March 19, 2024

Roland earns second consecutive medal, finishes fifth at 160 pounds

DES MOINES — With his championship goal already out the window on Day 1, Prairie City-Monroe sophomore Lucas Roland had no choice but to rally and climb a little bit higher up the podium.

Wrestling with torn ligaments in both thumbs, Roland did just that on Friday and Saturday at the Iowa High School State Wrestling Championships at Wells Fargo Arena.

Roland (36-4) took to the mats with one last goal in mind. He wanted to get back to the third-place match.

Unfortunately, Roland came up one short of that mark, losing twice in the tournament to Dubuque Wahlert’s Kolton Bartow. He had leads in both matches against Bartow, but the seventh-ranked grappler rallied both times.

Roland earned a rematch with Bartow after he took care of business of Friday. He opened the day with a 14-9-0 win over No. 10 Matt Dahl of MOC-Floyd Valley.

After that, Roland scored first in a 3-1 win over Washington’s Tristin Westphal-Edwards, who came into the tournament ranked sixth.

In the rematch against Bartow, Roland led 5-0 after two periods but couldn’t hold momentum for the second straight match.

Roland fell behind Dahl 6-0 in the first period before rallying. The match turned in the second period when Roland took over. A takedown trimmed Roland’s deficit to 6-3 and then he tied it with near fall late in the second. Westphal-Edwards went to finish seventh.

In the third, Roland was untouchable until the closing seconds. He pushed his lead to 14-6 with a takedown and two nearfall situations.

“It was gut check time for Lucas,” PCM coach Cory Waddell said. “He lost in the first round last year, too, and came back to get a medal. He’s hurting, but he’s a gamer. He gives you six minutes every time.”

Roland added, “I grit my teeth and decided I wasn’t going to be done yet.”

The two wins Friday pushed Roland into a guaranteed spot on the medal stand. The only question left was where exactly would he be.

The winner of the Roland-Bartow match advanced to the fifth-place match. Unfortunately for Roland, he came up short, sending him to the fifth place match. Bartow ended up finishing third.

“I didn’t really have anything to lose,” Roland said after the win over Solon’s Trevor Nelson. “I was guaranteed a place and guaranteed to be higher than I was last year. I went for it and it worked out.”

In the win against Nelson, Roland jumped out to a 2-0 lead and led 4-1 at the time of the pin.

“He was extremely upset after the second loss to Bartow. “I didn’t know how he was going to come out after that loss. He was either going to do what he did or he was to come out and lay down. I never known Lucas to lay down, but I thought he could. That consolation semifinal loss took a lot out of him. He had it won. It’s so hard to come back after that, but he got after it and got it done.”

A year after finishing seventh at 138, Roland takes home a fifth-place medal at 160 pounds. His two-year career record is 79-8.

“It’s crazy. I have been through so much. I changed schools just for this. This has been my goal since I was a little kid,” Roland said. “I am doing this again. This is an unbelievable feeling. I am going to be higher on the stand.”

Roland has learned a lot in his first two years as a state place winner. That ultimate goal of winning a state title still exists.

“I am going out with a win. It’s not what my original goal, but it’s an improvement from last year. I still have a lot work to do,” Roland said. “This tournament showed me how much harder I need to work in the offseason. It also showed me that I can wrestler with the best guys. I am right there. I just have put in that little extra time and keep doing what I am doing.”