March 28, 2024

C-M wrestlers start season with pair of wins

SULLY — The closest dual of the night at the wrestling quadrangular hosted by Lynnville-Sully was between two Jasper County programs on Dec. 5.

Colfax-Mingo took advantage of five forfeits and edged the host Hawks, 42-39.

The Tigerhawks were 2-1 on the night. Lynnville-Sully got its first dual win of the season when it defeated North Mahaska 42-33.

Colfax-Mingo scored a 48-31 win over North Mahaska. Belle Plaine was the fourth team in attendance and went 3-0 on the night. The Plainsmen defeated Colfax-Mingo 51-24 and took down Lynnville-Sully 68-12.

“It was a great learning opportunity for our younger wrestlers,” C-M head coach Erin Hume said. “I like to focus on February and using everything from the first day to get us ready for the end of the season.”

In the head-to-head dual featuring Lynnville-Sully and Colfax-Mingo, sophomore Danica Linn (120), junior Hunter Stevens (160), senior Trystin Ross (170), sophomore Shane Aikin (182) and senior Jakob Chapman (285) all took forfeits to give the Tigerhawks 30 of their 42 points.

The other two wins for C-M came from senior Cyden Fitch at 138 and sophomore Mariah Webster at 126. Fitch pinned L-S junior C.J. Snethen in 1 minute, 12 seconds. Webster earned a win by fall over L-S freshman Caleb Rea in the second period.

“Our biggest thing right now is just getting our kids to the right weights,” Hume said. “We have to find a balance with our lineup. We have to bring our younger wrestles up while also allowing our experienced wrestlers to get better, too.”

The most competitive match of the dual came at 152 where L-S sophomore Brodey Johnson defeated C-M senior Tim Carroll 9-8.

Colfax-Mingo (2-1) opened the night with a win over North Mahaska. The Tigerhawks took four forfeits and went 4-5 in nine contested matches. Green, Fitch, Ross and Aikin all won by fall. Linn, Carroll, Stevens and McBride-Dannels all won by forfeit.

“I liked our fight from everybody,” Hume said. “When we needed kids to go six minutes, they went six minutes. When we needed kids to get pins, they got pins.”

Against Belle Plaine, Colfax-Mingo gave up a forfeit at 120 pounds but the rest of the matches were contested. Green, Fitch, junior Noah Strohmeyer and Chapman all won by fall.

Strohmeyer entered the season ranked No. 7 at 106 but went 1-2 on the night as he wrestled up a weight class.

Belle Plaine scored six pins against the Tigerhawks.

Ross entered the season ranked sixth at 160. He was 2-1 on the night at 170. His lone loss came against Belle Plaine’s Connor Timm. Ross lost 4-2 but gave up two points on a locked hands and three caution violations.

The only Tigerhawk to go 3-0 on the night was Fitch and he won all three matches by fall. He now has 94 career victories.

Linn was 2-0 with two forfeits, Green, Stevens, Ross, Aikin and Chapman were all 2-1 and Strohmeyer, Webster, Carroll, McBride-Dannels and Thornton all won a match. Ross now has 92 career victories.

“We have to take something away from every match,” Hume said. “We have a lot to learn, but we pulled a lot away from tonight. Our young kids stepped up and learned what a match was like and our experienced kids pulled stuff away that they can work on and use this weekend and next week.”