Prep wrestling: Milestone win caps opening night

Dec. 2—PEKIN — The Ottumwa High School wrestling team hopes to have plenty to celebrate by the end of what could be a very special season.

Zach Shoemaker kicked off the first big milestone celebration for the Bulldogs on Tuesday, closing out Ottumwa's season-opening quadrangular meet at Pekin by securing his 100th career win in style. Shoemaker pinned Gavyn Brown with just two seconds left in the first period of a 152-pound match, helping the Bulldogs close out a perfect opening night on the mats with a 75-0 shutout of Pekin before being greeted by his teammates and coaches.

It may very well be one of many glorious achievements for Bulldogs wrestlers this season. Shoemaker is one of five returning state qualifiers seeking to build off the experience of last year and one of five wrestlers currently ranked by IAwrestle.com in Class 3A.

"It just stacks up over time," Shoemaker said. "Every day I go to practice in the wrestling room, I keep a couple of quotes in my mind whenever things get hard."

It's that same introspection that helped make Zach's older brother, Nathaniel, a state qualifying wrestler for Ottumwa in 2017. Being able to follow in his the footsteps of his brother as a state qualifier last year with 100 career wins only adds to the sense of accomplishment for the younger Shoemaker.

"It's very special that both my brother and I have been able to have so much success that we've accomplished wrestling at Ottumwa," Shoemaker said. "I'll remember this forever. I'm really proud that both of us could be involved with wrestling as long as we both have. It's a great opportunity and a really proud moment to share in winning 100 matches with my brother."

Shoemaker wrestled Ottumwa's first match on Tuesday, pinning Dean Bragg, Jr. in just 34 seconds to kick off a 67-12 win over Davis County. Like his older brother five years earlier, Zach Shoemaker is working each day to get better during his final season of high school wrestling keeping himself motivated with inspirational words running through his mind.

"Do what others won't do today so you can do what they can't tomorrow. That's one of the quotes I tell myself whenever I'm having a tough day in the wrestling room," Shoemaker said. "Practice like you've never won a match and wrestle like you've never lost one. I try to remind myself that each time I head out to the mat."

Shoemaker's 100th career win came on the same night that several Ottumwa wrestlers earned their first career victories. Ashton (Rabbit) Grace, Kaden Hubbell, Maddex Kennedy, Amin Villasenor, Daniel Robert, Demetrius Renteria-Spoon and Koby Chanthalavanh all had their hands raised on Tuesday as Ottumwa opened the season 3-0 with a 66-12 win over Lynnville-Sully that followed the 55-point win over Davis County and preceded the shutout victory against the Panthers.

"It's a good start. We still have things to work on, but that's normal coming out of the first competition of any season," Ottumwa head wrestling coach Jeremy Frueh said. "Overall, I'm happy with how things went."

Trevor Summers began his chase for a record-setting season by scoring three pins for the Bulldogs, earning his 104th career win earlier in the dual with Pekin pinning Blake Juhl 25 seconds into the second period of a 182-pound match. Summers is now 46 wins shy of Isiah Cox's career-win record at OHS (149) and 47 wins shy of becoming Ottumwa's first wrestler to win 50 matches in a single season.

Corbin Grace also moved within five wins of his 100th victory on Tuesday, pinning Davis County's Blaine Meyer in 1:51 at 120 pounds following his younger brother's first career win scored with a second-period fall at 113 against Kade Martin. Jasmine Luedtke, a state championship hopeful in both the IWOCA Girls and IAHSAA tradition state wrestling tournaments this year, pinned Lynnville-Sully's top female wrestler Elizabeth Elliott with 14 seconds left in the first period of the 113-pound match.

Daltin Doud, ranked 11th at 132 pounds in 3A, opened his season for Ottumwa by pinning Lynnville-Sully's Caleb Rea in 3:48 and Davis County's Deken Sorensen in 6:27. Sorensen, however, would bounce to score an important fall of his own on Tuesday pinning Rea in the second period trailing 4-1 to help the Mustangs pull away for a 36-21 win over the Hawks, giving Davis County two wins in three duals after beating Pekin 54-24 earlier in the night.

"I've got a strong, core group of kids this year," said Adam Newton, Davis County's first-year head wrestling coach. "Most of these kids have wrestled together for several years. There were some first-time jitters and Deken started a little sluggish, but I expect him to win a lot of matches for us this year."

Pekin went winless in three duals with the Bulldogs, Mustangs and Hawks falling 45-18 to Lynnville-Sully to open the season. Brown, Nolan Greiner and Logan Baker did pick up individual falls during the quadrangular, giving Panther wrestling coach Al Chapman reason to smile just days removed from the sudden loss of his wife.

"These boys have kind of become my second family now," Chapman said. "I might have actually outworked some of the guys in practice on Monday. I just needed to work some of that energy off. It just feels good to get back into a routine again. Hopefully, we've got some good times coming down the road."

Pekin will host their own tournament on Saturday with Davis County returning to compete at the Panthers' gymnasium. Ottumwa, meanwhile, heads to Burlington for a dual tournament where Frueh could earn his 100th dual win as Bulldog head wrestling coach should Ottumwa win at least three duals on Saturday.

"It's not a matter of if. It's a matter of when," Shoemaker said of that milestone. "It'll be incredibly exciting to get Coach Frueh his 100th win. I'd say we'll get by the end of this week."

— Scott Jackson can be reached at sjackson@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter@CourierScott.