The Ankeny wrestling team was hoping to take its best shot at qualifying for Saturday’s state duals in Coralville.
The 12th-ranked Hawks did just that on Tuesday night at Dallas Center-Grimes, but they did so without three of their best wrestlers.
After posting a 37-28 victory over No. 21 Ankeny Centennial in a Class 3A regional dual, Ankeny then dropped a 44-21 decision to No. 4 Dallas Center-Grimes in the regional final.
“DCG is good, but we had three starters out that could have reversed some of those (matches),” said Ankeny coach Jack Wignall, whose team finished the dual season at 14-7. “It is what it is, but man, what could have been?”
Ankeny competed without second-ranked Calvin Rathjen at 165 pounds, Ryleigh Egeberg at 190 and No. 10 Ryne Dobson at 215. The Mustangs recorded a technical fall and two pins at those weights.
“We had one wrestler that was in the hospital with some stuff, and the other two were vomiting,” Wignall said. “On Sunday we felt really good going into practice, but then within 24 hours we had four guys out (of the lineup). Eddie Salgado somehow got well enough to wrestle tonight, but we had three studs out and it was just too much to overcome.”
Despite the loss, Ankeny had some huge victories along the way. No. 10 Kash Johnson got an early takedown and went on to beat No. 3 Tyde Nelsen, 4-2, in a matchup of rated wrestlers at 175.
“That was a big win for Kash,” Wignall said.
At 138, Ankeny’s Aiden Winkie fell behind, 7-0, when No. 11 Blake Forrester got a takedown and a four-point near fall in the first period. But Winkie then dominated the rest of the match to earn a 16-11 decision.
” I was confident I could come back in that match,” said Winkie. “(Assistant coach) Austin (Anderson) told me when I was down 7-0, ‘It starts with one point then climb back from there,’ and I slowly did that.”
The Hawks got a pin at 120 from No. 1 Ben Walsh, his second of the night. The No. 11 Salgado won by forfeit at 113, while Eli Perez posted a 6-2 decision over Noah Kerndt at 126.
“I know the dual didn’t finish how we wanted against DCG, but the effort was definitely there considering we were missing some key wrestlers,” Winkie said.
Ankeny will host a district tournament on Feb. 14. Dallas Center-Grimes will be among the teams in the field.
The wins by Johnson and Winkie could be crucial in determining the seeds for the tournament.
“We had some big wins, and we lost some matches that maybe we shouldn’t have,” Wignall said. “But that’s wrestling, right? Especially in the postseason, you’ve got to win the big ones. But I think we’ll be ok for next week. We just need some time off to get our guys healthy.”
Earlier, the Hawks defeated Centennial for the second time this season. The Jaguars finished with a 6-14 record.
Ankeny got pins from Walsh, Winkie, Gavyn Gatewood at 157 and Johnson. Johnson moved up to 190 and pinned Aiden May in 46 seconds.
Winkie, meanwhile, pinned Raymani James in 40 seconds.
“I knew I needed to go out there and get the pin, and I got that done,” Winkie said.
Centennial got pins from No. 2 Max Dhabolt at 175 and No. 11 Brandon Bogseth at 215. No. 4 Cale Vandermark at 126 and No. 9 Ethan Sodergren at 144 each won by a technical fall for the Jaguars, who will head to Iowa City High for a district tournament on Feb. 14.
“I thought we had a chance,” said Centennial coach Jay Groth. “It really came down to the coin flip at the beginning of the dual, deciding who had to report first. I think if we had won the toss, we could have won the dual just by getting the right matchups with the right kids. But give the Hawks credit–they were missing three guys and they wrestled tough. They got some pins, and we didn’t where I thought we would.”
Here are the match-by-match results from both meets:
Ankeny 37, Ankeny Centennial 28
106: Harless (AC) beat L. Haase, 7-3; 113: Salgado (A) beat Moeckly, 8-6; 120: Walsh (A) pinned Hand, 2:47; 126: Vandermark (AC) won by technical fall over Perez, 20-3; 132: Alhussaini (A) beat Sloan, 11-2; 138: Winkie (A) pinned James, :40; 144: Sodergren (AC) won by technical fall over Kauffman, 20-3; 150: J. Haase (A) beat Conley, 5-3; 157: Gatewood (A) pinned Landis, 3:36; 165: Rotert (AC) beat Folkers, 7-1; 175: Dhabolt (AC) pinned Reysack, 1:46; 190: Johnson (A) pinned May, :46; 215: Bogseth (AC) pinned Buch, :19; 285: Hearne (A) beat Winkel, 7-4.
Dallas Center-Grimes 44, Ankeny 21
106: Harris beat L. Haase, 9-8; 113: Salgado (A) won by forfeit; 120: Walsh (A) pinned Mcatee, :26; 126: Perez (A) beat Kerndt, 6-2; 132: Van Zelderen pinned Alhussaini, 4:09; 138: Winkie (A) beat Forrester, 16-11; 144: Stanford beat Kauffman, 17-16; 150: Murray beat J. Haase, 17-4; 157: Hemmingsen won by technical fall over Gatewood, 15-0; 165: Crosser won by technical fall over Reysack, 17-2; 175: Johnson (A) beat Nelsen, 4-2; 190: Wegner pinned Wendel, 1:13; 215: Stolpe pinned Buch, 1:07; 285: Scholl pinned Hearne, 2:52.
