The Ankeny Centennial wrestlers may have secured a top-eight seed for the Class 3A regional duals later this month.
The eighth-ranked Jaguars defeated a pair of opponents on Thursday during a CIML Conference triangular at Centennial. After rolling to a 70-4 win over Waukee, Centennial followed with a 62-15 triumph over No. 7 Johnston–which is one of the teams battling the Jaguars for a top-eight seed.
“The new rankings come out on Monday,” said Centennial coach Jay Groth. “The top eight teams will host the regional dual, and if coaches are doing what they’re supposed to do and paying attention, I think we deserve to be ranked in the top eight. But if we have to wrestle twice instead of once to make it to state duals, we’ll do what we have to do.”
Centennial recorded eight pins in both of its wins. The Jaguars improved their records to 3-3 in the conference and 16-3 overall.
“We wrestled really well,” Groth said. “We were aggressive, and I was pleased. We got a lot of pins, and that’s what we want.”
Seventh-ranked Cael Wiener at 132 pounds and No. 11 Payton Bright at 120 each had a pair of falls for the Jaguars. Ari Ehlts at 160, Logan Song at 170 and heavyweight Max Dickinson also had two pins apiece.
No. 4 Lucas Bruhl remained unbeaten at 145. He posted a 7-2 decision over Waukee’s Wesley Anderson, then pinned Johnston’s Carson Brown in 1 minute 26 seconds.
Bruhl’s brother, Isaac, had a fall and a technical fall at 138.
“We’ve got Isaac in the lineup now, and he’s been wrestling really well,” Groth said. ‘He just has to shake off a little more rust. But he’s doing great. He’s impressed the heck out of me.”
Both Centennial and Johnston were not at full strength.
“They were missing a couple of guys, but I don’t think any of us in the world of high school wrestling have had a full lineup this year,” Groth said. “Technically, we were missing a couple of guys, too. The trick is to find a way to get everybody healthy when it matters the most in mid-February.”
The Jaguars will compete in the Osage Duals on Saturday. They placed fourth at last year’s tournament.
Here are the match-by-match results from Thursday’s meet:
Centennial 70, Waukee 4
113: Co. Vandermark beat McCallister, 7-0; 120: Bright pinned Fadel, 1:02; 126: Roland pinned Sanchez, 1:40; 132: Wiener pinned Crigger, 2:34; 138: I. Bruhl pinned Witzenburg, 1:18; 145: L. Bruhl beat Anderson, 7-2; 152: Pelton (W) beat Brennan, 13-4; 160: Ehlts pinned Steger, 4:20; 170: Song pinned Lofthouse, 3:56; 182: English pinned Bakker, 1:41; 195: Keller won by forfeit; 220: Grider beat Hine, 9-1; 285: Dickinson pinned Velde, :29; 106: Ca. Vandermark won by forfeit.
Centennial 62, Johnston 15
120: Bright pinned Pelayo-Pintor, 1:17; 126: Anglo (J) beat Roland, 11-1; 132: Wiener pinned Cornwell, 2:53; 138: I. Bruhl won by technical fall over K. Thompson, 17-2; 145: L. Bruhl pinned Brown, 1:26; 152: J. Helgeson (J) won by technical fall over Brennan, 19-4; 160: Ehlts pinned Moss, 3:14; 170: Song pinned Kelly, 1:42; 182: Zindel (J) pinned Keller, 1:08; 195: English beat Gibbons, 5-2; 220: Grider pinned Roethler, 5:51; 285: Dickinson pinned Flores, 4:42; 106: Ca. Vandermark won by forfeit; 113: Co. Vandermark pinned S. Thompson, 3:52.
