Panthers dominate at home
Jan. 6—In a sweeping victory, the Panthers boys wrestling team easily bested St. Albert, Kuemper Catholic and Clarinda Thursday at home.
In the win, Lane Travis, Kylen Parsons, Christian Ahrens, Brodrick Phelps, Austin Evans, Chris Aragon, Milo Staver, William Bolinger, Kaden Street and Max Chapman were undefeated.
The Panthers had 16 pins, Bolinger going three for three pinning his opponents.
This was state wrestler Austin Evans' second meet back after an injury had him sidelined all year. "It feels good to be back out there with the boys," he said. "I'm looking forward to just getting better in all aspects and as a team hopefully we compete every tournament, every dual. Individually, I want to go as far as I can."
Creston vs. St. Albert
With nine open weight classes, only five matches paired off in this dual. The Panthers had a clean sweep of the Falcons, winning 78-0.
The meet began with junior Quintin Fuller, ranked 11th in the state, taking on St. Albert's Jadyen Beckman. In only 28 seconds, Fuller found the pin.
Evans had a close matchup back against John Helton at 138. Helton took Evans to the mat and scored on a near fall, putting Evans down 4-0. The Panther was able to find the reversal, ending the first period 4-2.
"Very tough first match," Creston head coach Cody Downing said. "We knew going in that Helton from St. Albert was good."
With 25 seconds left in the match, Evans was down 5-3, but a takedown tied it up, sending the match to overtime. In the end, it was another takedown that gave Evans the 7-5 decision.
"It was a little rough start tonight," Evans said. "Hopefully we get it going this weekend and get back on track."
At 145, Aragon pinned his opponent in 3:23.
Staver had a lead on his 152-pound opponent through the match, winning by a 5-3 decision.
The dual rounded out with Bolinger pinning Andrew Crawley in 2:49.
Creston vs. Kuemper Catholic
Though it was a slow start against the Knights, the Panthers came back with a vengeance, winning 60-9.
Jackson Kerr and Gunner Martwick were defeated by decision to give Kuemper Catholic a 6-0 lead. Martwick is filling in for Jagger Luther who is out with an illness, but should be back soon, according to Downing.
Fuller began the domination, pinning Will Sanders in 1:17.
Chapman, ranked 10th in the state, found his pin even quicker at 285, winning in 21 seconds.
The 106-pound match got the crowd and wrestlers on their feet as freshman Travis competed against Caleb Hoffman.
Tied at 2-2 at the end of the second, the wrestlers went into the third on an even playing field. With 1:39 left in the third period, Travis pinned his opponent, eliciting huge cheers from the crowd, coaches and fellow wrestlers.
"Lane just seems to get better," Downing said. "Our three freshman, Lane Travis, Kylen Parsons and Brodrick Phelps, I feel like they get better every time out, so that's good to see."
Phelps has been filling in for Lincoln Keeler who Downing hopes will be back soon.
Parons followed with a 6-2 decision and Ahrens, ranked seventh in the state, pinned his opponent in 1:05.
Phelps' 1:12 pin made the score 33-6.
Trey Chesnut fell 7-2 against Riley Parkis who went undefeated on the night.
Evans, Aragon, Staver and Bolinger all found pins in the next four matches, widening the lead 57-9.
After winning by forfeit in his first match, Street took the mat for the first time nearly three hours into the meet. Street, ranked eighth in the state, said he stays focused by cheering on his teammates and getting hyped up by their victories.
"Sometimes I'll go off by myself," he said. "I visualize the match before I wrestle."
His match against Will Healy was tied after the first and late in the third. With seconds left, the boys were on the ground wrestling for control to earn the takedown and the victory. As the clock hit zero, the ref announced Street had taken over control and won the match 7-5.
"I knew the clock was ticking down and I had to make a move," he said. "That match was a wake-up call."
Before the final match, the Creston Express Wrestling kids came out to greet the team and join them in a huddle.
"It's one of our favorite nights of the year," Downing said. "That's our feeder program; that's our future. Every single one of these kids was there once. It shows how much support we have behind our wrestling program."
Creston vs. Clarinda
Again a slow start for the Panthers didn't stop the team from a decisive 66-18 victory over their Hawkeye 10 opponent Clarinda Cardinals.
Martwick and Fuller were both pinned, giving Clarinda a 12-0 lead. A big fall had Fuller grasping at his wrist in pain. Downing said they will know more soon, but hopes it was just hyperextended.
With a Chapman pin over Bryson Harris at 285 and multiple forfeits, the Panthers regained the lead 30-12.
Chesnut pinned Ryan Skeripski at 132 in a quick 21 seconds and Bolinger had a pin over Leland Woodruff in 1:29.
After narrowly avoiding overtime in his first match, Street said he went into his second match wanting to remind the crowd that he was a state-ranked wrestler.
He quickly took the lead and with only four seconds left in the second period, he pinned Dominick Polsley at 170-pounds.
Kerr was pinned at 182, giving the Knights their last points.
Up Next
The Panthers travel to Ottumwa for a tournament Saturday in which they will wrestle Aliba, Burlington, Davis County, Des Moines East, Des Moines Lincoln, Fairfield, Iowa City Liberty, Keokuk, Mediapolis, Moravia, Newton, Sigourney-Keota, Tipton, Van Buren County, Wayne and the host Bulldogs.
