The Ankeny wrestling team was hoping to pull off an upset on its Senior Night.
Visiting Waukee Northwest had other ideas.
The sixth-ranked Wolves won 10 of the 14 matches and rolled to a 49-20 victory over No. 11 Ankeny on a frigid Thursday night.
“I did not expect that (result),” said Ankeny coach Jack Wignall. “I’m going to need a night to process that. It was rough.”
Northwest recorded five pins, two technical falls and a major decision. The loss dropped the Hawks’ records to 2-4 in the CIML Conference and 7-5 overall.
“We just looked really flat tonight all over,” Wignall said. “I’m not sure what it is. We’re going to have to get that figured out because we did not wrestle like I know we can. There’s just not a spark right now.”
The Hawks had a chance to take an early lead when Jacob Haase built a 7-2 advantage over 11th-ranked Ben Gallagher in the opening match at 150 pounds. But Gallagher then battled back to earn a 10-8 decision.
In the next match at 157, Ankeny’s Harrison Folkers took a 5-1 lead before Korbin Smith-Fitzgerald put him on his back and pinned him in 3 minutes 13 seconds.
“We got the first takedown in each of those matches, and in Harry’s match he had the kid on his back twice,” Wignall said. “It was just kind of the story of the night. Things didn’t go our way.”
The Wolves later won both matches between ranked opponents. No. 7 Bryce Williams recorded a 21-3 technical fall over No. 8 Ryne Dobson at 215, and No. 5 Joey Cahill posted a 4-2 decision over No. 4 Ben Walsh at 126.
It was the first loss of the season for Walsh (15-1), who was denied his 100th career victory.
“We thought Ben could beat (Cahill),” Wignall said. “That’s just the way the night went.”
Ankeny got pins from Eddie Salgado at 106 and No. 12 Aiden Winkie at 138. Salgado, a senior, pinned Jayce Smith in just 19 seconds.
“It felt good,” said Salgado, who is ranked 10th at 113. “I just knew I had to get the job done and get six (points) for the team, so I didn’t waste any time.”
The Wolves were penalized a team point after the match when Smith was called for unsportsmanlike conduct.
“I was just kind of flowing with how I usually wrestle,” Salgado said. “That’s probably the fastest pin I’ve had all year.”
Winkie also recorded a fast fall. He pinned Brody Bailey in 30 seconds.
No. 2 Calvin Rathjen won by a technical fall for the Hawks at 165. He racked up several takedowns in a 21-6 victory over Isaac Mathema in 4:44.
Ankeny’s other win came at 190, where Ryleigh Egeberg held on for a 5-4 decision over No. 10 Hunter Merk.
“I thought we could have won (the meet),” Salgado said. “We just need to work as a team to get better for the next dual.”
The Hawks will compete in the Bean-Smith Duals on Saturday at Iowa City High, where they will try to defend the title that they won last year.
Here are the match-by-match results from Thursday’s meet:
Waukee Northwest 49, Ankeny 20
150: Gallagher beat J. Haase, 10-8; 157: Smith-Fitzgerald pinned Folkers, 3:13; 165: Rathjen (A) won by technical fall over Mathema, 21-6; 175: Rubino beat Johnson, 13-4; 190: Egeberg (A) beat Merk, 5-4; 215: Williams won by technical fall over Dobson, 21-3; 285: Mohr pinned Hearne, 1:27; 106: Salgado (A) pinned Smith, :19; 113: Christensen won by technical fall over L. Haase, 18-1; 120: Davis pinned Huser, 2:36; 126: Cahill beat Walsh, 4-2; 132: Manning pinned Alhussaini, 5:50; 138: Winkie (A) pinned Bailey, :30; 144: Hutt pinned Kauffman, 1:13.
