Ahrens, Evans place at state
Feb. 21—DES MOINES — Following a 19-1 season with three state qualifiers but no match wins at state, Creston Panthers head wrestling coach Cody Downing said they have to be happy with how this year finished.
After four days of wrestling, juniors Christian Ahrens (120) and Austin Evans (138) landed on the podium at eighth and seventh place, respectively.
"I mean you always want more," Downing said. "You always feel like your guys want to finish higher than where they ended up, but we beat or exceeded our seed at every weight. That's not easy to do. When you look at things, we had a really good tournament."
Senior Kaden Street and juniors Max Chapman and Will Bolinger were all one match away from placing while seniors Trey Chesnut and Chris Aragon and junior Lincoln Keeler were eliminated after two days of wrestling.
"Sometimes there's a reason these things happen," Downing said. "I told Kaden this is a good place to end your career. As heartbreaking as it was, he's come a long way since being a JV wrestler with a losing record."
For Evans, earning a spot on the podium was a redemption story for his 0-2 finish last year at the state tournament. "He hit the number one ranked wrestler in the second day and we gave him a better fight than anyone," Downing said. "He lost two matches to the guy who got first and fifth. That will help him for a seed next season. If he's not our hardest worker, he's right there."
Downing said Ahrens is another hard worker. "We need to generate a little more offense, a little more takedown with Christian," he said. "The next step is to get the guys qualifying to place and get the guys placing to the championship match."
The second and third days proved to be a challenge for the Panthers as they faced opponents in the top of their brackets.
"I just told them to enjoy the moment," Downing said. "The season starts over from the tournament. Try to get people talking about you. I just told them to enjoy the tournament. If you're there to win, you're going to have to wrestle the top guy anyway."
After last year's disappointing finish, Downing said he's happy with the team they put together. "Overall, I thought our kids grew," he said. "We fought a lot of injury and illness, but we were able to put a competitive lineup together for every meet."
The Panthers return 11 of their 14 varsity wrestlers next year, including five state-qualifiers.
"There are a lot of teams that wished they had what we had," Downing said. "Nobody's feeling sorry for Creston."
