The Predicament.com-your ultimate Iowa wrestling source

BY MATT PFIFFNER
A trio of Iowa wrestlers battled for gold Friday afternoon in the Cadet Freestyle National Tournament in Fargo, N.D. When the dust had settled, one Iowan had achieved his goal.

Justin Koethe, coming off a runner-up finish in Cadet Greco-Roman earlier in the week, added a gold medal to his collection, with a 1-0, 1-0 win over Dominic Prezzio of Ohio.

Koethe used an arm throw for a takedown in the first period for a 1-0 lead and nearly got a gut for two more points, but Prezzio fought it off. Koethe held on for the 1-0 period win.

In the second period, Koethe pushed Prezzio out of bounds in the opening moments for a quick 1-0 lead. Koethe hipped out of a deep shot by Prezzio late in the period and went on to another 1-0 period win for the gold medal.

"I knew it was going to be a tough match. But I wasn't going to take no for an answer," Koethe said.

Koethe, who wrestled with a broken thumb he suffered in the first match of the freestyle tournament, said he didn't let it bother him.

"I pretty much blocked it out. I felt so bad about Greco, I just had to win it," he said. "I had a couple close matches, but I did what I had to do. I just feel great right now."

Koethe, who finished fourth at State as a freshman, said he will take this experience into his sophomore year at Iowa City West.

"It just gives me a lot more confidence in myself. Just keep working hard and getting better," he said.

The other two finalists from Iowa fell short of the top spot on the podium.

The first to go under the spotlights on the raised stage was 91-pounder Phillip Laux against Brad Perkins of Missouri.

Perkins came out firing right away and jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead with a takedown and exposure. A leg turk and turn made it 4-0 and Perkins used a takedown and gut wrench to end the first period with a 7-0 win.

In the second period, Laux fell behind 3-0 with a takedown to his back. Laux finally locked up his tough front headlock on Perkins and rolled him for three points of his own, for a 3-3 tie. But Perkins scored a pair of takedowns in the final 35 seconds for the 5-3 period win to take the gold.

"I didn't go to my game plan in the first period," Laux said. "But it was pretty exciting. Hopefully I can use this experience to get back there next year."

Laux ended up with the silver, one place higher than his third-place effort in Greco-Roman earlier in the week.

"I'm pretty pleased, but I could have done a little better," Laux said.

A few matches later, it was incoming freshman Brandon Sorensen's shot for a title at 119, against Kagan Squire of Ohio.

There was little action throughout the match, with each period coming down to the flip and clinch. Sorensen won the flip in the first period and got a takedown with five seconds remaining for the 1-0 period win. Squire scored a quick takedown off the clinch in the second period and won the flip once again after the third period. After a short scramble, Squire finished off another takedown for the 1-0 period win and the gold medal.

"I would have liked my choice, but I just had to try to get out of it the best I could," Sorensen said of the final clinch. "I got my leg out and I had the whizzer in, but he circled around and got on top and got the takedown."

Sorensen, who will be a freshman for Denver-Tripoli this coming season, enjoyed he finals experience.

"I didn't really want it to turn out this way, but I gave it all I had," Sorensen said. "It was fun. Wrestling on the platform was pretty cool."

IOWA CROWNS SEVEN OTHER ALL-AMERICANS
The three Iowa wrestlers in the finals may have received the most attention from the fans, but seven other grapplers from the state were fighting just as hard off to the side for third, fifth and seventh place.

At 98, Colby Knight took on Kegan Gavaldon of Colorado for fifth-place honors.

Knight scored three takedowns in each of the first two periods, many of them by just running behind Gavaldon after a shot attempt, for a solid 3-0, 3-0 victory for fifth-place honors.

"I wanted to wrestle safe and win the match," Knight said. "I've been trying to put in as much work as I can recently and I'm very satisfied to be an All-American."

Knight had a familiar face to Iowans in his corner, father Steve Knight.

"It means everything. He's been my coach my whole life," Colby said. "It helps to have that same voice in your corner all the time."

Eric DeVos came back from a tough loss in the round robin to take on Derek Elmore of Illinois for third.

It wasn't a thrilling match, but DeVos scored a push out in each period for a 1-0, 1-0 victory.

"It definitely meant something to me," DeVos said of finishing third. "I knew I was top three here. I didn't want to take anymore losses than I had to."

Other than being caught in a throw for a pin in the round robin, DeVos was pleased with his tournament.

"I had a great tournament. I wrestled solid from match one to match nine. I just got caught," he said. "You have to let that go and stick with the game plan."

At 140, Gabriel Moreno faced Logan Addis of Arizona for the bronze medal.

Moreno led 2-0 early in the first, but fell behind 2-4 after being exposed and reversed to his back. Moreno rebounded with a takedown to Addis' back for the 8-4 win. The Urbandale grappler jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second period and held on for the 3-2 period win for the bronze medal.

"I was happy even placing at this big of a tournament," he said. "It's really huge getting into the All-American round, because no one in my family had done that yet."

Travis Mallo looked to earn third-place honors at 171 against Michael Ettore of Florida.

The first period was wild, as Mallo jumped on top 5-0, but then was reversed and gut wrenched three times to fall behind 7-5. Mallo used an explosive double leg takedown to drive Ettore to his back for three points and won the period, 8-7, based on having a pair of three-point moves.

In the second, Mallo once again used a strong double leg to jump on top 3-0 and hit another one moments later and got the touch fall in 33 seconds for the bronze.

"That's my go-to move on offense," Mallo said of the double leg. "I'm looking to hit that whenever I can. I'm always hoping to get the three for feet to back. I've gotten the touch fall twice before, so that's always nice to get."

Mallo, who will be a junior at Mason City next season, said he was pleased with earning the bronze.

"Third is pretty good, but I would have liked to have been in the finals," he said.

At 189, Bruce McWilliams took on Jared Koch of Illinois in the fifth-place bout.

The first period ended in a 3-3 tie, but McWilliams won based on having a two-point score in the period. In the second, it was tied 3-3 again late in the period, but McWilliams drove Koch out of bounds to his back for three points and the 6-3 victory.

"I'm glad I finished with a win," the Sheldon/South O'Brien grappler said. "I wanted to end the season on a high note."

McWilliams said placing here will help him get ready to take on a lot of tough competition next season.

"It will really help me. Wrestling at this weight, I'll be wrestling a lot of good seniors who will be looking to end their careers on top, so I'll need to step up my game," he said.

Joe Scanlan looked to finish one spot better in freestyle than he did in Greco-Roman, as he battled Anthony Dilonardo of Pennsylvania in the fifth-place match.

Scanlan won the first period, 1-0, with a takedown, but gave up a takedown in the second for a 0-1 loss. Scanlan scored a takedown in the third and then pushed Dilonardo out of bounds for a 2-0 lead. A late push out for the Pennsylvania wrestler didn't matter, in a 2-1 period win for Scanlan, to win fifth-place honors.

Heavyweight Caleb White wrapped up the busy night for team Iowa in the seventh-place match at 285 against Shane Hardy of Utah.

After finishing second in the Greco-Roman tournament, White had to settle for eighth in freestyle, with a 1-4, 0-6 loss. He couldn't get any offense going against Hardy, who scored six takedowns and a push out in the bout.