Ankeny Centennial wrestling standout Cale Vandermark captured a fourth consecutive title in the Don Miller Invitational on Saturday at Fort Dodge, where he helped the Jaguars to a sixth-place finish in the 11-team field.
Vandermark, who is ranked No. 1 at 126 pounds in Class 3A, posted a 2-1 decision over No. 9 Matthew Tran of Iowa City West in the finals at 132. It was a rematch from the quarterfinals of last year’s state tournament, where Vandermark rolled to a 13-4 major decision en route to a runner-up finish at 120.
Vandermark, who previously won crowns at the Fort Dodge tournament at 106, 113 and 120, raised his record to 8-2 on the season.
“That was awesome,” said Centennial coach Jay Groth. “I didn’t even realize (what Vandermark accomplished) until afterwards. Not a lot of people win that tournament four times in a row.”
Not even Fort Dodge heavyweight Dreshaun Ross, an Oklahoma State recruit. He won his third Miller Invite title on Saturday after missing last year’s tournament with an injury.
Still, Ross joined Vandermark in never losing a match at the event.
“Cale and Dreshaun…that’s some pretty good company,” Groth said.
Centennial’s Ethan Sodergren also won an individual title at 150. The No. 3 Sodergren pinned Barrett Morgan of Algona in just 47 seconds in the finals.
Sodergren recorded falls in all three of his matches. He lifted his mark to 6-1.
“Ethan had a much better week of practice,” Groth said. “He wrestled some good kids, but he does a good job when he gets kids in a predicament and puts them on their back, they usually don’t get off. That’s what he did on Saturday.”
Decorah racked up 217.5 points to claim the team crown. Iowa City West was the runner-up with 176.5.
The Jaguars finished with 115 points. They had nine top-six finishers.
“Overall, we wrestled better and a little tougher,” Groth said. “We did not have a full lineup out there, but the guys who went out there and wrestled fought hard. That’s improvement, but we still have work to do.”
Centennial’s Brenden Harless took third at 106. Harless (8-6) posted a 13-7 decision over an unattached wrestler, Isaac Quandahl, in the third-place match.
Placing fifth for the Jaguars were Cameron Moeckly (6-5) at 113 and Will Sloan (6-7) at 138. Finishing sixth were Ethan Hand (5-5) at 120, Brady Babcock (2-2) at 144, Raymani James (4-7) at 157 and heavyweight Dirk Winkel (6-9).
Centennial will return to action on Jan. 3 at the Valley Duals. Groth is hoping that his team will be able to field a full lineup.
“That’s the plan,” he said. “But it seems like we have something happen about every day, so I hesitate to promise anything. But I hope we’re healthy by then.”