Although Max Dhabolt returned to the lineup on Thursday for the Ankeny Centennial wrestling team, the 17th-ranked Jaguars simply didn’t have enough firepower against No. 3 Johnston.
The Dragons recorded seven falls and rolled to a 58-17 victory at Centennial. The loss dropped the Jaguars’ records to 5-2 in the CIML Conference and 10-9 overall.
“It was a tough night,” said Centennial coach Jay Groth. “Johnston is a good team, and we are too. We are in a bit of a slump right now, and we need to bust out of it.”
The third-ranked Dhabolt had been out of action for the last two weeks due to a minor injury. He opened the meet by pinning Owen Gilbert in 2 minutes 47 seconds at 157 pounds.
Centennial won just two more matches the rest of the way. No. 2 Cale Vandermark pinned Coen Prevett in 1:37 at 120, and No. 8 Ethan Sodergren won by a 15-0 technical fall over Isaiah Madison at 138.
“I thought Vandermark, Sodergren and Dhabolt all looked good,” Groth said.
Johnston got wins from all seven of its ranked wrestlers, including No. 1 Jacob Helgeson at 175. The Iowa State recruit pinned Ryan Smith in 2:19.
“We will change some things up in practice to prepare for the rest of the season,” Groth said. “We have a lot of good kids in the room. We are going to rely on them to lead us out of the murky water we are in right now and move forward.”
The Jaguars will compete in the Ed Winger Invitational on Saturday at Urbandale.
Here are the match-by-match results from Thursday’s meet:
Johnston 58, Ankeny Centennial 17
157: M. Dhabolt (AC) pinned Gilbert, 2:47; 165: Leonard pinned Hand, 1:07; 175: Helgeson pinned Smith, 2:19; 190: Roethler beat D. Dhabolt, 2-1; 215: Gibbons pinned Keller, :52; 285: Darling pinned Winkel, :32; 106: White won by forfeit; 113: Beirman pinned Auge, 1:47; 120: Vandermark (AC) pinned Prevett, 1:37; 126: Thompson beat W. Sloan, 20-10; 132: Anglo beat Roland, 4-1; 138: Sodergren (AC) won by technical fall over Madison, 15-0; 144: Caldwell pinned Bennett, 4:30; 150: Casey pinned Bland, 1:36.
