Prep wrestling: Cobras complete perfect dual season
Jan. 25—PEKIN — On the gridiron, several Sigourney-Keota athletes viewed perfect seasons as very attainable goals.
On the wrestling mat, however, maintaining an unbeaten record was never the ultimate goal. It just kind of worked out that way for the 10th-ranked (1A) Cobras.
S-K wrapped up their 23rd and final dual of the regular season on Monday easily winning wrestling's version of the Backyard Brawl with a 60-3 win at Pekin. The evening featured the opportunity for the two Keokuk County schools to let their youth wrestlers enjoy some of the spotlight competing in between varsity matches while also bringing the communities together for a good cause as a pre-match soup supper raised over $2,000 for a scholarship fund named in honor of Dixie Chapman, the late wife of Pekin head wrestling coach Al Chapman.
"I didn't even know that was going to happen until last Thursday night," Chapman said. "Dixie would have liked that, to help kids further their education."
Simply by showing up on Monday with 21 wrestlers, three times as many as Pekin, Sigourney-Keota simply had to avoid a fall in any of the six matches that were held in order to clinch a perfect regular-season dual record for the first time since 1986. Brady Clark accomplished that despite suffering a loss to Gannon Greiner as the Pekin freshman was able to outwrestle Clark at key moments of all three periods, including a reversal of a near fall attempt in the final period to clinch an 11-7 decision for the Panthers.
"We knew we were going to be in for a tough battle. We knew we were going into it outmanned," Chapman said. "Four years ago, when we had a team that won conference, won sections and won districts, Sigourney-Keota only had one guy with a winning record. You have those hills and valleys. Other than the times we're wrestling against them, I'm always hoping for the best for Sigourney-Keota."
The Cobras would win each of the next five matches, including falls scored by Jake Moore at 145 pounds, Aidan Schuster at 182 and Cade Molyneux at 160. Molyneux is no stranger to perfect regular seasons having been a starter on the S-K football team over a two-year span in which the Cobras won all 17 regular season games, including a 9-0 season this past fall in which Molyneux earned all-state honors after rushing for a 1A-leading 1,990 yards and 23 touchdowns.
"It's tough to compare the accomplishments because I love football so much," Molyneux said after improving to 32-5 on the season. "The football family aspect is really strong amongst the Sigourney-Keota community. It's a split decision for me. I can't really tell which accomplishment is better."
For S-K head wrestling coach Cody Van Den Heuvel, the numbers tell the story about just how special his team's accomplishment is.
"It hasn't happened since 1986, so that tells you right there how tough it is to accomplish something like this," Van Den Huevel said. "This is a very good group of kids that have played a lot of sports together and accomplished a lot working hard together. Hard work always pays off no matter what you're doing. That's what we've been putting in and that's why we're having this type of success."
Evan Dawson went the distance to earn the first of win for the Cobras over a Panther wrestler, edging Gavyn Brown 8-6 at 152 pounds. Jack Clarahan won the wildest match of the night, taking an 11-7 decision at 170 pounds over Blake Juhl as both wrestlers fought off the mat several times with each wrestlers being spilled out on to the basketball court and Clarahan taking his first trip into the stands off a wild scramble.
"I've wrestled Blake a lot. He's a tough kid and he's always going to be a tough kid," Clarahan said. "It's a big match. You just have to keep wrestling hard through the whole thing and never give up. When you do that, the result shows up on the scoreboard."
Both teams will compete this weekend in their respective conference tournaments. While Pekin (3-18) heads to Mediapolis for the Southeast Iowa Superconference meet, No. 10 S-K will look to follow up their South Iowa Cedar League dual title by winning the SICL wrestling tournament on Saturday at BGM.
"Practice by practice, every day we've gotten a little bit better," Clarahan said. "We come in every day looking to get a little better. That all adds up by the end of the year."
PREP WRESTLING
No. 10 (1A) Sigourney-Keota 60, Pekin 3
113: Double Forfeit 120: Gannon Greiner (PEKI) over Brady Clark (SIGO) (Dec 11-7) 126: Double Forfeit 132: DJ Hammes (SIGO) over (PEKI) (For.) 138: Dan Mclaughlin (SIGO) over (PEKI) (For.) 145: Jake Moore (SIGO) over Deklan Hampton (PEKI) (Fall 1:36) 152: Evan Dawson (SIGO) over Gavyn Brown (PEKI) (Dec 8-6) 160: Cade Molyneux (SIGO) over Nolan Greiner (PEKI) (Fall 0:57) 170: Jack Clarahan (SIGO) over Blake Juhl (PEKI) (Dec 11-7) 182: Aidan Schuster (SIGO) over Ryan Doud (PEKI) (Fall 4:50) 195: Cade Streigle (SIGO) over (PEKI) (For.) 220: Conner Reed (SIGO) over (PEKI) (For.) 285: Zachary Smithart (SIGO) over (PEKI) (For.) 106: Reanah Utterback (SIGO) over (PEKI) (For.)
— Scott Jackson can be reached at sjackson@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter@CourierScott.
