The Ankeny wrestling team built a double-digit lead against visiting Johnston in a top-10 matchup on Thursday night.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough of a cushion.
The eighth-ranked Dragons recorded three pins and a technical fall in the final four matches to defeat No. 4 Ankeny, 37-29, in a CIML Conference dual. The Hawks dropped to 3-1 in the league and 7-3 overall.
“They’re really pretty solid all the way through their lineup,” Ankeny coach Jack Wignall said of the Dragons.
Ankeny took its biggest lead of the night, 29-14, after Brady Claeys won by a technical fall at 144 pounds. But Johnston had some of its best wrestlers lined up to close out the meet, and they delivered.
Parker Casey started the Dragons’ rally with a fall at 150. Owen Gilbert followed with a technical fall at 157, then Caden Leonard got a pin at 165 to give Johnston a 31-29 advantage.
That meant the final match at 175 would determine the outcome of the meet, and the Dragons got another fall from two-time state champion and Iowa State recruit Jacob Helgeson to secure the victory.
“Our kids wrestled really hard tonight,” Wignall said. “I told them before the dual, ‘If we win, we win. If we don’t, we don’t.’ But you’ve got to go out there and compete, and we did. We won some big matches.”
Ankeny got three consecutive pins from fifth-ranked Ben Walsh at 113, Hayden Fontana at 120 and No. 2 Truman Folkers at 126 to erase an early 11-3 deficit. Walsh had the fastest fall of the night, needing just 28 seconds to flatten Elijah Johnson.
Fontana’s pin was even more dramatic. He fell behind Michael Dyett, 11-2, before getting a takedown that eventually led to a fall in 3:59–just 1 second before the second period would have ended.
“Hayden almost got tech falled, but he came back and got a pin,” Wignall said. “We wrestled really well. It was a fun dual.”
No. 6 Jack Dorfler outlasted Nick Darling, 2-1, in a triple-overtime thriller at 285. Dorfler got an escape in the second overtime for the go-ahead point, then rode Darling out in the third extra period to close out the win.
Darling had edged Dorfler, 1-0, in the Dragons’ 39-33 win over Ankeny last year.
“Jack won a great match,” Wignall said.
The Hawks also got a win from No. 4 Calvin Rathjen at 132. He posted a 4-1 decision over Jashua Anglo, who is better known as a track star but recently returned to the wrestling mat.
“That kid hadn’t been on the mat in two years,” Wignall said of Anglo. “He hasn’t lost a step. He’s fast and he’s strong, and that was a good match for Rathjen.”
Johnston got a technical fall from Ike Beirman at 106. The Dragons won three other matches by decision where Ankeny avoided giving up any bonus points.
“We gave up some falls, but we got more falls and our kids are fighting off their backs and giving themselves a chance,” Wignall said. “That’s the kind of stuff we were doing well going into break, and we want to keep doing. The effort has always been there. I’m really happy with where we’re at right now.”
Ankeny will host a double dual meet against Centerville and Central Decatur on Saturday. The action gets under way at 10 a.m.
“I was worried that we’re going to lose another tournament (to the weather),” Wignall said. “I just want to get our kids a few more matches.”
Here are the match-by-match results from Thursday’s meet:
Johnston 37, Ankeny 29
190: Sehic (J) beat Egeberg, 7-2; 215: Gibbons (J) beat Haase, 13-7; 285: Dorfler (A) beat Darling, 2-1 (OT); 106: Beirman (J) won by technical fall over Salgado, 17-1; 113: Walsh (A) pinned E. Johnson, :28; 120: Fontana (A) pinned Dyett, 3:59; 126: T. Folkers (A) pinned Thompson, 3:07; 132: Rathjen (A) beat Anglo, 4-1; 138: Madison (J) beat H. Folkers, 11-5; 144: Claeys (A) won by technical fall over Caldwell, 18-1; 150: Casey (J) pinned Rouh, 2:30; 157: Gilbert (J) won by technical fall over K. Johnson, 18-1; 165: Leonard (J) pinned Andersen, 2:55; 175: Helgeson (J) pinned Schlee, 1:04.
