Mathis, McGeough wrestle at state
Holden Mathis competed at 138 pounds in Class 1A. 2024 was his second straight state wrestling appearance. (Photos by Audrey Posten)
Mathis opened the tournament with a win, but came up short in the next two matches.
Mathis, a senior, finished his wrestling career with 160 wins, fourth most in MFL MarMac program history.
Quinn McGeough wrestled at 165 pounds in Class 1A. This made back-to-back state appearances for the junior.
McGeough was 1-2 in his state matches.
Coach Chet Bachman felt McGeough wrestled the best he had all season at the state tournament. He did it with a shoulder injury.
By Audrey Posten, Times-Register
MFL MarMac wrestlers Holden Mathis and Quinn McGeough closed out their respective seasons at the Iowa High School Athletic Association state wrestling tournament, held Feb. 14-17 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. This marked the second straight state appearance for both wrestlers, who each went 1-2 in their matches.
Mathis, a senior, qualified for state as a district champion and came into the tournament with a record of 38-3, seeded fourth in Class 1A at 138 pounds. He started off strong, pinning Brant Freeberg of Tri-Center, Neola, to advance to the quarterfinals on day two.
It was there he came up against Wilton’s Gabriel Brisker, the fifth seed, who came out on top in a 5-1 decision. Now on the consolation side of the bracket, Mathis needed a win over Jesup’s Dawson Bell—whom he defeated in the district title bout—to stay alive. Bell won the match-up this time, however, edging Mathis 6-4.
“Holden ran into a really tough kid in the quarters,” said coach Chet Bachman. “Then [against Bell], he was taking care of business but got caught and put on his back. It was difficult to recover.”
“It was a tough loss,” Bachman continued, “but he had a heck of a career. He worked really hard, was a good kid, dependable, reliable. Those are the attributes that are the most special.”
Mathis wrapped up his career with 160 wins, fourth most in MFL MarMac program history, according to Bachman. Mathis was a two-time state qualifier and fifth-place medalist in 2023 at 132 pounds. As a freshman, he was also part of MFL MarMac’s state dual team.
“That’s pretty special. A lot to hang your hat on,” Bachman shared.
McGeough entered the state tournament seeded 20th in Class 1A at 165 pounds, after placing second at districts. He lost his opening match 4-1 to Lincoln Blickenderfer of Central Springs, but rebounded on the back side, dispatching Wilton’s Jensen Boorn with a fall.
McGeough encountered a familiar foe—South Winneshiek’s Kyle Kuboushek—in the third round consolations. The two wrestled to a 4-4 tie at the end of regulation, but Kuboushek managed to escape McGeough’s grasp to win 5-4 in overtime.
Bachman credited McGeough’s tenacity in winning a wrestle back to qualify for state. McGeough did it while battling a recent shoulder injury.
“He overcame some adversity and I thought he wrestled the best he has all season at state,” Bachman said. “He wrestled well specifically against the Wilton kid, and that was a heck of match against Kuboushek. He had the mindset of just letting it fly.”
Bachman hopes the experience will fuel McGeough, a junior, and the other Bulldog wrestlers heading into next season.
“Hopefully this makes the kids hungry,” he said. “We’ll sit down and put together a game plan to get back on track. The goal is to continue to be competitive, to have people look up to us and notice us as a good program.
