Hawk wrestlers drop 39-33 decision at Johnston, will head to Battle of Waterloo

Ankeny’s Perez Perez tries to put Johnston’s Owen Gilbert onto his back during the 132-pound match in Thursday’s dual meet at Johnston. Perez eventually got a fall in 3 minutes 37 seconds, but the Dragons posted a 39-33 victory. (Photo courtesy of Jackie Frisk)

The Ankeny wrestling team is still a work in progress.

That’s why coach Jack Wignall wasn’t too concerned about the Hawks’ 39-33 loss at Johnston in a CIML Conference dual meet on Thursday.

“We feel pretty good about where we’re at,” said Wignall. “If we get a couple of our guys back in January, I think we’ll be OK.”

The Dragons won seven of the first nine matches to build a 33-12 lead. Ankeny won the next four matches–three of them by falls–to forge a tie.

Johnston’s Caden Leonard then recorded a fall at 150 pounds in the decisive match.

**Ankeny’s Ben Walsh controls Isaac Beirman of Johnston during the 106-pound match at Thursday’s meet. Walsh went on to record a pin in 1 minute 4 seconds. (Photo courtesy of Jackie Frisk)**

“It was 33-33 going into the last match, and we had a freshman going up against a senior and the senior bested him tonight,” Wignall said.

The Hawks got falls from third-ranked Ben Walsh at 106, No. 5 Truman Folkers at 126, Perez Perez at 132, No. 2 Ben Hansen at 144 and No. 9 Teagen Peiffer at 157. Harrison Folkers defeated Will Pederson, 6-4, in overtime at 138.

“What was different tonight from the Dowling Catholic and Waukee duals was that we had a lot of good efforts,” Wignall said. “Those other duals I just didn’t feel like some of the effort was there. We had some really intense practices this week and focused on some of the little things, and I think it paid off. The kids wrestled really well.”

Ankeny dropped to 1-2 in the conference, but Wignall is excited about the team’s future.

“I keep saying when we get guys back in the lineup, we should be competitive. It’s finally starting to come together a little bit,” he said. “My nephew (Isaac) is going to be out for awhile, and we’re still trying to get a guy down to 138. Those are a couple guys that would make a difference.”

Ankeny’s Harrison Folkers tosses Will Pederson of Johnston to the mat during their 138-pound match at Thursday’s meet. Folkers went on to post a 6-4 decision in overtime. (Photo courtesy of Jackie Frisk)

The Hawks will compete in the Battle of Waterloo at Young Arena over the next two days. They will face Lisbon in the opening round of Bracket D on Friday at 4 p.m.

“It’s my favorite tournament of the year,” Wignall said. “It’s just a great atmosphere and a great venue. We’re really looking forward to it.”

Here are the match-by-match results from Thursday’s meet:

Johnston 39, Ankeny 33

157: Peiffer (A) pinned Brown, 2:27; 165: Helgeson (J) pinned Schlee, 2:30; 175: Blackorby (J) pinned Egeberg, 1:23; 190: Scott (J) pinned Bernholtz, 3:41; 215: Roethler (J) beat Haase, 4-1; 285: Darling (J) beat Dorfler, 1-0; 106: Walsh (A) pinned Beirman, 1:04; 113: Huebbe (J) pinned Houston, 3:15; 120: Madison (J) beat Winkie, 4-3; 126: T. Folkers (A) pinned Thompson, 1:22; 132: Perez (A) pinned Gilbert, 3:37; 138: H. Folkers (A) beat Pederson, 6-4 (OT); 144: Hansen (A) pinned Cornwell, :55; 150: Leonard (J) pinned Johnson, 1:26.