13 area wrestlers headed to state
Feb 10, 2013 (Menafn - The Hawk Eye - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --MOUNT PLEASANT -- Burlington High School wrestling coach Jay Huff had an inkling all year that his three top wrestlers -- seniors Austin Boyd and Matt Seabold and junior Dalton Witte -- had a better than average shot to make it to the state tournament.
Those three did not disappoint, each punching his ticket to the state tournament Saturday afternoon at a Class 3A district tournament at Mount Pleasant High School.
What had Huff really fired up was junior Dallas Terry, who came back in a wrestleback match at 126 to pin Fort Madison's Tanner Hocker and join his three teammates at the state tournament next week at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.
Moments later, Mount Pleasant senior Jayton Phillips stood in the middle of the mat, tears streaming down his cheeks as he earned a return trip to state with a 13-3 major decision over Donovan Doyle of Iowa City West in a wrestleback match at 170 pounds. Phillips, overcome with emotion, walked off the mat to a bear hug from his uncle.
Phillips became Mount Pleasant's fifth state qualifier of the day. That breaks the school record of four set in 1994 and capped a sensational day for the Panthers on their home mats.
It was that kind of day as 13 area wrestlers earned trips to the state tournament Feb. 14-16. For some, it is a return to a familiar place. For others it is a new experience. For all, it is something they will always cherish.
"It's awesome. I'm pretty excited," Terry said. "I felt pretty good. I knew if I wrestled hard I would come out with the win."
"Dallas has come a long way. He really has. To see him keep developing and getting better ... I'm really, really happy for Dallas Terry. He's been working hard. He's got some natural tools that, through his hard work, he's developed some great wrestling skills. He's been a joy to coach these last few years," Huff said.
"He was real happy. This is the best he's wrestled all year long in his last match. It was the perfect time to save it and hopefully he can go to state and perform well for us. He was real emotional, hugging his uncle there. That's a good family for him right there," Mount Pleasant coach Anthony Blint said of Phillips.
Iowa City West won the team title with 226 points and qualified six wrestlers for state. Mount Pleasant was second with 161 points and five state qualifiers. Burlington was third with 157 points and four state qualifiers. Fort Madison finished fifth with 138 1/2 points and had two state qualifiers. Keokuk was sixth with 118 points and a pair of state qualifiers.
Seabold, ranked second at 182 pounds, and Boyd, ranked fourth at 145, made quick work of their respective brackets. Seabold needed a total of just 3 minutes, 47 seconds to pin his two opponents, including Justin Dilks of Mount Pleasant in 3:13 in the final.
Boyd needed just 2 1/2 minutes to pin his two opponents, including Mount Pleasant's Josh Larson in 1:02 in the final.
"They're seniors and they want to go out well and they wrestled like it today. Matt Seabold is wrestling really well right now. Austin Boyd is wrestling really well right now. They're putting themselves right where they want to be, heading into the state tournament. They're happy, healthy and in great shape," Huff said.
Witte, ranked second at 160, used a pair of technical falls to reach the final. Witte trailed Oskaloosa's Cody Jones 3-1 early in the second period when Witte got in for an apparent takedown. But Witte was penalized for an illegal slam. Jones, who stayed down on the mat for more than 10 minutes, was unable to continue, giving him the title by injury defailt.
Witte advanced to state, but was clearly shaken by what transpired.
"Dalton Witte had a bad situation. He just hit a beautiful move. The kid's arms were free. It was just kind of a freak thing. It is what it is. It was called the way it was," Huff said. "He's still going to state. That's the goal when you come here is to get to the state tournament and he's doing that. He's going to be a bad draw for somebody. That's the way I look at it."
Terry, after falling to Chris Walters of Iowa City West 15-4 in the final at 126, led Hocker 2-1 in the second period when Hocker caught Terry in a headlock. But the BHS junior rolled through, catching Hocker on his back for a pin in 3:23. Terry leaped up in excitement as Huff charged out of his chair, fists pumping in the air.
"I'm ready to start working even harder and hopefully get on the podium," Terry said. "I work harder in practice. Dedication."
But Huff's elation quickly turned to dejection when sophomore Garrett Grimshaw was pinned by Iowa City West's Tristen Bowers in 1:54 in a wrestleback match at 132, ending Grimshaw's bid for state.
"Four qualifiers. On paper that's about what we were looking at. I was really hoping Garrett Grimshaw could sneak in. He lost a heartbreaker. To end the day on that note was rough. That's the last match we wrestled, so that's a tough way to end. The kids wrestled hard," Huff said. "Hopefully we can go down there with those four guys and make some noise."
Mount Pleasant's big day started with Tyler Lanphier, who stunned top seed Chase Seaney of Fort Madison in 2:43 in the semifinals at 120. Seaney had won all four meetings this season before getting cradled.
"I lost to him already four times this year. I just walked into it and got him in a cradle," Lanphier said.
"Seaney beat him four times this year. What a great time to beat him. You get beat by a kid four times and then beat him when it counts. Excellent job. We kept telling him to keep working hard, you'll get him. It was a perfect time to get him," Blint said.
Joining Lanphier and Phillips at state for the Panthers are Dilks, Larson and Colton Aplara (220).
Fort Madison junior Bryce Meyer will be making his third trip to state. This time, Meyer is bent on bringing home gold. Meyer, ranked No. 1 at 113, has yet to surrender a takedown. His toughest match was a 7-2 decision over Camerin Sadeghi of Keokuk in the semifinals. He dominated fifth-ranked Skylar DeJong of Oskaloosa 10-1 in the final.
Meyer credits extra work with assistant coach Derek Doherty with helping him improve this season.
"I did some freestyle. I went to some camps. A lot of it's been after practice, getting extra workouts in, and over the weekends," Meyer said. "I just really want a state title. That's pretty much all I'm going for right now."
Joining Meyer at state will be senior Clayton Hocker, who beat Grimshaw 6-0 for the title at 132.
Keokuk senior Alex Goss also will make a return trip to Des Moines. Like Meyer, he has his eyes on the big prize. Goss pinned all three of his opponents to win the title at 285. He used a lateral drop to pin Mount Pleasant's Emmett Wester in the semifinals, then pinned Ottumwa's Kevin Childs in 1:32 in the final.
"I've just been battling it out with Coach (Ryan) Helenthal and a bunch of the other coaches. They've been getting me ready all year long for this," Goss said. "The goal, like every year, is the top of the podium, No. 1 spot. That's the goal. If that's not your goal, I don't know why you're going to state then."
Joining Goss for the Chiefs will be Sadeghi, who beat DeJong 11-1 in a wrestleback match at 113.
Team scores
1. Iowa City West, 226; 2. Mount Pleasant, 161; 3. Burlington, 157; 4. Oskaloosa, 152; 5. Fort Madison, 138 1/2; 6. Keokuk, 118; 7. Ottumwa, 103; 8. Iowa City High, 78.
State qualifiers
106 -- 1. Jordan Crawford (ICW); 2. Colton Chalupa (ICH). 113 -- 1. Bryce Meyer (FM); 2. Camiran Sadeghi (K). 120 -- 1. Nate Caves (Osk.); 2. Tyler Lanphier (MP). 126 -- 1. Chris Walters (ICW); 2. Dallas Terry (BHS). 132 -- 1. Clayton Hocker (FM); 2. Tristen Bowers (ICW). 138 -- 1. Kegan Wakefield (ICW); 2. Karsten VanVelsor (Ott.). 145 -- 1. Austin Boyd (BHS); 2. Josh Larson (MP). 152 -- 1. John Milani (ICW); 2. Bryton Jones (ICH). 160 -- 1. Cody Jones (Osk.); 2. Dalton Witte (BHS). 170 -- 1. Andrew Landgrebe (Osk.); 2. Jayton Phillips (MP). 182 -- 1. Matt Seabold (BHS); 2. Justin Dilks (MP). 195 -- 1. Mickey Pelfrey (ICW); 2. Dane Jones (Osk.). 220 -- 1. Ryan Maas (ICH); 2. Colton Aplara (MP). 285 -- 1. Alex Goss (K); 2. Kevin Childs (Ott.).
Championship matches
106 -- 1. Crawford (ICW) maj. dec. Chalupa (ICH), 12-0. 113 -- Meyer (FM) maj. dec. Skylar DeJong (Osk.), 10-1. 120 -- Caves (Osk.) dec. Lanphier (MP), 2-0. 126 -- Walters (ICW) maj. dec. Terry, 15-4. 132 -- Hocker (FM) dec. Garrett Grimshaw (BHS), 6-0. 138 -- Wakefield (ICW) dec. VanVelsor, 12-9. 145 -- Boyd (BHS) pinned Larson (MP), 1:02. 152 -- Milani (ICW) dec. Brady Petry (FM), 6-1. 160 -- Jones (Osk.) inj. def. over Witte (BHS), 3:09. 170 -- Landgrebe (Osk.) pinned Phillips (MP), 3:53. 182 -- Seabold (BHS) pinned Dilks, 3:13. 195 -- Pelfrey (ICW) pinned Jones (Osk.), 5:14. 220 -- Maas (ICH) dec. Aplara, 3-1. 285 -- Goss (K) pinned Childs (Ott.), 1:32.
Wrestleback matches
113 -- Sadeghi (K) maj. dec. DeJong (Osk.), 11-1. 126 -- Terry (BHS) pinned Hocker, 3:24. 132 -- Bowers (ICW) pinned Gromshaw, 1:54. 152 -- Jones (Osk.) dec. Petry (FM), 6-1. 170 -- Phillips (MP) maj. dec. Donovan Doyle (ICH), 13-3. 195 -- Jones (Osk.) pinned Conner Mier (Ott.), 0:52.
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