It was a sacrifice for the good of the team. That’s what it was about as junior Chase Roettgen agreed to move up two weight classes to wrestle for Iola High’s Mustangs.
Roettgen, who certified in December at the 182-pound division and wrestled for the IHS junior varsity at both 182 and 195 pounds this season, entered the Mustangs’ Southeast Kansas League opening double dual Thursday as Iola’s 220-pound class wrestler.
Roettgen is now 2-0 in SEK matches at 220. And he did it in front of a home crowd.
Roettgen battled back and forth with Pittsburg High’s Skyler McGuire and pulled out a 13-10 win. In the next-to-last match of the night, Roettgen pinned Fort Scott High’s Hayes Howser in 36 seconds.
Iola High senior Devin Culler improved to 10-1 overall as he posted two victories in SEK 160-pound action Thursday also. Culler manhandled Quincy Muathe of Pittsburg for a 9-0 decision, then pinned Fort Scott’s Daniel Varner in 2 minutes, 18 seconds of their six-minute match.
Unfortunately, the Mustangs did not get team victories. Pittsburg, third-ranked in Kansas Class 4A, swept the league double dual, beating Iola 54-19 and Fort Scott 45-21. Fort Scott took a 42-24 win over Iola.
“We’re thrilled for Chase. The kid works hard every day in practice and had wrestled well at junior varsity meets in December,” said Aaron Sweazy, Mustang head coach. “We wanted to find him a place on the varsity team.
“Chase stepped up to the challenge of moving into the 220 class. We’re so log-jammed at 182.”
Sweazy said he thought his team came out a bit “starry eyed” against Pittsburg, which is ranked as a team. He pointed out that the three victories in contested matches against Pittsburg Thursday came from the three wrestlers who made all the practices over the holiday break.
Senior Brent Clark pinned Pittsburg’s Ethan Davis in 5:45 to win the 138-pound class. Bryce Misenhelter, a sophomore, earned the team six points via a forfeit win at 182.
Iola was without freshman Kaleb Mock at 126 pounds because of a knee injury. That allowed sophomore Tristan Sigfusson a shot at some varsity league matches.
Sigfusson was pinned by Pittsburg’s Brent Cobb. But the Iola sophomore picked up his first SEK win against Fort Scott. Sigfusson pinned Adam Deloney in 1:58.2.
“Tristan got a big win with a pin for us. That gave us six points early against Fort Scott,” Sweazy said.
Clark, Misenhelter and freshman Trey Colborn joined Sigfusson in going 1-1 in their respective weight classes. Clark lost by a 15-4 decision to Fort Scott’s Jacob Durossette at 138. Durossette is ranked second in Class 4A at 132.
Misenhelter dropped a tough 11-9 decision to Fort Scott’s Christian Tavernaro.
Colborn had been pinned by Class 4A’s second-ranked Broc Bennett of Pittsburg in 1:09 in the opening dual Thursday. He made quick work of Fort Scott’s B.J. Wilson, pinning Wilson in 49 seconds, to end the night’s action.
“We had a talk with the guys after the Pittsburg matches. We were not very active off the bottom position,” Sweazy said. “I thought the kids wrestled much better against Fort Scott. Even in our losses tonight, we competed and we didn’t give up a lot of pins.”
Iola junior Zeph Larney had a tight match, losing 6-4, with Pittsburg’s Jason Wools at 152. Iola was also without senior Zack Vaughn, who was over the two-point allowance at weigh-in Thursday morning, in the 170-pound class.
One of the most active matches of the night was between Iola sophomore Cody Conner and Fort Scott’s J.T. Heckman at 132 pounds. Heckman finally pulled away for an 18-7 win.
Another match of note had Iola sophomore Jacob Rhoads pinned by second-ranked Aaron Seybold of Pittsburg in the 145-pound class.
“I think we have some momentum going into Saturday’s Burlington tournament,” Sweazy said.
Iola’s SEK schedule is “brutal” early. The Mustangs will see four more league schools next week.
Iola goes to Parsons Tuesday to take on Parsons and Columbus. Next Thursday, the Mustangs face Class 4A eighth-ranked Chanute and Labette County at Chanute.
The Mustangs finish SEK action on Feb. 9 at home against Coffeyville and Independence.
Here are Iola’s results from Thursday night.
Southeast Kansas League
Double Dual at Iola
Pittsburg 54, Iola 19
106 – Levi Kester, P, forfeit
113 – Jeremiah Jones, P, forfeit
120 – Parker Fields, P, dec. Mike Armstrong, I, 7-2
126 – Brent Cobb, P, pin Tristan Sigfusson, I, 3:07
132 – Jacob Wools, P, pin Cody Conner, I, 1:12
138 – Brent Clark, I, pin Ethan Davis, P, 5:45
145 – Aaron Seybold, P, pin Jacob Rhoads, I, 1:10
152 – Jason Wools, P, dec. Zeph Larney, I, 6-4
160 – Devin Culler, I, dec. Quincy Muathe, P, 9-0
170 – Brendan Maxwell, P, forfeit
182 – Bryce Misenhelter, I, forfeit
195 – Harley Burch, P, pin Denton Christian, I, 2:15
220 – Chase Roettgen, I, dec. Skyler McGuire, P, 13-10
285 – Broc Bennett, P, pin Trey Colborn, I, 1:09
Fort Scott 42, Iola 24
106 – Cole Stewart, FS, forfeit
113 – open both teams
120 – Tyler Sharp, FS, dec. Mike Armstrong, I, 8-2
126 – Tristan Sigfusson, I, pin Adam Deloney, FS, 1:58.2
132 – J.T. Heckman, FS, dec. Cody Conner, I, 18-7
138 – Jacob Durossette, FS, dec. Brent Clark, I, 15-4
145 – Race Kastl, FS, pin Jacob Rhoads, I, :58
152 – John Hughes, FS, dec. Zeph Larney, I, 14-0
160 – Devin Culler, I, pin, Daniel Varner, FS, 2:18
170 – Cody Bunn, FS, forfeit
182 – Christian Tavernaro, FS, dec. Bryce Misenhelter, I, 11-9
195 – Dane Cummings, FS, pin Denton Christian, I, 2:17
220 – Chase Roettgen, I, pin Hayes Howser, FS, :36
285 – Trey Colborn, I, pin B.J. Wilson, FS, :49
Junior Varsity matches
152 – Trevor Pulliam, FS, pin Jordan Long, I, 3:26
160 – Cody Bunn, FS, dec. Travis Rieske, I, 8-6
