ATLANTIC – Senior Night has come and gone for Atlantic’s wrestling team.
The seniors were honored, along with cheerleaders and Atlantic’s representative on the SWAT Valkyries girls’ wrestling team, Rio Johnson. Youth dancers performed and aspiring Trojan youth wrestlers were recognized. The home crowd came out in force to support the Trojans’ lone home meet of the year (aside from the Rollin Dyer Invitational).
And, there was the little thing about a wrestling quadrangular involving Atlantic.
Yes, the Trojans swept the night – 63-3 over Council Bluffs St. Albert, 58-14 over Southwest Iowa of Sidney and 54-18 over an improved Shenandoah team.
Call it a Senior Night Sweep, and it was the seniors who led the way to a 14-4 record, including 9-1 and second place in the Hawkeye Ten Conference dual team standings.
“Senior Night, our only home dual and a lot of stuff going on, and we recognize and honor our seniors,” said coach Tim Duff. “We got a couple of Hawkeye Ten wins and a win over Southwest Iowa, three more victories to finish up the regular season. For us, it’s conference tournament on Saturday and regional duals on Tuesday, and then districts in a couple of weeks.
“Shenandoah and Southwest Iowa are district matches,” said and hopefully we can learn from the ones we lost and try to close the gap.”
Of the seniors, Duff said he thought they performed well. Brent Masker (160) and Jarrett Armstrong (170-182) each picked up three pinfall victories, while Easton O’Brien (138) had a 5-0 decision and a pinfall victory in going 2-0 in contested matches.
Josh Hass (120) got a pinfall victory in the Shenandoah dual, while Brenden Casey (195) got a quick 19-second pin against St. Albert and Miles Mundorf (220) won his only contested match with a major decision against Southwest Iowa.
For Masker, he was back in the lineup after not competing at the John J. Harris meet, due to having dropped a challenge match in practice.
“It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to get back into the varsity lineup, especially after you challenge a kid that you’ve both got equal skill and ability to you,” he said. “It took hard work (to get back in).”
The Southwest Iowa opponent, Kurt Speed, briefly had Masker in a compromising position, but Masker quickly turned the tables and got the win.
“I thought I was going to get in some risky positions where he could turn me,” said Masker. “But I just worked harder than him. Never been at Hawkeye Ten ... and I hope to win and get first place.”
Easton O’Brien also took time to reflect on Senior Night and look ahead to the Hawkeye Ten, a meet which he won as a freshman and took runner-up honors a year ago, as a junior.
“I just tried to go out and work my stuff,” he said. “I had the home crowd behind me and it was awesome and I tried to give them a show.”
O’Brien admitted the St. Albert match was harder than some he’s had recently, and called his opponent, John Helton, “a competitor,” and noted the match did both of them a lot of good.
“The pin as well, I just went out and worked my stuff. When the opportunity reveals itself, you’ve got to take it and pin him,” he said. “Can’t wait to show up (at Hawkeye Ten).”
And that’s just a little taste of how well the seniors did on this night.
“The seniors wrestled well, all of them,” said Duff. “I’m pleased with their effort and we’ll keep moving forward and keep building. Like I said, if you beat a kid, now if you’re ahead of him can you widen the gap, and if you’re behind can you close the gap. That’s where our focus is, where we want that gap to be.”
The underclassmen were good as well. The most exciting pin came from 285-pound sophomore Evan Sorensen, who used a fireman’s carry to throw Southwest Iowa’s Wyatt Thompson to the mat for a quick 19-second pin, one of two contested match pins for Sorensen on the night.
Saturday’s Hawkeye Ten Conference meet is at Clarinda, with a 10:30 a.m. scheduled start. Tuesday’s Iowa Class 2A regional dual team meet is at Sergeant Bluff-Luton, with the Trojans drawing Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley in the opener at 6 p.m., with the host Warriors to face the winner 20 minutes after completion of the first dual.
The most interesting dual of the night came with Southwest Iowa vs. St. Albert. The dual was tied at 36-36 after just five matches were wrestled, four of them won by the Falcons. However, the Warriors won on the fifth criteria – fewest forfeits – and picked up the 37-36 win.
Atlantic Quagrangular
Thursday, Jan. 26, at Atlantic
Atlantic 63,
Council Bluffs St. Albert 3
160: Brent Masker (Atl) pinned Andrew Crawley 0:55. 170: Double forfeit. 182: Jarrett Armstrong (Atl) pinned Tony Busch 0:59. 195: Brenden Casey (Atl) pinned Jayden Beckman 0:15. 220: Miles Mundorf (Atl) won by forfeit. 285: Evan Sorensen (Atl) won by forfeit. 106: Braxton Hass (Atl) won by forfeit. 113: Aiden Smith (Atl) won by forfeit. 120: Josh Hass (Atl) won by forfeit. 126: D’artagnan Hansen (Atl) won by forfeit. 132: Double forfeit. 138: Easton O’Brien dec. John Helton 5-0. 145: Tyson O’Brien (Atl) pinned Mathew Crawley 4:53 152: David Helton (SA) dec. Tanner O’Brien 7-4.
Atlantic 58,
Southwest Iowa (Sidney) 14
170: Jarrett Armstrong (Atl) pinned Dylan Linkenhoker 1:45. 182: Double forfeit. 195: Brenden Casey (Atl) won by forfeit. 220: Miles Mundorf (Atl) maj. dec. Sam Daly 14-1. 285: Evan Sorensen (Atl) pinned Wyatt Thompson 0:19. 106: Braxton Hass (Atl) won by forfeit. 113: Aiden Smith (Atl) won by forfeit. 120: Seth Ettleman (SWI) dec. Josh Hass 6-1. 126: Gabe Johnson (SWI) won by technical fall over D’artagnan Hansen 4:14. 132: Blake Schaff (SWI) won by forfeit. 138: Easton O”Brien (Atl) pinned Philip Gardner 1:11. 145: Tyson O’Brien (Atl) pinned Flynt Bell 2:46. 152: Tanner O’Brien (Atl) won by forfeit. 160: Brent Masker (Atl) pined Kurt Speed 3:30.
Atlantic 54, Shenandoah 18
182: Brenden Casey (Atl) won by forfeit. 195: Ethan Richardson (Shen) won by forfeit. 220: Miles Mundorf (Atl) won by forfeit. 285: Evan Sorensen (Atl) pinned Steven Perkins 0:23. 106: Braxton Hass (Atl) won by forfeit. 113: Aiden Smith (Atl) pinned Tyler Babe (Shen) 1:19. 120: Double forfeit. 126: Josh Hass (Atl) pinned Ethan Laughlin 3:54. 132: Cole Scamman (Shen) pinned D’artagnan Hansen 0:54. 138: Easton O’Brien (Atl) won by forfeit. 145: Jacob McGargill (Shen) dec. Tyson O’Brien 3-1. 152: Owen Laughlin (Shen) dec. Tanner O’Brien 2-0. 160: Brent Masker (Atl) pinned Mark Hardy 2:15. 170: Jarrett Armstrong (Atl) pinned Jayden Dickerson 4:19.
