SECTIONAL WRESTLING: 7 stay in chase

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Sectional Summary

Team Standings

(District qualifiers)

1. Ballard (11) 284.5; 2. Webster City (7) 184; 3. Gilbert (4) 161; 4. Nevada (3) 141; 5. CMB (1) 190; 6. Roland-Story (2) 91.

Championship Matches

103-Dillon Hanson (B) dec. T.K. Pope (N), 7-2; 112-Tim Miklus (B) pinned Spencer Peterson (R-S), 3:18; 119-Tyler Raygor (WC) pinned Jayme O'Hara (CMB), 1:52; 125-Tyler Patten (WC) dec. Kaine Leighty (N), 12-5; 130-Dakota Bauer (B) pinned Nick Harvey (N), 2:16; 135-Bo Cosens (B) dec. Erik Schmidt (G), 3-2; 140-Tanner Hiatt (B) tech. fall Eric Tolle (WC), 5:14; 145-Willie Miklus (B) pinned Luke Shannon (WC), 1:37; 152-Tanner Weatherman (B) pinned Jake Lamkey (G), 2:51; 160-Brad Mickelson (B) pinned David Kolpin (CMB), 2:21; 171-Brock Weatherman (B) pinned Clay Long (G), 0:45; 189-Dillon Weatherman (B) injury default Marcus Keinert (G); 215-Cole Jackson (G) dec. Ross Larson (B), 9-3; 285-Bret Johnson (R-S) dec. Jordan Harestad (G), 5-3.

Wrestleback Matches

125-Kaine Leighty (N) pinned Ryan Sills (B), 0:48; 135-Joey Powers (WC) dec. Erik Schmidt (G), 6-5; 160-Cody Crouch (WC) dec. David Kolpin (CMB), 10-8; 171-Clay Long (G) major dec. Dakota Crow (N), 11-1; 189-Garrett Johnson (WC) injury default Marcus Keinert (G).

District at a Glance

Webster City First Round Matches

Saturday, Feb. 13

At Conrad (BCLUW High School)

119-Tyler Raygor, Webster City (31-3) vs. Ryan Lutes, Tri-County Conrad (37-6).

125-Tyler Patten, Webster City (32-2) vs. Jeremy Roberts, E. Marshall/GMG (21-13).

135-Joey Powers, Webster City (28-13) vs. Tyler Lashbrook, Tri-County Conrad (34-6).

140-Eric Tolle, Webster City (19-17) vs. Blake Meling, East Marshall/GMG (34-4).

145-Luke Shannon, Webster City (28-13) vs. Erik Lux, South Tama (32-9).

160-Cody Crouch, Webster City (18-21) vs. Kyle Lux, South Tama (36-2).

189-Garrett Johnson, Webster City (15-23) vs. Sam Upah, E. Marshall/GMG (38-1).

HUXLEY - Joey Powers jumped up off the mat, gave his vocal cords a workout with a scream, crashed into his coach and leapt into the arms of his dad - all in a span of about 15 seconds. It didn't take a genius to see that he was excited.

And can you blame him? It's not every day that a wrestler attains a career-defining victory.

Submerged in a sea of doubt at various times throughout the regular season, Webster City's 135-pound sophomore left all traces of negativity on the side of the road on Saturday, and it showed in the results. Despite being a No. 3 seed behind a pair of ranked grapplers, Powers navigated his way to a runner-up finish at a Class 2A sectional tournament to punch his ticket to the district meet. He was one of seven Lynx matmen to finish first or second and gain entrance into Saturday's district competition in Conrad.

"Wow, what a great day for Joey," Webster City head coach Ted Larson said after his team accumulated 184 points to finish second to two-time defending state champion Ballard (284.5) in the team race. "He has struggled with wrestling six minutes with the same intensity this year, but if you're going to get it straightened out this is the perfect time to do it, and he did."

Eighth-ranked 119-pounder Tyler Raygor and fourth-ranked 125-pounder Tyler Patten secured titles with relative ease for Webster City. Eric Tolle (140), Luke Shannon (145), Cody Crouch (160) and Garrett Johnson (189) joined Powers in the runner-up circle.

Powers lost a semifinal-round match to 10th-ranked Bo Cosens of Ballard, 4-2. But over the course of those six minutes the light came on for Powers, and he never slowed down again.

A 23-9 pasting of Nevada's Rem Damme put Powers in a wrestleback match for true second-place against fourth-ranked Erik Schmidt of Gilbert - the same opponent that whipped Powers 11-1 in a sectional final a year ago.

But this time Powers (28-13) had the last word, as he ripped off a double-leg takedown in the final 10 seconds to stun Schmidt, 6-5.

And then the celebration began.

"It's crazy because all week I was talking about Schmidt," Powers said of the Gilbert senior who entered the sectional with a flawless 32-0 record. "I knew it was going to be a close match, but I didn't think it would come down to the last few seconds. Most of the year I would've thought it was over, but I knew if I could get a fake I could get him to step, and he did. He stepped right into it and the second I hit (the double-leg) I knew I had him."

It was that kind of magical moment for Webster City, which went 3-for-3 in the wrestleback round. Crouch (18-21) jumped out to a big lead and then fended off top-seed David Kolpin of CMB late for a 10-8 win. Johnson (15-23) earned his district spot after Gilbert's Marcus Keinert was forced to default because of a shoulder injury.

That final round of matches propelled the Lynx to a comfortable margin over third-place Gilbert (161) and into Tuesday's regional duals in Gilbert. Webster City will meet Bondurant-Farrar at 6 p.m., and the winner of that dual will face either Ballard or Prairie City-Monroe at 8 p.m. for the right to move on to the state duals in Cedar Rapids.

Ballard owned its home mat on Saturday, pushing 11 wrestlers through to districts, including 10 champions.

Raygor (31-3) had the easiest of afternoons for Webster City. Hitting one fireman's carry after another, he spent just 2:32 on the mat en route to a pair of first-period falls. He stuck CMB's Jayme O'Hara in 1:52 to collect the gold medal.

"I wanted to come out and dominate, and I thought it went really well," Raygor said. "My conditioning has been questionable throughout the year, so the faster I can get (the matches) over the better."

Patten (32-2) was smiling at days end too, although he did it with a hitch in his step. Battling through a partially torn meniscus in his right knee, the two-time state bronze medalist gritted his teeth and took out Nevada's Kaine Leighty in the finals, 12-5.

Patten admitted afterwards that the knee injury has slowed him down. He says dealing with the pain and mental side effects just come with the territory though.

"It was getting to me in my (finals) match and I let it show more than I should have, but it still feels good to come out with a win," Patten said after winning the 95th and 96th matches of his career. "I'm just going to have to quit thinking about it during my matches otherwise it's going to be a lot tougher for me."

Tolle and Shannon both surpassed their seeds to advance.

The third-seeded Tolle (19-17) disposed of No. 2 seed Jacob Zenor of Gilbert, 7-4, in the semifinals. Defending state champion and top-ranked Tanner Hiatt of Ballard took care of Tolle by technical fall in the gold-medal round.

Shannon (28-13) ran into Willie Miklus - another of Ballard's top-ranked grapplers - in the finals and Miklus secured a fall in 1:37. Miklus was a state silver medalist last season.

One round earlier Shannon, who was also a No. 3 seed, pinned second-seeded Aaron Sporrer of Gilbert in 5:22.

Nine of Webster City's wrestlers contributed at least one win and eight placed fourth or better. Royce Nessa (130) was the Lynx lone third-place finisher.

Larson attributed his team's success to its strenuous regular season that pitted the Lynx against many of the state's best wrestlers on a weekly basis. That competition paid dividends when the season was on the line.

"You're only as good as the competition that you wrestle, and that's why we wrestle the schedule that we do," Larson said. "I'm happiest about our effort. We wrestled hard-nosed for six minutes, just banging on guys."