‘We knew it was going to be tough’: AHS wrestlers drop 60-6 decision at S.E. Polk

Ankeny’s Ben Hansen tries to turn Southeast Polk’s Garrett Kingery onto his back during the 144-pound match in Thursday’s dual meet at Southeast Polk. Hansen posted a 5-1 decision, but the Rams won 12 of the 14 matches and posted a 60-6 victory. (Photo courtesy of Jackie Frisk)

Ankeny wrestling coach Jack Wignall wasn’t looking forward to Thursday’s dual meet at top-ranked Southeast Polk.

“We knew it was going to be tough, and I think I had more anxiety about that than when we have a dual meet that is fun and close,” said Wignall. “They’re just really good, and where we’re good they’re a little bit better.”

The Rams won 12 of the 14 matches and recorded seven falls to post a 60-6 victory. The loss dropped Ankeny’s records to 1-3 in the CIML Conference and 5-6 overall.

Ankeny got wins from Ben Hansen at 144 pounds and Teagen Peiffer at 157. Hansen posted a 5-1 decision over Garrett Kingery, and Peiffer defeated Abe Bushong, 4-2.

“Both of those guys wrestled well,” Wignall said. “Teagen beat a kid who was wrestling at Winterset in December and then transferred to Polk. He was ranked fifth or sixth in Class 2A.”

Ankeny’s Teagen Peiffer controls Southeast Polk’s Abe Bushong during the 157-pound match in Thursday’s dual meet. Peiffer went on to post a 4-2 decision for the Hawks. (Photo courtesy of Jackie Frisk)

Wignall also praised the efforts of Ben Walsh and Truman Folkers. Walsh dropped an 11-8 decision to Nico DeSalvo at 106, while Folkers fell to Maximus Riggins, 3-1, at 126.

“We showed some stuff tonight,” Wignall said. “We wrestled some good matches and some close matches. I was happy to see that. Truman wrestled (Riggins) really tough. He lost to him 10-0 the last time, so he really closed the gap and that was good. And I thought Ben looked a lot better, too. He really closed the gap on DeSalvo.”

Ankeny will compete in the Jack Mendenhall Invitational on Saturday at Ames. Hansen won a title at 138 at last year’s tournament to help the Hawks to the team crown.

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

Southeast Polk 60, Ankeny 6

120: Pearson pinned Winkie, 1:16; 126: Riggins beat T. Folkers, 3-1; 132: Jesuroga pinned Perez, 3:56; 138: Oberbroeckling pinned H. Folkers, 1:54; 144: B. Hansen (A) beat Kingery, 5-1; 150: Trenary pinned Johnson, 2:15; 157: Peiffer (A) beat Bushong, 4-2; 165: Arafa pinned Wernau, 4:57; 175: Trexel beat Schlee, 8-1; 190: Slade won by forfeit; 215: H. Hansen pinned Haase, 1:38; 285: Martinson pinned Dorfler, 1:16; 106: DeSalvo beat Walsh, 11-8; 113: Prine beat Wignall, 4-3.