MONROE — We have reached the time of the wrestling season when the elite grapplers around the state start working their way toward the medal stand inside Wells Fargo Arena.
Colfax-Mingo’s Cauy Fitch hopes to be one of those medalists later this season, and he got the second part of the season off to a strong start on Jan. 5 when he claimed his third individual title at the PCM Mustang Invitational.
Fitch won all three of matches to improve to 18-2 on the season. He won twice by fall and once by technical fall.
It was the only team title for Colfax-Mingo, and Fitch was the only finalist as the Tigerhawks placed ninth overall with 61.5 points.
“This is about the time of the season where if you want to reach the podium at the end of the year, you need to be doing some things,” Colfax-Mingo coach Erin Hume said. “Cauy did great today. He wrestled hard. He tried some new things, worked on his technique and came out a champion. I am proud of him.”
Top-ranked PCM won its second straight home tournament title with 221.5 points. Carlisle scored 199.5 in second followed by Gilbert (163), Pekin (149.5) and Pella (114). The next five were Central Decatur (78), Knoxville (73), Des Moines North-Hoover (66), Colfax-Mingo and Chariton (48).
PCM and Colfax-Mingo both had JV wrestlers who were part of two separate smaller teams. Those teams finished 11th and 12th.
Colfax-Mingo had four open weights. Junior Cyden Fitch (16-1) did not wrestle because of an illness.
Cauy Fitch won the 120-pound title, junior Noah Strohmeyer was third at 106, senior Damir Gumerov was fourth at 195 and junior Trystin Ross (160) and freshman Kenny Schlosser (285) were both sixth their respective weights.
“I thought the day went fine. We had some kids wrestle where they should have and some who didn’t. The effort was there,” Hume said. “We need to keep working and continue to get ready for the end of the season.”
Cauy Fitch’s three wins brings him closer to the school record. He now has 127 career victories and needs six more to set a new school record.
“I feel pretty focused. Everything is where I want it to be right now. I just need to stay aggressive with my shots,” Cauy Fitch said.
Strohmeyer (16-3) was 2-1 on the day, including a pin over PCM freshman Trey Thomas. He had two pins on the day and his only loss was 4-2.
Gumerov (17-6) was 2-2 on the day, while Ross (21-9) and Schlosser each went 1-3.
Colfax-Mingo wrestled against Baxter and Collins-Maxwell on Jan. 8. The Tigerhawks’ Senior Night against HLV and Bondurant-Farrar is at 6 p.m. on Jan. 10 in Colfax.
Tigerhawks down Montezuma, BGM
MONTEZUMA — Six wrestlers went 2-0 on the night, and Colfax-Mingo’s wrestling team claimed two easy wins during a triangular on Jan. 3.
The Tigerhawks improved to 11-5 overall, defeating South Iowa Cedar League foes Montezuma, 47-21, and BGM, 48-24.
Senior Cauy Fitch, juniors Cyden Fitch, Hunter Green and Josh Smith and freshmen Shane Aikin and Schlosser were all 2-0 on the night. Juniors Tim Carrol, Will Thornton and Ross all won once.
Colfax-Mingo was 1-2 in contested matches against Montezuma but took seven forfeits. The lone contested win was by Cauy Fitch, who claimed a 16-1 technical fall victory over Kodie Strong at 120.
The Tigerhawks and Bears split six contested matches in the second dual. Colfax-Mingo won because it took five forfeits.
Cyden Fitch improved to 16-1 on the season with a win by fall at 132. Green also won his match by fall at 138 and Schlosser won by pin at 285.
