ross Hull (23-15), 3rd

Quarterfinal - Hull pinned Lane Rodamaker (Pella) (Fall 1:35)

Semifinal - Skyler Edgington (Indianola) pinned Hull (Fall 3:59)

Cons. Semi - Hull maj. dec. Ethan Kirby (Grinnell) (MD 15-7)

3rd Place Match - Hull pinned Lane Rodamaker (Pella) (Fall 0:51)

132 - Joseph Carolus (9-8), 3rd

Quarterfinal - Carolus pinned Alex Hoover (Norwalk) (Fall 1:04)

Semifinal - Lance Runyon (Indianola) pinned Carolus (Fall 0:17)

Cons. Semi - Carolus maj. dec. Zaiyan Mamun (Oskaloosa) (MD 14-3)

3rd Place Match - Carolus dec. Harrison Livingston (Dallas Center-Grimes) (Dec 5-4)

138 - Reece Caves (7-18)

Quarterfinal - Sam Fredrickson (Pella) pinned Caves (Fall 5:57)

Cons. Round 1 - Chris Adams (Norwalk) pinned Caves (Fall 2:59)

145 - Jon Lawton (6-11)

Quarterfinal - Tyler Hirl (Norwalk) pinned Lawton (Fall 1:50)

Cons. Round 1 - Luke Fistler (Dallas Center-Grimes) dec. Lawton (Dec 4-2)

152 - Logan Zibert (26-7), 3rd

Quarterfinal - Zibert pinned Bryson Cline (Grinnell) (Fall 2:23)

Semifinal - Alan Moore (Norwalk) dec. Zibert (Dec 11-7)

Cons. Semi - Zibert dec. James Van Gorp (Pella) (Dec 10-6)

3rd Place Match - Zibert maj. dec. Brennan Meacham (Indianola) (MD 11-3)

160 - Tristin Langmaid (17-17), 3rd

Quarterfinal - Langmaid pinned Tyler Gearhart (Norwalk) (Fall 0:57)

Semifinal - Ben Fisher (Dallas Center-Grimes) pinned Langmaid (Fall 1:10)

Cons. Semi - Langmaid pinned Gabe Osborne (Grinnell) (Fall 3:31)

3rd Place Match - Langmaid pinned Tyler Gearhart (Norwalk) (Fall 0:59)

170 - Tanner Petro (19-14), 6th

Quarterfinal - Ashton Messer (Pella) dec. Petro (Dec 10-8)

Cons. Round 1 - Petro, Bye

Cons. Semi - Jack Livingston (Norwalk) dec. Petro (Dec 2-1)

5th Place Match - Bain Broderick (Dallas Center-Grimes) pinned Petro (Fall 2:14)

182 - Brady Smith (27-8), 1st

Quarterfinal - Smith, Bye

Semifinal - Smith dec. Chayton Reif (Indianola) (Dec 13-6)

1st Place Match - Smith maj. dec. Nick Foster (Norwalk) (MD 13-5)

195 - Jaise Gulling (19-8), 3rd

Quarterfinal - Gulling, Bye

Semifinal - Kyler Salazar (Oskaloosa) dec. Gulling (Dec 4-2)

Cons. Semi - Gulling dec. Jordan Hansen (Norwalk) (Dec 7-2)

3rd Place Match - Gulling pinned Isaiah McAlexander (Grinnell) (Fall 5:47)

220 - Alex Miller (18-15), 2nd

Quarterfinal - Miller pinned Tyson Breuklander (Oskaloosa) (Fall 3:47)

Semifinal - Miller pinned Sam Wolff (Indianola) (Fall 4:00)

1st Place Match - Drake Leek (Norwalk) 27-4 pinned Miller (Fall 3:44)

285 - Landon Hansen (10-15), 6th

Quarterfinal - Jacob Comer (Dallas Center-Grimes) pinned Hansen (Fall 1:10)

Cons. Round 1 - Hansen, Bye

Cons. Semi - Callan Tomlin (Oskaloosa) pinned Hansen (Fall 3:50)

5th Place Match - Bryce Kohls (Norwalk) pinned Hansen (Fall 0:57)

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