TCT sports round-up: Seven Ballard wrestlers qualify for state

The Ballard wrestling team is sending seven wrestlers to the state tournament following a team victory at the Class 2A District 2 wrestling meet in Huxley Saturday.

The Bomber wrestlers won the 2A District 2 team championship with 192 points. Prairie City-Monroe was second out of eight teams with a score of 153.

The Collins-Maxwell wrestling team had two wrestlers pick up one victory on the mat at the 1A District 7 meet in Ogden Saturday. The Spartans took 10th in the team standings with five points.

In girls basketball Collins-Maxwell opened 1A regional play with a 53-20 victory over Meskwaki Feb. 9 in Maxwell to take a 16-5 record into the quarterfinals against top rival and fellow Iowa Star Conference South Division co-champions Baxter. The 4A No. 4 Ballard girls ended the regular season with a 37-26 victory at Winterset Friday, improving to 16-5 overall and finishing second to North Polk in the Raccoon River Conference with an 11-3 record.

The Ballard boys basketball team suffered a 60-43 non-conference loss at Denison-Schleswig Feb. 7 in Denison and a 73-68 RRC loss at Winterset Friday. The Bomber boys fell to 8-11 overall and they finished RRC competition at 8-8.

The Collins-Maxwell boys concluded their regular season with an 84-55 loss to Woodward-Granger in Collins Feb. 6. The Spartans then ** Colo-NESCO in the opening round of 1A districts Monday at Colo to finish the season at 11-11.

Here is what we learned from this week's TCT high school sports action.

Ballard's big three dominate district wrestling meet

Ballard's trio of Brody Sampson, Gabe Christensen and Henry Christensen have been outstanding all season in the upper weight classes.

Sampson entered districts ranked third in 2A at 182, Gabe Christensen seventh at 195 and Henry Christensen fifth at 220. All three cruised Saturday, with Sampson going 2-0 with a pair of falls, Gabe 3-0 with three pins and Henry 3-0 with two falls and a victory by major decision.

Sampson, ranked third at 182 in 2A by IAwrestle.com, pinned Perry's Kane Killmer in 2:51 during the semifinals and Knoxville's Wayne Johnston in 3:20 during the finals to take a 48-2 record into state.

"I think he could do some damage going into state," Ballard coach Casey Christensen said. "Brody is a hard-nosed kid. He can go and wrestle with anybody."

The Christensen brothers didn't mess around either Saturday.

Gabe, ranked seventh at 195, pinned Nevada's Carson Reed in 25 seconds, PCM's Nate Richards in 3:33 and Perry's Keegan Snyder in 1:03 to take a 45-1 record into state. He placed fifth at 182 last year and eighth at 160 as a sophomore.

"Whenever you're trying to qualify for state you just take care of business when you can," Gabe Christensen said. "If you can get the pin...get the pin. It's as simple as that."

Henry also made short work of his three foes Saturday. He pinned PCM's Joel Greiner in 4:17, scored a 10-2 major decision over Perry's Kevin Colin then pinned Knoxville's Trenton Kingrey in 1:59 during the championship match.

"I just went out there with full confidence," Henry Christensen said. "I just took care of business."

Henry will take a 41-7 record into state. He finished eighth at 195 as freshman during last year's state meet.

"I've been there once," Henry Christensen said. "I hope to do better than last year and hopefully be on top of the podium."

The two brothers are excited to once again be competing together on the big stage.

"Going to state is always a fun thing for everyone," Gabe Christensen said. "Returning with your brother is a special thing."

Tucker Vitzthum gets a well-earned district title

With the Christensen brothers and Sampson earning most of the attention for Ballard this season Bomber sophomore Tucker Vitzthum has flown under the radar.

Vitzthum made his presence known Saturday, going 3-0 with two wins by fall and another by major decision at 132 to claim his first district championship and punch at ticket to state for the first time.

"Right now he is that kid that nobody wants to wrestle," said. "He's had a great year. Everybody he's lost to has been a real quality opponent. Tucker just keeps getting better. We preach it and he believes it."

Vitzthum pinned Knoxville's Steven McCreery in two minutes flat during the quarterfinals and West Marshall's J.D. Downs in 4:40 during the semifinals. In the finals he delivered a 14-2 win by major decision over PCM's Remington Fry to take a 39-16 record into state.

"It's awesome," said. "All those guys...Gabe, Brody, Henry...they've been pushing me. I was the third seed coming into this and was all down and they picked me up and told me I was the best one here and I put it together."

The Christensen brothers said they were glad to help.

"It's nice to hear we're the ones motivating him," Henry Christensen said. "He's tough in the room, he works hard and we're proud of him. He deserves it."

Three other Bombers qualify for state

Tony Horness, Rhett Hedrick and Luke Hartsook were the three other Ballard wrestlers to make state by placing second in their respective weight classes Saturday.

Horness went 2-1 at 113 to take a 16-24 record into state. He pinned Grinnell's Jamison Hidlebaugh in 1:46 during the quarterfinals and delivered a 15-2 major decision over Knoxville's Dane Gullion in the semifinals before taking a loss by medical forfeit against Weber in the finals.

Hedrick pulled off an 11-2 major decision over Nevada's Payton Mosinski in the quarterfinals and he pinned PCM's William Vanderpool in 43 seconds during the semifinals at 160. In the finals Hedrick took a 9-1 setback against Knoxville's Daniel Gorskikh to take a 37-12 record into state.

Hartsook heads to state with a 26-14 record at 170. He pinned Knoxville's Christian Moriset in 51 seconds and PCM's Wyatt Wheeler in 1:47 to reach the finals, where he suffered a loss by fall to West Marshall's Austin Pfantz.

"Tony Horness, that's an awesome accomplishment for him at 113," Casey Christensen said. "Luke and Rhett were ready to go too. I'm very proud of them."

Jacob Harrison (126), Lane Kahler (145) and Daniel Hyman (152) each lost a wrestle-back match for second to end up third in their respective classes for the Bombers.

Two Spartans get a win on the mat during district meet

Blake Huntrods and Marshall Day each earned one victory on the mat for Collins-Maxwell during the 1A District 7 meet Saturday.

Huntrods received a bye, lost in the quarterfinals to Ogden's Simon Hickingbottom by fall then earned a 15-5 major decision victory over West Bend-Mallard's Micah Fehr in the consolation first round at 138. Huntrods lost by fall to AGWSR's Bo Gerbracht in the consolation semifinals to finish the season at 17-26.

Day ended his season with a 21-22 record at 195. He received a bye, lost by fall to AGWSR's Eli Brandt then pinned South Hamilton's Kevin Gonzalez in 25 seconds during the consolation first round before suffering a 10-1 loss to West Bend-Mallard's Ethan Zaugg in the consolation semifinals.

Spartan girls use 31-0 run to win regional opener over Meskwaki

The Collins-Maxwell girls basketball team set up a rematch with top rival Baxter in the Class 1A regional quarterfinals after rolling past Meskwaki, 53-20, in the first round of regional competition Thursday.

The victory put Collins-Maxwell at 16-5.

"It's one step closer to where we want to be," said Collins-Maxwell point guard Erica Houge. "I wouldn't say we played the best we could, but we're just getting into a groove now. We want to carry this momentum on to our second game."

Collins-Maxwel picked up its fifth win in six games, with the only loss during that stretch coming to Gladbrook-Reinbeck in its final game of the regular season on Feb. 2.

"Our last time out we kind of struggled, so we just needed to get back in the flow of things," said Collins-Maxwell coach Aaron Hill. "Obviously we're excited to play Tuesday night. It will be a great environment and a tough test."

Meskwaki pulled within 13-10 on an Aerial Albert basket during the opening minute of the second quarter.

But the Warriors didn't score again until there was 1:52 left in the third. Collins-Maxwell went on a 31-0 run during that stretch to put the game away.

"It was good for us to get our confidence up and knowing we could trust ourselves," said Collins-Maxwell forward Chloe Wierson. "It was just believing and going into it with high energy."

Wierson had 14 points during the decisive stretch. Houge added 11 points and Marissa Boege scored 6.

Wierson and Houge entered the game averaging a combined 38.2 points, 19.1 rebounds and 7.9 steals a game. Wierson went for 23 points, 13 rebounds and three steals while Houge finished with 20 points, four assists, rebounds and steals apiece and two blocks.

"It's really nice knowing every night she's going to show up for me and I'm going to show up for her," Wierson said. "Everyone else contributes and we can just trust each other out there on the court."

Boege entered Thursday's game having missed extended time with a fractured Tibia.

The Gladbrook-Reinbeck game Feb. 2 was her first since Jan. 10 against BCLUW. After shaking off the rust in that game, Boege got more into her comfort zone against Meskwaki, finishing with 8 points seven rebounds and two assists and steals apiece off the bench.

"It's so much fun," Boege said. "Being on the bench and cheering was a lot of fun, but coming back out and playing with these girls is what I wanted to do my last year of playing basketball."

Strong start holds up for Ballard girls

The Ballard girls basketball team jumped out to a 15-6 lead and held on against Winterset.

The Bombers won despite shooting just 29% from the field and making just 6 of 14 free throws.

Ballard held Winterset to 23% shooting and just nine attempts from the line. The Bombers also posted a huge 48-24 rebounding advantage.

Alliyah Thompson went for 16 points, nine rebounds, four steals and two blocks for Ballard in the win. Lily Beall added 5 points, eight rebounds and two assists, Lily Hillebrand 5 points and three assists, Raegan Loewe 4 points and rebounds apiece, Kiley Calvert 3 points and rebounds apiece, Alise Van Pelt 2 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and three steals and Paige Noe 2 points, three rebounds and two assists.

Rally attempt falls short for Ballard boys versus Winterset

The Ballard boys basketball team nearly overcame a rough first half in its final RRC game against Winterset Friday.

After falling behind 40-23 at the half the Bombers outscored Winterset 45-33 over the final two quarters to put a scare into the Huskies. Ballard held a 30-25 rebounding advantage and hit 14 of 18 free throws, but the Bombers couldn't overcome Winterset's 51.9% shooting from the field and 11 of 20 showing from 3-point range.

Mason Gorsh hit five 3-pointers and tallied 21 points and five assists for Ballard in the loss. Jude Gibson finished with 20 points, five steals and three assists and Miles Mudd added 9 points and two assists.

Jackson Brown chipped in 6 points, four rebounds and two assists off the bench.

In the loss to Denison-Schleswig the Bombers were undone by a poor second half. After taking a 29-24 halftime lead they were outscored 36-14 over the final two quarters.

Gorsh had 15 points and three rebounds and Gibson 13 points, six assists and four rebounds against the Monarchs. Austin Shoen chipped in 8 points and five rebounds and Nolan Cogdill 5 points, four boards and two blocks.

Spartan boys advance to 1A district semifinals

The Collins-Maxwell boys basketball team advanced to the 1A district semifinals with a 63-61 overtime victory over Colo-NESCO in the quarterfinals Monday at Colo.

Josef Dvorak hit two free throws with 19.5 seconds left in regulation and then blocked Colo-NESCO's game-winning shot attempt at the buzzer to force overtime. In the extra session Luke Huntrods hit the eventual winning basket with 20 seconds left to end Colo-NESCO's 10-game winning streak.

"I had the whole right side and I knew I needed to make a move," Huntrods said. "I made it. We have a very good rivalry with Colo-NESCO. We beat them at our house and they beat us here and now we get two out of three. It feels good."

Dvorak was the hero Monday night. He matched a career high with 24 points and helped hold leading Royal scorer Lucas Frohwein to 15 points — below his season average of 18.5 — before fouling him out.

"It was a big night," Dvorak said. "That's all you can say. It feels so good. Of all the teams I could step up against, this is the team I'd want to (do it) against. It's exactly the game you dream of."

Dane Beattie added 14 points and Huntrods and Ethan Haus 8 apiece for the Spartans. Spencer Hansen led Colo-NESCO with 20 points as the Royals ended their season with a 14-8 record.

In their loss to Woodward-Granger the Spartans were outscored 45-29 in the first half and never recovered. Collins-Maxwell only made 3 of 25 3-pointers and Woodward-Granger shot 48.5% from the field and limited the Spartans to 33.9% shooting.

Josef Dvorak made 7 of 11 field goals and stepped up with 22 points and 14 rebounds in a losing effort for Collins-Maxwell against the Hawks. Luke Huntrods added 12 points and seven rebounds, Ian Beattie 7 points, Dane Beattie 6 points and Ethan Haus 4 points and nine rebounds.

This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: How seven Ballard wrestlers qualified for the state wrestling meet