The 21st-ranked Ankeny Centennial wrestling team closed out the regular season on Thursday with a 72-5 loss at No. 1 Southeast Polk.
With little at stake and the postseason beginning next week, Centennial coach Jay Groth rested some of his varsity regulars.
“There was nothing to gain by having them out there,” said Groth. “So we played it pretty close to the vest.”
There were a few matchups between rated wrestlers. The Jaguars’ lone victory came at 175 pounds, where second-ranked Max Dhabolt won by a 19-3 technical fall over No. 7 Taylor Floyd.
“Max looked good,” Groth said.
At 126, No. 4 Cale Vandermark dropped a 2-1 decision in overtime to No. 1 Eddie Woody Jr.
“Cale had a tight match that could have gone either way,” Groth said. “It was real close. I think that was good for us, and we’ll gain some confidence from that and figure out what we’re going to have to do. We’ll keep working on it.”
Centennial’s Ethan Sodergren, who is ranked ninth at 150, dropped down to 144 for the first time this season. He lost by a 14-5 major decision to No. 1 Will Oberbroeckling.
“Ethan fought hard, and he’ll be at 144 for the rest of the year,” Groth said. “We’re still shaking things around at 150, but I think we’re figuring it out.”
Southeast Polk recorded nine pins and a technical fall. The Rams boast five top-ranked individuals, although one of them–Justis Jesuroga at 150–did not wrestle.
“They’re hard to beat,” said Groth, whose team finished 1-7 in the CIML Conference and dropped to 6-13 overall. “It’s hard to beat a team that can put together a roster like that.”
Centennial will now face No. 12 Ankeny (13-6) in a Class 3A regional dual on Tuesday at Dallas Center-Grimes at 6 p.m. The winner will then meet No. 4 Dallas Center-Grimes for a trip to the state duals on Feb. 7 at Coralville.
“If we had been going to Dubuque or North Scott or somewhere like that, we would not have been very excited,” Groth said of the regional dual. “But the (crosstown) rivalry makes it more interesting. It’ll motivate our kids to perform at a high level to try to get a chance to knock off Ankeny and see what we can do with Dallas Center-Grimes. It definitely helps with motivation.”
The Jaguars will try to avenge their 40-28 loss to Ankeny on Dec. 11 at Centennial.
“We’ll go in there with the best lineup that we can and see if we can pull off an upset or two,” Groth said. “They’ll be fired up, and we’ll be fired up. It’ll be fun.”
Here are the match-by-match results from Thursday’s meet:
Southeast Polk 72, Ankeny Centennial 5
106: Newman-Winfrey pinned Gledhill, :52; 113: Vestal pinned Moeckly, 1:47; 120: Prine pinned Whitehead, :27; 126: Woody beat Vandermark, 2-1 (OT); 132: Hanson won by technical fall over Brennan, 24-4; 138: DeSalvo pinned James, 1:30; 144: Oberbroeckling beat Sodergren, 14-5; 150: Penzkover pinned Mandolfo, 1:51; 157: Runyon pinned Conley, 2:19; 165: Biladeau pinned Curless, 1:37; 175: Dhabolt (AC) won by technical fall over Floyd, 19-3; 190: Smith pinned Cole, 2:32; 215: Hall won by forfeit; 285: Roberts pinned Winkel, 1:21.