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By Abigail Ruckdashel and Kasi Greenwood
It was close between the Dodgeville Dodgers and the Iowa-Grant/Highland Panthers on last Thursday's match.
With some strong pins on both sides of the mat, Panthers were ultimately able to put a "W" in the books as they broke a tie, based on their individual wins being one higher against Dodgeville. The final score was 37-36.
"It was a little interesting as we have been struck by the injury bug early this season," Head Iowa Grant Highland wrestling coach Ryan Allen said. "A couple of our returning letter winners were out so we knew this was going to be a close dual."
Allen said that he was really impressed with younger team members who stepped up to the mat (no pun intended).
"I was really impressed by our younger guys stepping up," Allen said. "Mason Welsh, he's a 106 pounder and we bumped him up to 120 and got a big win there." So that was pretty cool and started us off really well. We followed through with a few big pins. Senior Alex Zimmer went out and did his job, so that was awesome. Colton Cutz had a big win for us at 138."
Allen added, "It's definitely exciting. It's a lot different than last year. We graduated two state champions (Max Maylor and Brady Peat), and are left with a lot of freshmen and still a few older guys. The main goal is just to keep getting better. "
Dodgeville's Head Wrestling Coach Ryan Lord believes that there were good definite takeaways from the match.
"Iowa Grant-Highland is traditionally a strong team," Lord said. "They've had some injuries this year, and we're in the same boat."
Two evenly matched teams were a step in the right direction. Nerves however became a factor in some of the matches.
"That's always tough, for some it was being their first match," Lord said. "I'm really happy with the guys overall. They've been working hard all season. I love what I see as far as the work ethic goes, and with that there will be more confidence."
A new tradition has started for Dodgeville Wrestling, as a pin medal will be distributed amongst the wrestlers each match. This was started by Dodgeville alumni, and the wrestler with the pin at the end of the season will keep it
"It's kind of a neat thing they added, and the guys are fired up about it," Lord said. "We got some nice pins at the end, and that was good to see."
The Dodgers will wrestle against Richland Center on Thursday December 6, while the Panthers take on the Boscobel Bull Dogs on Friday December 7.
Results:
113: Double Forfeit 120: Mason Welsh (IGH) over Drew Palmer (DODG) (Dec 5-2) 126: Alec Zimmer (IGH) over Dylan Roen (DODG) (Fall 1:03) 132: Andrew Winders (IGH) over Mason Mortimer (DODG) (Fall 0:19) 138: Colton Cutts (IGH) over Austin Phelan (DODG) (Fall 4:35) 145: Cal Dorota (IGH) over Skyler Symons (DODG) (Dec 12-6) 152: JJ Thompson (DODG) over (IGH) (For.) 160: Elijah Reeson (DODG) over Eduardo Lacerda (IGH) (Fall 0:36) 170: Riley Crook (DODG) over Owen Murphy (IGH) (Fall 1:23) 182: Tyler Bell (DODG) over Isaac Biba (IGH) (Fall 1:33) 195: Joey Recob (DODG) over Donald Laufenberg (IGH) (Fall 3:06) 220: Drew Hennessey (IGH) over Brighton Judd (DODG) (Fall 0:08) 285: Louden Fuerstenberg (DODG) over Josh Bowen (IGH) (Fall 0:42) 106: Treyton Starkey (IGH) over (DODG) (For.) (IGH Criteria 1.0)