March 28, 2024

L-S wrestling shuts out Baxter

Hawks, Bolts down Montezuma

MONTEZUMA — Wrestling teams from Lynnville-Sully and Baxter had to deal with a lot of illness during a road quadrangular at Montezuma High School on Thursday night.

The Hawks were missing three varsity starters and Baxter did not have the services of two of its six wrestlers. The No. 1 goal for each head coach is to get healthy for the final stretch of the season.

“Getting healthy is the biggest thing we are focusing on,” L-S coach Jason Walston said. “The flu is moving around the school. And everyone has bumps and bruises. If we can get healthy, we’ll be able to roll with just about anybody.”

Lynnville-Sully went 2-1 on the night. The Hawks downed Baxter 43-0 in a Jasper County battle and opened the night with a 48-12 win over the host Braves.

Baxter claimed a 24-12 win over Montezuma. English Valleys/Tri-County finished 3-0. It defeated L-S 54-18 and took care of Baxter 51-18.

“The biggest thing is getting healthy. We want to peak at the right time,” Baxter coach Joe Amadeo said. “I see toughness out of my guys every time they hit the mat. They wrestle tough in the face of adversity.”

Lynnville-Sully went 3-0 in contested matches against Baxter and took four forfeits. Lane Mathis was 3-0 on the night and one of those wins was a 16-second pin against Micah Kearns at 220 pounds.

Gentry Walston (113) and Caleb Rea (120) both earned pins against Curtis Gliem and Cole Smith.

Gliem wrestled up a weight to face Walston and the match was back-and-forth until late in the third period. Rea and Smith also battled into the third period. Rea pinned Smith with 45 seconds to go in the match.

“They were down in those matches and didn’t quit,” Amadeo said. “They got pinned, but they both rallied and made the match get into the third period. They wrestled for close to six minutes after being down early.”

C.J. Snethen (132), Isaac Johnson (138), Jack Hartson (152) and Gabe Wearmouth (160) all took forfeits to complete the shutout for the Hawks.

Baxter was missing Jackson Bottorff at 195 and Nick Nelson at 145 because of illnesses. Brad Matthews also wrestled just once after re-aggravating a knee injury he’s been working through all season.

For Lynnville-Sully, Brodey Johnson (138), Reese Dunsbergen (145) and Malcolm Hay (152) were all missing because of illnesses.

Mathis started off the Montezuma dual with a 20-second pin over Chance Gillum at 220.

“He’s coming back from some back issues and is looking really good,” Coach Walston said in reference to Mathis.

Elizabeth Elliott (106), Gentry Walston (113), Rea (120), Snethen (132), Isaac Johnson (138), Hartson (152) and Wearmouth (160) all took forfeits for L-S. The Hawks gave up forfeits at 170 and 285.

The Hawks had three wins over EV/TC. Mathis took a forfeit at 220, Rea defeated Cael Mihal by fall in the first period at 126 and Wearmouth scored a pin over Kaden Kubas at 160.

L-S was 2-5 in contested matches against EV/TC.

“Right now, we need to clean up the little things and keep improving our conditioning,” Coach Walston said. “We need to clean up the little stuff with our technique.”

Mathis, Rea and Wearmouth all went 3-0. Mathis and Rea won twice by fall and once by forfeit and Wearmouth won twice by forfeit and once by fall. Gentry Walston went 2-1 with one win by fall and one win by forfeit. Snethen, Hartson and Isaac Johnson each took two forfeits.

The Bolts won three matches against EV/TC. Kearns took a forfeit at 220, Gliem earned a first-period pin over Dominic Garringer at 106 and Smith pinned Cael Mihal in 1:48 at 126. Baxter was 2-1 in contested matches.

Against Montezuma, Kearns won the only contested match by fall at 220. Gliem, Smith and Matthews each took forfeits to secure the dual win.

“We don’t measure our success on dual wins because of the size of our team,” Amadeo said. “Getting a dual win on the board is good for the guys though.”

Kearns, Gliem and Smith were all 2-1 on the night.

Lynnville-Sully wrestles in Colfax-Mingo’s dual tournament at 9 a.m. on Saturday in Colfax. Elliott competes in the girls’ state wrestling tournament on Friday and Saturday in Waverly.

Baxter competes in the North Tama tournament at 10 a.m. on Saturday in Traer.