EUREKA — Iola High School and Humboldt High School’s wrestling teams were in action at the 28th Eureka Invitational on Saturday. The Mustangs finished sixth in the team competitions with one win. The Cubs finished 14th with a best finish of third by Andrew Watts.
“I believe we wrestled well,” said Iola head coach Jason Bates. “We’ve had a lot of setbacks. These blows really bring down the morale of a team. The boys found a way to overcome and still compete at a high level.”
Iola’s TJ Taylor once again dominated in the 132-pound weight class, running the table en route to a gold medal and 30 points for the Mustangs. Taylor won all his matches by pinfall, with three of them lasting under 1:40. Taylor is 20-3 on the season.
Korbin Cloud had a very impressive second-place showing after an up and down start to the season. Cloud made it all the way to the first place match where he lost by pin to Rose Hill’s Boeden Whitted. Cloud had a first round bye and picked up a win by decision and a win via pin. Cloud is now 8-15 for the season.
“He’s been very receptive to coach feedback and working hard to make small corrections,” Bates said of Cloud. “The corrections make a big difference in position.”
The other second-place finisher for Iola was Trent Jones in the 152-pound bracket. Jones secured a spot in the first place match after winning both previous rounds by six-point margins. A major decision loss to Rose Hill’s Keegan Beavers cost Jones first place but he still gained 18 points for his team. Jones is now 19-3 on the season.
Wyatt Westervelt also placed fifth for the Mustangs in the 195-pound bracket. Westervelt is 15-9 on the season.
A rare semifinal loss for Humboldt’s Andrew Watts in the 285-pound bracket cost Watts a shot at gold. Watts placed third by beating Douglass High School’s Joe Martin via pin. The loss is the second for Watts on the year, he is now 15-2.
Humboldt’s Cole Mathes placed fourth after a loss in the third place match to Hillsboro’s Garrett Helmer by 3-0 decision. Mathes was relegated to the third place match after a semifinal loss to Rose Hill’s Keegan Beavers by pinfall.
The Mustangs are scheduled to be back in action Saturday at Fredonia. Humboldt returns to the mats on Feb. 1 at the Tri-Valley League.
