The Ankeny Centennial wrestlers still have a lot of work to do.
The eighth-ranked Jaguars appeared to be on the verge of their first dual-meet victory on Tuesday, when they built a 34-3 advantage through the first eight matches at Urbandale.
But the J-Hawks then mounted a huge rally, sweeping the last six weights to post a 39-34 win.
“We got pinned in five out of the last six matches, and the other one was a forfeit,” said Centennial coach Jay Groth, whose team dropped to 0-3 in the CIML Conference. “We knew we couldn’t afford to get pinned, and we managed to get pinned anyway. Our conditioning needs to get better, and so do our fundamentals. We’ve got a lot of work to do as a coaching staff and as a team.”
Urbandale started its rally with a fall at 157 pounds. The J-Hawks then recorded three more pins before winning by forfeit at 215 to cut the Jaguars’ lead to 34-33.
That meant the outcome of the meet would be decided at 285, where Urbandale’s Elias Pardon won by a fall in 32 seconds.
“We’ve definitely got to continue to work to do things better,” Groth said. “We’ve got to be able to stay out of bad positions and get off of our backs if we get on it. We did not do that today.”
The J-Hawks’ other win came at 132, where Caleb Arroyo posted a 4-1 decision over Cale Vandermark in overtime.
It was a rematch from Saturday’s Frank Baltzley Invitational at Johnston, which ended in the same score. Vandermark is ranked No. 1 at 126, while Arroyo is No. 7 at the same weight.
That was Centennial’s only loss in the first eight matches. The Jaguars got pins from Brenden Harless at 106, Ethan Hand at 120 and Will Sloan at 138.
Brady Babcock won by a major decision at 144, while Isaac Mueller at 126 and Raymani James at 150 each won by a decision. Cameron Moeckly won by forfeit at 113.
Centennial will host a conference meet against No. 2 Dowling Catholic on Thursday. It will be Alumni Night.
“Dowling has some really good individuals,” Groth said. “They’ve got the No. 1 kids at 106 and 113 and the No. 2 heavyweight.”
Here are the match-by-match results from Tuesday’s meet:
Urbandale 39, Ankeny Centennial 34
106: Harless (AC) pinned Buhrow, 1:42; 113: Moeckly (AC) won by forfeit; 120: Hand (AC) pinned Smith, :25; 126: Mueller (AC) beat Baitinger, 12-8; 132: Arroyo (U) beat Vandermark, 4-1 (OT); 138: Sloan (AC) pinned Reed, 3:04; 144: Babcock (AC) beat Hatcher, 17-7; 150: James (AC) beat C. Brown, 11-7; 157: O. Gray (U) pinned Conley, 1:09; 165: J. Brown (U) pinned Rotert, 3:09; 175: Forinash (U) pinned Luckow, 1:14; 190: D. Gray (U) pinned Schroder, 1:12; 215: Miller (U) won by forfeit; 285: Pardon (U) pinned Winkel, :32.