Cardinal wrestling season ends at 3A districts

WAUKEE — When every thing was said and done, three of Newton High’s 11 wrestlers at Saturday’s Class 3A District 7 tournament had their fate in their own hands. They were in positions to earn a state tournament berth at the end of the day.

Newton’s Cardinals had six wrestlers end up in third-place matches. They had to win those matches and depend on the wrestlers who beat them in the semifinals to win a district title. If those two things happened, the Cardinal wrestlers would be pulled into a second-place match.

It happened in three weight classes — 195, 220, 285 — giving Newton’s sophomore Jaise Gulling, freshman Gage Linahon and senior Alex Miller opportunities for state berths.

At 195, Gulling had pinned Carlisle’s Kallen Glawe in 3 minutes, 21 seconds in the third-place match and top-ranked Kaden Sauer of Dowling Catholic won the district title. Gulling found himself facing West Des Moines Valley’s Connor Corbin in the second-place match, but lost by an 11-3 major decision.

Linahon won by medical forfeit over Des Moines East’s Case Tillotson in the third-place match at 220. Valley’s top-ranked Rocky Lombardi claimed the 220 district title, sending Dowling’s Jacob Zachary to the second-place match against Linahon. Zachary pinned Linahon in 56 seconds.

Miller claimed an 11-6 decision over Valley’s Julius Imafidon to win the 285-pound third-place match. Waukee’s Nathan McDonald, who was ranked No. 7, came away with the district title, so Miller faced Urbandale’s Tavian Hughes in the second-place match. Miller was locked in a 5-all decision in the third period when Hughes reversed him and pinned Miller at the 5:44 mark.

Gulling (18-11), Linahon (10-6) and Miller (20-17) finished third at the 3A district tournament. Senior Tanner Petro (21-15) took third at 170 after winning his third-place match with a 3-1 decision over Dowling’s Josh Paskach, but by rule was not awarded a wrestleback match for second.

Sophomore Blake Cockerton (22-17) lost a tough 10-8 decision to Des Moines East’s David Huck for fourth at 113. Junior Blayden Rhone (15-10) lost 5-3 to Dowling’s Greg Hagan in the 182-pound third-place match to finish fourth.

Newton did not qualify any wrestler for this week’s 2017 Iowa Class 3A State Wrestling Tournament in Des Moines.

“The guys fought very hard, and I am proud of the way they competed all year,” Newton head coach Andy Swedenhjelm said.

Gulling posted a 7-5 decision over Des Moines East’s Adam March in the 195-pound quarterfinal then was pinned by Sauer in 45 seconds in the semifinal. At 220, Linahon pinned Carlisle’s Cody Hutchinson in 55 seconds in the quarterfinals, and was pinned in 16 seconds by Lombardi in the semifinal. Miller won by a fall in 1:50 over East’s Truman Rodman at 285 in the quarterfinals, and was pinned by McDonald in 3:47 of their semifinal match.

Junior Ross Hull (24-16) took fifth at 126 pounds. Finishing sixth were freshman Blake Iske (19-22) at 120, sophomore Joseph Carolus (10-10) at 132 and senior Jon Lawton (6-14) at 145. Junior Tristin Langmaid (18-20) did not place at 160, losing his first two matches of the tournament.

Valley won the 3A District 7 team title with 248 points followed by Dowling with 161 points. Third place went to host Waukee with 152 points and Carlisle was fourth with 147 points. Urbandale was fifth with 135 points, Des Moines East was sixth with 128 points, Newton was seventh with 96 points and Des Moines Roosevelt was eighth with 24 points.

Cockerton beat Valley’s Noah Micka 11-6 in their 113-pound quarterfinal then was pinned by Waukee’s second-ranked Kyle Biscoglia in 4:20 in the semifinals. Cockerton lost his third-place match.

Iske was pinned by Urbandale’s Cal Baethke in 2:54 of the 120 quarterfinals, sending him to the consolation bracket. Iske had a bye then lost 6-1 to Dowling’s Michael Collins in the fifth-place match.

At 126, Hull lost by a fall to Urbandale’s Jackson Smith in 1:22 in the quarterfinals and received a bye in the consolation semifinals. Hull pinned Roosevelt’s Jacob Senna in 1:26 to take fifth.

Carolus was pinned by Urbandale’s Luke Stuart in 1:46 of their 132-pound quarterfinal. After a bye in the consolation semifinals, Carolus was pinned by Carlisle’s Tyler Squires in 5:46 of the fifth-place match.

Seventh-ranked Brock Parker of Waukee pinned Newton’s Lawton in 40 seconds of the 145 quarterfinal match. A bye put Lawton in the fifth-place match, which he lost 6-4 to Dowling’s Jack Finstad.

Langmaid was pinned by Carlisle’s Orrye Reed in 2:34 at 160 in the quarterfinals. He lost by a fall in 1:53 of the consolation semifinals to Roosevelt’s Justin Overmyer.

Petro opened the 170 division with a quarterfinal-round bye. Urbandale’s sixth-ranked Austin Lamm pinned Petro in 5:04 of the semifinal. Petro won his third-place match, but Lamm lost in the championship match giving him second.

Rhone pinned Carlisle’s Ethan Reed in 3:37 to win his 182-pound quarterfinal. Rhone took Waukee’s Brandon Tessau into overtime, and Tessau pinned Rhone in the sudden-victory round. He lost the third-place match.

“I appreciate all the hared work our fantastic seniors have put in this season,” Swedenhjem said. “They have helped our program reach places we have not been in a long time in regards to qualifying for the regional duals.

“They also have showed a lot of our young guys how to compete and work. They have a hand in the success we will see next year and beyond.”

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