The Ankeny wrestling team followed Thursday’s victory at Ankeny Centennial with a second-place finish in the Jack Mendenhall Invitational on Saturday at Ames.
Indianola won the 17-team tournament with 161 points. The ninth-ranked Hawks finished with 153.5 points, while No. 7 Fort Dodge took third with 137.5.
“We’re recovering from some kids being out for a couple weeks over Christmas break,” said Ankeny coach Jack Wignall, who is also battling an illness. “They’re getting healthier, but our conditioning just isn’t where it needs to be. We lost some matches that we shouldn’t have, and I think some of our kids forgot how tough you have to be to win some of these matches.”
Ankeny had four finalists, but only one of them came away with an individual title. Top-ranked Trever Anderson remained unbeaten with a 3-2 decision over No. 3 Cale Seaton of Iowa City High at 120 pounds.
Anderson, who pinned No. 5 Nate Bierma of Valley in 3 minutes 24 seconds in the semifinals, improved to 19-0 on the season. He has handed Seaton (20-2) both of his losses.
“Trever’s mentality is just so different,” Wignall said. “He texted the guys on Sunday and told them, ‘We just need to put more and better time in the wrestling room, and I’m the first one to admit that. I shouldn’t be letting guys stay that close to me.’
“He’s one of the best leaders I’ve ever had,” Wignall added.
Placing second for the Hawks were No. 7 Ben Hansen at 126, Xander Kenworthy at 170 and No. 3 Cade Bennethum at 182. They all lost to ranked opponents in the finals.
Hansen (16-4) pinned returning state qualifier Ezra Kristensen of Valley in the quarterfinals. He then posted an 8-2 decision over No. 5 Kael Kurtz of Iowa City High before dropping a 10-2 major decision to No. 2 Koy Davidson of Fort Dodge.
“I thought Ben wrestled really well,” Wignall said. “I bet he got to (Davidson’s) legs eight times, but he just couldn’t finish his shots.”
Kenworthy (15-9) pinned his first three opponents before falling in the finals to No. 7 Theron Castle of Valley, who recorded a fall in 2:31.
“I wish Xander could have wrestled him a little longer,” Wignall said. “But overall, he still had a good day.”
Bennethum (15-6) posted a 6-2 decision over No. 6 Ben Egli of Fort Dodge in the semifinals. He then dropped a 9-7 decision to Gabriel Christensen of Ballard (Huxley), who is ranked fourth in Class 2A.
“I don’t think Cade is 100 percent,” Wignall said. “He said he felt all right, but he’s not moving like I’ve seen him move in the past.”
Ankeny got a third-place finish from No. 7 Jace Anderson at 145. He dropped a 3-0 decision to No. 5 Ryder Downey of Indianola, the eventual champion, in the semifinals.
Anderson later posted a 12-6 victory in the third-place match over Jireh Gallegos of Carroll, who is ranked sixth in Class 2A. He raised his record to 19-5.
Truman Folkers at 106 and No. 7 JJ Maihan at 113 each placed fourth for the Hawks. Maihan lost to No. 1 Blake Gioimo of Cedar Rapids Prairie, the eventual champ, in the semifinals.
Tegan Peiffer placed seventh at 152. Carter Smith finished eighth at 195.
Smith filled in for Will Hinrichs, who sat out after wrestling on Thursday.
“We didn’t have Hinrichs, and he most likely would have placed higher,” Wignall said. “He got a cortisone shot in his shoulder but he wanted to wrestle on Thursday against Centennial, so we knew he’d have to sit out on Saturday.”
The Hawks will host a CIML Iowa Conference dual meet against Ames on Thursday before hosting the Bob Sharp Invitational on Saturday.