It was the kind of match that you’d expect between two wrestlers who have been training partners for several years.
When Ankeny sophomore Calvin Rathjen and Indianola junior Mac Crosson battled for the Class 3A 165-pound championship on Saturday night at the Casey’s Center, both competitors knew that one takedown–or one mistake–could decide the match.
The top-seeded Crosson ended up getting the only takedown midway through the third period. That allowed him to post a 4-2 decision over the No. 3 Rathjen.
“It was a match that I wanted to wrestle,” said Rathjen, who finished with a 27-3 record. “I knew it was going to come down to one takedown, and that’s the match that I wanted to wrestle. I think I could have gotten one there late, but he ended up getting it.”
Crosson (35-0) handed Rathjen two of his three losses this season. He won by a similar score, 4-1, in the finals of the Bob Sharp Invitational on Jan. 17.
In Saturday’s rematch, the first period was a stalemate where neither wrestler was able to capitalize on any shot.
Rathjen escaped early in the second period for a 1-0 lead. Crosson then tied it with an escape early in the third period.
Rathjen could not afford to be passive after being warned for stalling late in the second period. He knew that he had to take some shots as the final 2 minutes ticked off the clock.
With about 60 seconds left, Crosson got the takedown for the go-ahead points.
“I reached in, and he just dropped in,” Rathjen said. “He’s really strong and sucked my leg in and had a quick finish.”
Rathjen eventually escaped with 22 seconds to go. However, he was unable to get the takedown that he needed.
Rathjen placed fourth at 132 as a freshman. He has now added a runner-up medal, putting him on pace to become a four-time placewinner.
Rathjen said the loss will motivate him to work even harder to come back stronger next season.
“Yeah, definitely,” he said.
Rathjen led Ankeny to a 15th-place finish in the Class 3A team standings. The Hawks scored 71.5 points.
Southeast Polk had five individual champions and racked up 229 points to easily capture its third consecutive crown. Bettendorf was a distant second with 145.5.
Crosson helped Indianola to a third-place finish. The Indians finished with 134 points.