May 21, 2024

Host Cardinals place seventh at conference wrestling tournament

Amos finishes second, Sanger third to lead Newton

By Troy Hyde

Newton's Colin Sharp defeated second-seeded Nathan Born of Pella 9-8 in the first round of the 152-pound bracket at the Little Hawkeye Conference tournament on Saturday in Newton. Sharp finished sixth in the weight class. (Troy Hyde/Newton News)

The Little Hawkeye Conference wrestling tournament featured 17 ranked grapplers in either Class 2A or 3A. Newton’s Brennan Amos is one them and he had the top finish for the Cardinals on Saturday inside the upper gym at Newton High School.

The host Cardinals finished seventh in the seven-team field with 75 points. They had four open weights and two of their 10 wrestlers finished in the top three.

Amos had a first-round bye before winning his semifinal match at 145 pounds 9-7 in SV-1. He trailed Oskaloosa’s Leland Evans 6-4 after two periods. It was 6-5 with 30 seconds to go before the match went to overtime.

Class 3A No. 10 Amos got a quick takedown in the first overtime period to survive.

In the finals, Amos got behind again, this time to Indianola’s Camden Lloyd. Amos trailed Lloyd 4-1 after one and 5-3 after two. He tied the match with a takedown in the third but an escape point in the final minute gave Lloyd the win.

Lloyd (24-7) advanced to the championship match after defeating 3A No. 8 Landon Card of Norwalk 10-3.

Newton senior James Wenndt wrestles in the Little Hawkeye Conference tournament at Newton High School on Saturday. Wenndt finished sixth at 160 pounds. (Troy Hyde/Newton News)

Owen Sanger finished third for Newton at 195. He lost his semifinal match 6-4 to 3A No. 5 Walker Whalen (27-7) of Indianola. Sanger (15-8) finished the tournament with a win by fall and an injury default victory.

Whalen went on to win the 195 conference title 3-1 over No. 10 Jason Kritzler of Norwalk.

Class 3A No. 10 Norwalk won the team championship with 277.5 points. Indianola (223) was second followed by Pella (165.5), DCG (165), Grinnell (124), Oskaloosa (97) and Newton (75).

Jason Weithers finished fourth at 126 and Dayton Petithory and Avery White were both fifth at 106 and 120, respectively.

Petithory was 2-2 with a win by pin and White won his fifth-place match by fall. Weithers’ losses were to 3A No. 6 Jacob Fistler and Pella’s Ryan Hancock, a state qualifier last year.

Newton junior Brennan Amos placed second at 145 pounds at the Little Hawkeye Conference tournament on Saturday in Newton. The Cardinals placed seventh as a team. (Troy Hyde/Newton News)

Colin Sharp (152) and James Wenndt (160) were both 1-3 on the day and placed sixth at their weights.

Sharp’s win came in the first round against second-seeded Nathan Born (19-9) of Pella. Sharp won the match 9-8, scoring an escape in the final three seconds. Wenndt’s win was by fall.

William Muckler won his first match by fall at 285. He lost 8-1 to 2A No. 3 Kamrin Steveson of Grinnell in the semifinals. During that match, Muckler (18-10) suffered a leg injury that forced him to injury default the rest of the tournament.

The Cardinals were open at 113, 132, 138 and 220.

Wrestling