CHERRYVALE — All the excitement Thursday night was over a 215-pound class match. Iola High freshman Quenton Morrison was on the verge of winning his first match of the season.
Morrison was close earlier Thursday night against Erie but got pinned in the second period. Morrison never trailed against Jayhawk-Linn’s Adam Higginbotham.
Morrison had Higginbotham on his back several times during the six-minute match. He just couldn’t pin him. Morrison did win 16-6.
Iola High’s Mustang wrestlers notched two dual victories to wrap up action before Christmas. Cherryvale High hosted Thursday’s competition but the Mustangs only wrestled as a team against Erie and Jayhawk-Linn.
The Mustangs defeated Erie 42-12 and beat Jayhawk-Linn 58-12. That puts Iola’s dual record at 2-0 for the season.
“Our guys got better as the night went on but we can’t afford to start slow against our Southeast Kansas opponents next semester,” said Ron Schomaker, IHS head wrestling coach.
Iola wrestlers were the aggressors in the matches that were contested against Erie and Jayhawk-Linn. The Mustangs had the first takedown of eight of the nine matches with Erie and five of the six with Jayhawk-Linn.
“That is good to see because the numbers out there show the wrestler who gets the first takedown usually wins the match,” Schomaker said.
Taking on Erie’s Red Devils first, the Mustangs opened with a 7-0 win by Michael Armstrong over Ryan Pearson at 119 pounds. Erie’s Rian Lahey pinned Cody Conner in the first period of their 125-pound bout.
Erie led the team score 6-3 at the time.
Senior Lee Berg tied it up when he delivered a technical fall win, 17-1, over Jeremy Chaloupek. Berg used a three-point near fall with 1 minute, 20 seconds left in the match to secure the 15-point advantage.
Brent Clark’s win by forfeit at 135 put the Mustangs in front 12-6. Iola stayed in front from then on.
Zeph Larney won by an 11-5 decision over Josh Forbes at 140. Joe Myrick got a win by forfeit at 145.
Iola’s Devin Culler outlasted Danny Yarnell for a 4-3 win at 152. Marcus Sullivan pinned Erie’s Chris Bohrer in 2:54 in the 160-pound match.
Zack Vaughn kept the Mustangs rolling with a pin of Chris Hoagland in 3:07. Stephen Mc-Donald pinned Christian Murphy in 1:58 of the 189-pound match to put Iola up 42-6.
Taylor Cole turned over Morrison for a pin in 53 seconds of the 215-pound match.
Against Jayhawk-Linn, the Jayhawks got a 6-0 lead as Kolby Fountain won by forfeit at 103. But that was wiped out quickly. Iola earned 30 points on forfeit wins at 119-Armstrong, 125-Conner, 152-Culler, 171-Vaughn and 189-McDonald.
Berg notched his second win of the night with a pin of Jayhawk-Linn’s Austin Billingsley in 1:54 at 130 pounds. Clark quickly dispatched Trace Snyder in 46 seconds with a pin in the 135-pound match.
Jayhawk-Linn’s only win on the mat was at 140-pounds. Mason Craig pinned Larney in 59 seconds. Iola was up 24-12 in team points.
Joe Myrick came out and pinned Jayhawk-Linn’s Tyler Jenkins in 54 seconds at 145. Sullivan pinned Jared Avery in 1:05 at 160, then Morrison’s posted his win.
For the six Mustang wrestlers who only physically wrestled once against Erie and Jayhawk-Linn, there were matches against Cherryvale. Iola and Cherryvale did not wrestle a dual as teams.
Armstrong defeated Cherryvale’s Reid Hugo 12-2 at 119 and Cherryvale’s Alex Cariman pinned Conner in 28 seconds at 125 pounds.
Iola’s Culler pinned Colton Cheatham in 3:57 in the 152-pound match. Clark won with a pin of Cherryvale’s Damon Ferguson in 1:11 in a 135-pound match.
McDonald was able to post an 8-0 decision against Cherryvale’s Dusten Hooper.
“We’ve really loaded up on the kids since the season began and showed all our techniques,” Schomaker said. “Now, we’ll fine tune those things over the next couple of months as we head into league matches and work toward regional.”
In junior varsity matches against Cherryvale:
Iola’s Tristan Sigfusson lost 2-0 to Mike Colvard at 130. Iola’s Bryce Misenhelter pinned Nick Nolen at 160 and Travis Rieske later pinned Nolen. In a 189 match, Iola’s Chase Roettgen pinned Mike Haslett.
Mustangs claim dual wins on the mat
