TCT sports round-up: Two Bomber wrestlers take second at Mendenhall Invite
The Ballard wrestling team took 10th out of 17 teams and had two wrestlers reach the finals during the prestigious Jack Mendenhall Invitational in Ames Saturday.
The Bombers scored 90 points during the tournament. Ankeny won with 211.5 points and Fort Dodge was second with 153.
Ballard also split a double dual at Alleman Jan. 5 and swept Knoxville and the Southeast Polk JV team Dec. 20 at Huxley.
The Bombers beat North Polk (54-21) lost to Carroll (39-36) Jan. 5 in going to 8-5 on the season. Results were not available for the meet at press deadline.
Ballard defeated Knoxville by a 39-33 score and the Southeast Polk by a 50-29 margin Dec. 20.
The Ballard girls basketball team, ranked fifth in Class 4A, defeated Gilbert by a 56-35 score at Gilbert Dec. 20, fell to No. 3 North Polk in a 53-46 battle at Huxley Jan. 3 and took down Norwalk in a 61-35 rout Jan. 5 at Huxley. The Bombers pushed their record to 8-2 overall and 5-2 in the Raccoon River Conference.
The Ballard boys defeated, Gilbert 60-57, and North Polk, 57-53, in a pair of tight RRC games to run their winning streak to five games. The streak was snapped by a 50-25 loss to Norwalk and the Bombers also fell to AHSTW, 76-63, Saturday in Huxley, putting their record at 6-3 overall and 6-1 in the RRC.
The Collins-Maxwell girls basketball team ran its winning streak to seven games with victories over Colo-NESCO Dec. 20 (56-13) and Waterloo Christian Friday (34-31) at home and at Clarksville Saturday (51-38). The Spartans improved to 9-2 overall and 5-1 in the Iowa Star Conference South Division.
The Spartan boys basketball team defeated Colo-NESCO (53-48) and fell to Waterloo Christian (79-57) and Clarksville (59-43) in going to 4-6 overall and 4-2 in the ISC South.
The Collins-Maxwell wrestling team suffered losses to Moravia (66-12), BGM (36-24), Tripoli (30-18), WACO (54-12) and Wilton (83-0) during the BGM Holiday Duals Dec. 20 at Brooklyn. The Spartans also fell to Baxter (42-30), Belle Plaine (66-6) and English Valleys (66-12) during a quadrangular dual at Baxter Jan. 5.
Here is what we learned from last week's TCT high school sports competition.
Two Bomber wrestlers place second at Mendenhall Invitational
Brody Sampson and Gabe Christensen both turned in a runner-up performance for the Ballard wrestling team at the Mendenhall Invite Saturday.
Sampson, ranked third in Class 2A at 182 pounds, fell to Iowa City's Gabe Arnold - the top-ranked wrestler in 3A - by a 14-7 decision in the championship round Saturday. He pushed Arnold hard the entire match, only trailing 5-3 early in the third period and staying within striking distance until Arnold scored three late takedowns to pull away.
"That's one of the best kids in the nation that he wrestled," Ballard coach Casey Christensen said. "It kind of opened up at the end, but I thought Brody wrestled him really tough."
The loss was the first of the year for Sampson, who fell to 23-1.
Sampson defeated Clarion-Goldfield-Dows' Mason Allen by a 14-4 major decision in the quarterfinals and Papillion-LaVista (Neb.)'s Coleton Haggin by a 5-3 decision in the semifinals to reach the championship round.
Gabe Christensen, ranked sixth at 195, pinned Clarion-Goldfield-Dows' Erick Perez in 3:08 and scored a 9-5 victory over Ankeny's Cade Bennethum in the semifinals to reach the championship round. In the finals Gabe fell to Fort Dodge freshman Dreshaun Ross, ranked second in 3A, by a 7-2 decision.
The loss to Ross was also the first of the season for Gabe, who went to 22-1 on the season.
"That kid (Ross) is the real deal," Casey Christensen said. "Gabe wrestled him tough."
Henry Christensen (220) and Tucker Vitzthum (132) both took fourth for Ballard. Henry went 3-2 with one pin, one victory by major decision and one win by decision in going to 20-5 on the season.
Vitzthum was also 3-2 on the day with one fall, one win by major decision and a victory by decision. He pushed his season record to 17-11.
Lane Kahler placed sixth at 145 with a 2-3 record. Rhett Hedrick (160) and Luke Hartsook (170) both placed eighth with two wins apiece.
"We brought nine guys and seven finished in the top eight in one of the toughest tournaments in the state," Casey Christensen said. "I thought we did pretty well."
Ballard took 10th out of 17 teams with 90 points. Ankeny won the team title with a score of 211.5.
The Bombers defeated Knoxville and the Southeast Polk JV team in a double-dual before the break at Huxley Dec. 20.
Ballard took down Knoxville by a 39-33 score. Sampson, the Christensen brothers, Vitzthum and Tony Horness (113) all scored falls, Hedrick picked up a 6-0 victory over Knoxville's Tristan Sinnard, Alaric Whiteing earned a 6-1 decision over Reagan Roberts at 285 and Jayden Leland picked up a 13-9 victory over the Panthers' Steven McCreery at 138.
The Bombers topped the Southeast Polk JV team by a 50-29 margin.
Horness, Vitzthum, Hedrick, Sampson, Wyatt Emery (120), Jacob Harrison (126) and Daniel Hyman (152) each picked up a pin against the Rams. The Christensen brothers each won by an 11-3 major decision, with Gabe beating Thaden Abbas and Henry downing Brodie Blackford.
Ballard girls bounce back from loss
The Ballard girls basketball team turned in a strong outing against Norwalk Jan. 5.
The Bombers completely outclassed the Warriors in the first half. They went up by 10 after one quarter and a 16-2 run over the second quarter gave them a 35-11 lead at the break to put the game away early.
Alliyah Thompson hit 10 of 15 field goals and went for 26 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals in the win. Lily Hillebrand added 12 points and three assists, Kiley Calvert 9 points and three assists and steals apiece, Paige Noe 8 points and four assists and steals apiece and Alise Van Pelt 4 points and two steals.
Ballard was unable to recover from a poor second quarter in its loss to North Polk Jan. 3. The Bombers were outscored 21-14 in falling behind six at the half and after pulling within three they were outscored 14-10 in the fourth quarter.
North Polk hit 14 of 15 free throws and held Ballard to 38.9% shooting. The Bombers held a slim 27-26 rebounding advantage and forced 15 turnovers.
Thompson went for 18 points and seven rebounds in an exciting battle with the Comets' Abby Tuttle, who finished with 25 points and four assists. Noe finished with 10 points and two steals, Lily Beall 6 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals, Calvert 6 points and Hillebrand 4 points, three assists and two steals.
In their final game before Christmas break Ballard jumped all over Gilbert early and gradually pulled away. The Bombers led 21-5 after one quarter to take control.
Defense and rebounding keyed the victory. Ballard held Gilbert to 22.5% shooting from the field and posted a 39-28 rebounding advantage.
Noe hit 3 of 5 3-pointers and led a balanced Bomber attack with 14 points and six assists. Thompson added 12 points, nine rebounds and three blocks, Calvert hit 3 of 6 3-pointers and finished with 11 points and five assists and rebounds apiece, Hillebrand netted 9 points and Raegan Loewe chipped in 8.
Beall chipped in 2 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Ballard boys see five-game winning streak snapped
Ballard's five-game winning streak came to an end with its setback against Norwalk Jan. 5.
The Bombers overcame a slow start to keep within nine at the half. But they were outscored 28-9 over the final two quarters.
A slight edge in the third quarter was the difference in Ballard's thrilling RRC win over North Polk Jan. 3. The scoring was dead even in three of the four quarters, but the Bombers held a 19-15 advantage in the third quarter.
Ballard overcame an 11-7 turnover deficit by shooting 47.6% from the field, holding North Polk to 5 of 24 shooting from 3-point range and making 11 of 14 free throws to the Comets' 2 of 5 effort from the line. Both teams finished the game with 26 rebounds.
Mason Gorsh hit 3 of 5 3-pointers and went for 21 points, Jude Gibson tallied 17 points, six rebounds, three assists and four steals and Nolan Cogdill chipped in 6 points, eight rebounds and two blocks.
Ballard struggled down the stretch in its loss to AHSTW. The Bombers were outscored 43-30 over the final two quarters.
Gibson had 19 points, six assists and three steals against the Vikings. Mudd added 13 points and six rebounds, Gorsh 11 points and three boards and Austin Shoen and Jackson Brown 8 points apiece.
In their victory over Gilbert before the break the Bombers raced out to a big lead and held on over the final three quarters. Ballard led 21-8 after the first period.
Ballard won despite allowing Gilbert to shoot 50% from the field and being outrebounded, 33-27. The Bombers forced 21 turnovers and had a slight edge at the line after making 11 of 17 free throws to Gilbert's 9 of 15 effort.
Gorsh went for 17 points and five assists, Gibson 11 points, five assists and four rebounds and Owen Greco 10 points and four assists off the bench for Ballard. Cogdill and Miles Mudd each chipped in 7 points and Mudd also pulled down seven rebounds.
Spartan girls run win streak to seven
The Collins-Maxwell girls basketball team pushed its winning streak to seven games with its victories over Clarksville, Waterloo Christian and Colo-NESCO.
In the victory over Clarksville Erica Houge went for 20 points, 11 rebounds and three assists and steals apiece. Chloe Wierson had 14 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and three steals, Marissa Boege 8 points and four assists and steals apiece and Sarah Tschantz 5 points.
Collins-Maxwell used a strong second half to pull off its victory over Waterloo Christian. The Spartans outscored the Regents 25-15 over the final two quarters.
Collins-Maxwell prevailed over Waterloo Christian despite shooting just 25% from the field and being outrebounded, 32-28. The Spartans made up for their deficiencies by forcing 23 turnovers and limiting the Regents to just one free-throw attempt.
Houge had 13 points, seven rebounds, four assists and seven steals and Boege 13 points and three steals against Waterloo Christian. Wierson added 7 points, 11 rebounds and three steals.
The Spartans held Colo-NESCO to five field goals and 14.7% shooting from the field. They also forced 29 turnovers and held a 35-22 rebounding advantage.
Houge went for 25 points, five rebounds and four steals and Wierson 17 points, 10 rebounds and five steals against the Royals. Boege chipped in 6 points, rebounds and assists apiece plus three steals.
Collins-Maxwell boys get comeback win over Colo-NESCO
The Collins-Maxwell boys basketball team rallied from a 30-19 halftime deficit to take down Colo-NESCO right before the Christmas break Dec. 20.
The Spartans outscored the Royals 34-18 over the final two quarters. They forced 19 turnovers and limited Colo-NESCO to 38% shooting from the field to overcome a 3 of 9 showing from the foul line.
Luke Huntrods hit 5 of 8 3-pointers and finished with 21 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals for Collins-Maxwell in the win. Dane Beattie also had a big game, going for 19 points, four rebounds and three assists.
Josef Dvorak chipped in 4 points and nine rebounds, Ian Beattie 4 points and two steals and Jace Huntrods 3 points, four rebounds and two assists.
In the loss to Waterloo Christian the Spartans fell behind by 10 after one quarter and they were outscored 41-26 in the second half. Collins-Maxwell only shot 31.8% from the field and attempted 10 free throws and Waterloo Christian shot 53.6% and got to the line 21 times.
Jace Huntrods had 16 points and Luke Huntrods 15 points, five rebounds and three assists off the bench for Collins-Maxwell in the loss. Dvorak added 12 points, nine rebounds and four steals.
Collins-Maxwell couldn't overcome a sluggish stretch over the middle two quarters during Saturday's loss to Clarksville. The Spartans were outscored 38-17 over the second and third periods.
Statistics for the Clarksville game were not available at press deadline.
Spartan wrestlers get three wins on the mat at BGM Holiday Duals
The Collins-Maxwell wrestling team picked up three victories in competition and received eight wins by forfeit during the BGM Holiday Duals Dec. 20.
Marshall Day and Nathan Smith both won by fall against Moravia for the Spartans. Day pinned Moravia's Caden Spring in 1:22 at 195 pounds and Smith stuck Wyatt Hayes in 2:41 at 126.
Blake Huntrods scored a pin against BGM. Huntrods pinned the Bears' Preston Mann in 3:58 at 138.
During Thursday's quad at Baxter Huntrods and Austin Boege (132) each won by fall and the Spartans scored three forfeits during the loss to Baxter. Huntrods also get a pin for Collins-Maxwell's only points against Belle Plaine and he pinned English Valleys' Boston Roorda in 3:29 to complete a 3-0 day.
Zach Haus added a win by fall against English Valleys, pinning Cael Grove in 1:31 at 106.
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Two Ballard wrestlers take second at Mendenhall Invitational
