Eight Ankeny Centennial wrestlers won at least three matches on the day as the Jaguars went 2-2 overall Saturday at the Valley Duals.
Sixth-ranked Centennial opened the tournament with a 54-21 win over Valley that raised its record to 3-1 in the CIML Conference. The Jaguars began that dual with seven consecutive victories, including falls in the first six matches.
The Jaguars followed with a 41-34 win over No. 15 Dallas Center-Grimes. Isaac Bruhl got a technical fall at 150 pounds to seal the victory.
After dropping a 40-35 decision to Clear Creek-Amana, Centennial closed out the tournament with a 43-30 loss to No. 3 Indianola. The Jaguars are now 8-3 on the season.
Indianola was the only squad in the eight-team field that went 4-0 on the day.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” said Centennial coach Jay Groth. “I didn’t feel like we had a real sense of urgency or a real awareness of our individual results and how that would affect the team score. I think our guys need to know the importance of getting a fall instead of a tech fall or fighting off from a bad position so you don’t give up team points. We need to improve, and we will work on it.”
Five Jaguars went a perfect 4-0 in the tournament, including Ethan Sodergren at 138. He had four falls on the day–including one in 3 minutes 55 seconds over Ayden Beck of Dallas Center-Grimes, who is ranked sixth at 132.
Bruhl also went 4-0 along with Cale Vandermark at 120, Max Dhabolt at 157 and Danny Dhabolt at 190. Max Dhabolt recorded three pins and a technical fall, while his brother Danny also had three falls.
“It was good to have Danny back in the lineup,” Groth said. “He’s recovered from his concussion, but now he needs to recover from his lack of cardio and get in a little bit better shape.”
Vandermark had three technical falls over ranked opponents and a pin in his other win. The fourth-ranked Bruhl had a pair of falls and defeated two ranked foes, including a 9-4 decision over No. 5 Elijah Blewitt of Indianola.
“That was a good win for Zeke against the Indianola kid,” Groth said. “That match was decided in the last 15 or 20 seconds.”
Andrew Roland at 132, Ryan Smith at 175 and Brook Keller at 215 each went 3-1 for the Jaguars. Smith had a pair of falls and an overtime win, while Keller also notched two pins.
Centennial will travel to Dowling Catholic on Thursday for a conference dual meet against the Maroons.