C-M’s Fitch, L-S’ Dunsbergen knock off ranked foes to stay alive

DES MOINES — Lynnville-Sully’s Josh Dunsbergen and Colfax-Mingo’s Cauy Fitch are friends away from competition.

They run against each other during cross country season in the fall, but root for each other to succeed on the mats when their two teams aren’t facing each other.

Thursday night, inside Wells Fargo Arena, the South Iowa Cedar League representatives both pulled off upsets of ranked wrestlers a mere seconds a part during the Iowa High School State Wrestling Championships.

After both wrestlers suffered first-round losses to ranked foes, they both needed wins over another ranked grappler to keep their seasons alive.

Done.

Dunsbergen’s 25-second pin at 138 pounds against fifth-ranked Austin Gutknecht of Clarinda came 30 seconds before Fitch held off seventh-ranked freshman Isaac Schimmels of Denver, 4-2, at 120 pounds.

“We knew he was heavy handed,” Dunsbergen said of Gutknecht. “He’s obviously a strong kid. It was tough taking the first loss, but it feels good to finally get a win here. We want to still do some damage though.”

Colfax-Mingo’s Chance Rice, who is ranked sixth at 160 pounds, is unfortunately unable to do any damage this week. He suffered a 3-2 loss in the first round to unranked Elijah Wagner of Lake Mills and then was pinned by unranked Luke Jones of Central Decatur in the consolation round.

Fitch lost his first match 14-6 to third-ranked Blake Thomsen of Underwood. He got an early takedown against Schimmels, continued to lead 2-0 after two periods and then scored two escape points in the third to close out the win.

“I just wanted to get to Friday for my family and my coaches,” Fitch said. “They are all here supporting me. I didn’t want to let them down.”

Colfax-Mingo coach Erin Hume said the early takedown was a confidence booster for Fitch, who was wrestling at the state meet for the first time.

“Scoring first was huge for Cauy. He wrestles better when he is ahead and not chasing points,” Hume said. “We knew our opponent would be tough, and we knew it was going to be tough to come back from the loss. Cauy did a nice job of getting himself focused and ready to go.”

Dunsbergen suffered a 15-0 technical fall loss to second-ranked Kolton Roth of GTRA. He didn’t spend much more than 15 seconds on the mat for his wrestleback match as he countered a head lock and stuck Gutknecht in 25 seconds.

“It was real simple. You just have to be able to come back and get it done,” Lynnville-Sully coach Jason Walston said. “Josh is a student of the sport. He knew what he had to do. He took care of business.

“If you get here, anything can happen. Throw the rankings out the window.”

Dunsbergen said Gutknecht tried to get beat him with an early headlock. Dunsbergen was able to counter the move with strong hips.

“I just basically sat down after he got me in the headlock,” said Dunsbergen, who is now 37-6 on the season. “He tried to roll me, but I sank my hips, caught his head and roll him back the other way for the pin.”

Fitch takes a 48-7 record into Friday’s second-round consolations. He’s had his fair share of ups and downs at Colfax-Mingo. That makes it even more special for his coach.

“I have spent a lot of time with him,” Hume said. “It hasn’t always been great. But to see him do this today, and get that win, was awesome. Now, we can’t be satisfied with just one win.”

While Hume was happy for Fitch, he was equally sad his lone senior qualifier won’t be wrestling on Friday. Rice came in with hopes of a medal but his season comes to an abrupt end at 46-5.

He had leads in both of his matches. He was up 2-0 on Wagner after on period but trailed 3-2 after two. Rice chose neutral to start the third but was unable to get the winning takedown.

Against Jones, Rice also got the first takedown. He led 2-1 after one period but couldn’t finish off the win. The pin came with 55 seconds to go in the second period.

“Wrestling can be selfish. That kid was looking for a throw from the first whistle, and Chance did a good job staying out of it for awhile,” Hume said. “That type of throw is hard to prepare for though.

“He had a great season, and I am proud of him, but it’s an unfortunate ending.”

Fitch and Dunsbergen return to the mats for second-round consolation matches Friday. The session first begins with quarterfinal matches at 2:30 p.m.

Contact Troy Hyde at
641-792-3121 ext. 6536 or thyde@newtondailynews.com