The Predicament.com-your ultimate Iowa wrestling source

BY MATT PFIFFNER

Graettinger-Terril head coach Cody Alesch was pleased with his team's championship effort at the Battle Creek-Ida Grove Invitational on Jan. 23-24 in Ida Grove. But what thrilled him even more was how the Knights entered and exited the gym at the brutal two-day event.

"We came in healthy and we're leaving healthy," he said. "And it's nice to get down here and see some of these teams, whether it goes good or bad for us."

The Knights crowned a trio of champions and had two other runner-up finishes on their way to 188 team points. Host OA-BCIG was right behind G-T with 181, while Twin River Valley finished a close third with 176. Sergeant Bluff-Luton (157) and Woodbury Central (124.5) rounded out the top five.

G-T had championship performances from Class 1A fourth-ranked James Tatman at 112, No. 2 Jake Hoffman at 189 and No. 9 heavyweight Kyle Brown.

Tatman steamrolled through the 112-pound bracket with three falls, including a title match decking of Vance Kreutz of AGH-SC in 4:45. Tatman improved to 25-0 in his senior season.

"We've had some close matches. But the last couple of weeks he's got back to his style and where he needs to be as we approach Sectionals," Alesch said.

Hoffman (pictured in white) was just as, if not more impressive, in his title march at a solid 189 weight class. The second-ranked senior improved to 28-0 with a trio of first-period pins and an 11-3 pummeling of No. 10 Tom Brinkman of Pocahontas Area/Pomeroy-Palmer in the finals. Hoffman had all five takedowns in the match. Brinkman had reached the finals with an impressive 9-4 win over seventh-ranked Dillon Grossman of Woodbine.

Hoffman is a three-time State qualifier with a fourth- and sixth-place finish to his credit. His eyes are on the top of the stand in his final season.

"Jake's been wrestling really solid," Alesch said. "He has his goals set on one thing after how he's done at State in the past. And he prepares so well for every match."

The Knights closed out the tournament with their third title, an 8-6 victory by Brown over Brendan Terwee of West Lyon at 285. Brown was active on his feet, with four takedowns in the win.

The host squad placed three wrestlers in the finals and had four champs on their way to the runner-up team finish.

Darius Dutcher, ranked third in 2A, reached the title bout at 119 with three falls and finished off his tournament with a solid 4-1 win over an impressive freshman, 1A 10th-ranked Chet Utesch of Akron-Westfield. Dutcher (28-0) had a first-period takedown and only allowed one escape in the win.

Utesch scored a solid win of his own earlier in the day in the semifinals, with an 8-4 win over previously-undefeated freshman No. 7 Brayton Taylor of Prairie Valley. Taylor rebounded from the loss with a third-place finish.

OA-BCIG 125-pounder Josh Schaefer, ranked fifth in 2A, had one of the more impressive title match displays, as he avenged his only loss of the season with a 22-10 win over 1A No. 4 Sean Schneider of Twin River Valley.

The two wrestlers got in several scramble situations and Schaefer ended up on top in most of the time. He built up a quick 7-0 lead in the first period and led 12-2 at the end of the first period. After a scoreless second period, both wrestlers were put on their backs in the third. Schneider nearly got the fall early in the third, but Schaefer got out of trouble and sent Schneider to his back once again late in the period for the major decision win.

One of the more anticipated title bouts happened right away, as a pair of outstanding freshmen faced off for the gold at 103. Second-ranked and undefeated Jordan Bremer of Woodbury Central met No. 4 and once-beaten Brance Simms of TRV.

Simms scored a counter takedown in the first period for a 2-1 lead at the end of one. The Thunder grappler hit a headlock in the second for an 8-1 lead on Bremer. The lead was cut to 8-5 midway through the third period with a Bremer penalty point, escape and takedown, but Simms scored his second five-point move of the bout with another headlock for an impressive 14-5 major decision win.

Simms said he doesn't use the headlock a lot, he just saw a chance to use it twice in the match.

"It was just there. I just felt it and threw it," he said.

Simms said he didn't know what to expect wrestling the undefeated Bremer.

"I was a little nervous at the beginning because I didn't know what to think," he said. "It makes me feel like I can do well at State and maybe win Sectionals and Districts."

At 130, Seth Epling of Woodbury Central, ranked 10th, scored a mild upset win over fifth-ranked Shay Taylor of Prairie Valley. Epling scored a four-point move in the first period with a takedown to a cradle and led 6-3 after the first period. Taylor led 7-6 midway through the second period, but Epling led 9-8 by the end of a wild two minutes.

In the third period, knotted the score at 11-1 with a takedown and let Epling go with 35 seconds left in the bout to go for the winning takedown. But Epling was the one who would score from his feet again and clinch the entertaining 14-11 win with a takedown.

Derek Miner of Spirit Lake Park, ranked fourth in 2A, was very impressive in a 12-4 win over 1A No. 8 Sam Halverson of TRV. Miner scored five takedowns in the major decision win.

One of the more entertaining title bouts happened at 140, where 2A No. 8 Cody Solari of SBL and 1A No. 5 Levi Peters of TRV faced off.

Solari led 5-2 after two periods and appeared in complete control. But in the third, after a Solari escape made it 6-2, Peters took Solari down and scored a pair of quick near fall points to knot the score at 6-6. Solari escaped with 30 seconds left and had to fight off a near takedown by Peters at the buzzer for a 7-6 win.

A pair of Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn ranked wrestlers dropped down a weight class for the first time at the tournament and the move paid off with a pair of titles.

At 145, Russ Godbersen, ranked fifth in 1A at 152, claimed gold with a thrilling 6-5 win over second-ranked Michael Jensen of G-T. Godbersen fell behind 5-2 in the second period when Jensen reversed him to his back. Godbersen trailed 5-3 in the third period with Jensen in the down position. Jensen, trying to escape, put himself in danger and Godbersen caught him on his back for a five count and three near fall points. Jensen was unable to escape and Godbersen claimed the one-point win.

"It was a really good match," Godbersen said. "It's a huge confidence boost right before Sectionals."

Even though he trailed in the third, Godbersen said he was fairly confident he could pull out the win.

"There was a little doubt, but I'm usually pretty good in the third period," he said. "I just kind of caught him right there."

Godbersen's teammate, Jerad Letsche, struck gold at 152. Letsche, ranked seventh at 160, scored a 6-4 overtime win over No. 6 152-pounder Jon Elmore of Prairie Valley.

Elmore reversed Letsche in the opening seconds of the third period and rode him the rest of the way to force overtime. All eight points in regulation were scored on reversals.

In the extra period, after fighting off an Elmore takedown attempt, Letsche hit a low shot on Elmore's ankles, came through the legs and scored the winning takedown.

The meet's Outstanding Wrestler performance came at 160, where 1A No. 3 Joe Sievert of Akron-Westfield dominated 1A No. 2 Kass Schany of G-T, 13-4. It was Schany's first loss of the season.

Sievert led 4-0 at the end of the first with a late ankle pick takedown to Schany's back. Sievert led 8-1 by the end of the second period and put the finishing touches on the win with two more takedowns in the third.

"I just wanted to wrestle him and see what happens. I just go out there and wrestle every match the same," Sievert said. "It all means the same to me. I wrestle like it's the last match of my life and it's the State finals.

"I kind of figured I'd win, but that's just being a confident wrestler."

At 171, Nate Tool of TRV, ranked second in 1A, ran his record to a spotless 28-0 with a solid 7-3 win over Chaps Wilcke of OA-BCIG. Tool had two takedowns and a reversal in the victory.

Kelan Richardson of RCL-SCAL, ranked seventh in 2A at 189, bumped up a weight and claimed the gold medal at 215. Jason Koedam of West Lyon gave him some trouble in the title bout, but Richardson finished with an 11-7 victory.