Four champs lead Don Bosco to Herb Irgens Invite crown

BY MATT PFIFFNER

The four-time defending Class 1A State Champions crashed the annual party in Ida Grove and left with a lot of the hardware.

Don Bosco, ranked No. 1 in 1A once again this season, ran away with the team title Jan. 23 at the 40th Annual Herb Irgens Invitational behind four individual champions and 11 total top-five finishers. The Dons finished the two-day 22-team tournament with 277.5 team points, well ahead of runner-up Class 2A 10th-rated Emmetsburg's total of 166.

It was Don Bosco's first-ever trip to the always-tough tournament.

Striking gold for the Dons were top-ranked wrestlers Cole Welter at 135, Clay Welter at 145 and Taylor Kettman at 189 and third-rated Brandon Welter at 125.

All four scored very impressive title bout victories over ranked foes.

Cole Welter, a two-time State champ, defeated Class 2A fourth-ranked Skyler Rice of Emmetsburg, 8-3. Rice, a former two-time State place finisher for Manson NW Webster, gave up takedowns in each of the three periods.

"I knew he was a tough opponent. But I'm real confident and I'm not scared of big matches anymore. I look forward to them and it's just an opportunity to get better," Welter said. "It's good to get a chance to wrestle a good opponent like that. It's a good win."

Clay Welter, another two-time State champ for the Dons, scored four takedowns in a dominating 8-4 win over 1A second-ranked Michael Jensen of Graettinger-Terril.

Welter led 4-1 at the end of the first and added takedowns in the second and third periods to win going away in a highly-anticipated No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown.

"As far as the one versus two showdown, I don't really pay attention to that. Whoever I have in the finals is whoever I have and it's going to be the best possible match for me," Welter said. "I didn't stay offensive as much as I wanted to, but today was a step in the right direction and hopefully I can build on today. I'm just looking to build on my lead."

Welter, despite being a two-time State champ, was seeded second behind Jensen.

"I don't know how they got that. It's a little disrespectful, but if anything, it's just motivation. Nothing personal," Welter said.

Kettman pinned 1A sixth-ranked Dalton Peterson of Woodbine in 3:28. In the semifinals, Kettman edged 1A second-ranked Nate Howard of Graetinger-Terril, 3-2.

Brandon Welter broke open a tight match against 2A third-rated Darius Dutcher of OA-BCIG with a takedown and six near fall points in the second period, in a 13-2 win.

The Dons placed three other wrestlers in the finals, but they had to settle for silver medals.

At 119, third-ranked Chet Utesch of Akron-Westfield scored the only takedown of the match in the third period for a 3-2 victory over No. 2 Ben McMahon.

Utesch recently dropped from 125 to 119 and said he was ready to take on the 2009 State runner-up.

"He was a finalist last year. I've been looking forward to this match all year, ever since I dropped down to 119," Utesch said. "It just means I'm finalist material. It gives me motivation to go down to the State Tournament and do well."

Utesch chose down to start the third period and escaped in just five seconds. He scored the decisive takedown 30 seconds later.

"I've gone down every match and gotten away every match. That's my goal, to never get rode," he said.

The Westerner sophomore, who improved to 38-0 with the win, said he enjoys this tournament because it helps down the road.

"This tournament helps a lot with being nervous in big matches. I haven't been nervous for a match since semifinals of this tournament last year," he said.

At 130, 1A third-ranked Brayton Taylor of Prairie Valley also remained undefeated with a 4-2 win over unranked Austin Demuth of Don Bosco.

The Don's other runner-up finisher was 1A fifth-ranked Curtis Weber at 171, who dropped a 4-0 decision to 2A third-rated Ryan Rozeboom of Sergeant Bluff-Luton.

The Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament was Carroll 152-pounder Taylor Berger. The junior built up a 14-3 lead against Cody Solari of SBL before recording a third-period fall. Berger is ranked third in 2A, while Solari was undefeated heading into the finals and ranked fourth in 2A.

Berger scored four takedowns and five near fall points in the lopsided win.

"I was kind of surprised, actually. After I got the first takedown I was feeling pretty good and just kept going," he said. "It was nice to be able to get the pin. I felt pretty good about it."

Berger said his goal is to become just the fifth State Champion in school history and the first since 1932.

The finals began with a bang, as 1A No. 2 Brance Simms of Twin River Valley and 1A No. 3 Jordan Bremer of Woodbury Central met for the 103-pound title for the second year in a row. It was a much closer match this year, but the final result was the same, a victory for Simms. He jumped out to a 5-0 lead and held off a late Bremer rally for a 5-4 win.

At 112, Class 2A sixth-ranked Isaac Lundgren of Emmetsburg handled Blair Kerkhoff of Audubon, 9-1.

Jacob Meehan of Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn won the 140-pound title by medical forfeit over fellow freshman Mark Norland of Spirit Lake Park.

The best title bout of the night came at 160, where 2A No. 4 Joey Naig of Emmetsburg scored the tying takedown against 1A No. 2 Levi Peters of TRV with one second left in regulation and won in overtime with another takedown, for a wild 12-10 decision. Peters, a State runner-up a season ago, was 31-0 entering the finals.

Ryan Fouts of Woodbine won at 215 when 1A sixth-ranked Doug Schwaller of Okoboji was called for locked hands four times and disqualified.

At 285, 1A third-ranked Dustin Schwaller gave Okoboji a title with a pin in 1:31 over Logan Schafer of AGH/SC.