Fast start turns into another loss for Cardinals

GRINNELL — The first half of Newton’s wrestling dual with Grinnell on Tuesday was just what Cardinal coach Bill Reed wanted. Unfortunately, not many matches in the last half of the night were very positive. The Cardinals let a 24-6 lead slip away in Grinnell as the Tigers scored 33 straight points and continued their recent success over Newton, winning 39-30. “We were better tonight than we were last Thursday, and we had better intensity,” Reed said. “But, we forced some moves that cost us.” There were some positives on the night. Senior Isaiah Smith, ranked No. 3 at 140, stayed unbeaten (15-0) with a win by fall, senior Josh Metz rebounded with a pin and sophomore Evan Rethmeier, senior Steve Kalkhoff and junior Matt Shea all won convincing decisions. “Some of the guys were patient and let the match come to them,” Reed said. “Josh was a lot more focused tonight. Matt and Steve were both real patient.” Shea’s first varsity win of the year put Newton up 24-6, but three straight pins by Grinnell tied the match. The Tigers then finished off the Cardinals with a major decision, a technical fall and another pin. Junior Chase Eggers moved to 14-2 on the season with an easy pin at 135 to end the night, but it wasn’t nearly enough to swing victory back to the Cardinals. “I keep telling the guys that if we put things together and fix our mistakes, we can still be conference tournament champions,” Reed said. “We need to stop forcing moves and let things come to us. The guys need to decide they want to fix those things.” The other win for Newton on the night came at 145 where sophomore Dustin Schelling won a 10-8 decision. Schelling continues to wrestle for senior James Tudor, who remains out due to disciplinary reasons. Tudor is ranked at his weight class with a 10-2 record this year, but Reed is uncertain when his three-time state placewinner will return to action. Notes: Smith was leading his match 16-4 before getting the pin 30 seconds into the second period. ... Metz’s pin came just 51 seconds into his match. ... Rethmeier is now 9-3 on the year, while Kalkhoff moved to 9-5. ... Eggers got his pin in just 43 seconds. ... Due to poor road conditions, the Cardinals did not travel to Des Moines Roosevelt this past Saturday. It was a downer for Smith who would have wrestled No. 1 ranked Chad Lowman of No. 3 Roosevelt and No. 5 ranked Keelan Moore of top-ranked Waverly-Shell Rock. ... The Cardinals’ next wrestle in Knoxville against the Panthers and Carlisle. The double dual begins at 5:30 p.m.