Central/Ed-Co gets first dual wins of season
Cooper Brown avoids a takedown attempt in the Dec. 21 tournament at Starmont. (Photos by Tia Dundee)
Zane Embretson squares off with an opponent during last week’s competition.
Braxton Bormann prepares to pin an opponent.
Parer Funke prepares to take down an opponent in the duals at Clayton Ridge.
Collin Jaster looks for an opportunity in last week's Central wrestling action.
Preston Kulper ties up an opponent at the Starmont Invite.
By Willis Patenaude | Times-Register
It was an eventful week for the Central/Ed-Co wrestling team, which started with a snowstorm canceling the second annual Border Brawl on Dec. 19, but fortune shone on the Warriors the following night, when they participated in the Clayton Ridge duals and won the first duals of the season for the combined team.
“I knew we could do it. We just all needed to be able to put it together, and we were finally able to do that tonight,” said coach Joe Koehn.
The Warriors’ first dual was against Northeast Community, and after a couple of forfeits, they started winning matches. At 126 pounds, Zane Embretson pinned Caleb Jackson. Cooper Brown, at 132 pounds, followed suit, pinning Rowdy Mullins in a quick 34 seconds. Braxton Bormann, making his return from injury, pinned Uryah Dietrick at 144 pounds. Preston Kulper also pinned his opponent, Liam Carbajal, in the 157-pound match, while Adam Kloser (120), Nolan Gaul (138) and Mack Perrinjaquet (150) all won by forfeit.
Wrestling at 165, Colton Hoisington lost by 17-3 technical fall, and heavyweight Connor Davis was pinned.
The Warriors went 4-2 in matches and won the dual 42-29, picking up the team’s first dual win of the year.
“Very proud of the team starting the night off hot. They were all wrestling very well and have been improving a lot as the season goes on,” Koehn said.
West Delaware was up next for the Warriors, with Bormann securing a quick pin over Wesley Helle in 19 seconds, while Perrinjaquet secured a fall over Gage Weber. Gaul won the final match of the dual over Harrison Nefzger via fall, but the Warriors lost several matches, including pins to Kulper, Hoisington and Brown. Davis was defeated by 9-0 major decision. The Warriors went 3-4 in matches but surrendered two more forfeits, giving West Delaware the 46-30 win.
“Even though we lost the dual, the kids battled hard and showed improvement from the previous dual. We wrestled a much tougher West Delaware team and fared well. Us coaches were very proud of how they performed,” Koehn said.
The final dual was against Dubuque Wahlert, where the Warriors picked up an early lead following a forfeit win for Perrinjaquet and back-to-back pins for Kulper and Hoisington. Three forfeits and losses by Davis and Embretson, mixed with a forfeit win for Kloser, had the Warriors behind by six points heading to the final three matches.
Brown was up first at 132 pounds and, in come-from-behind fashion, pinned Nathanial Kumor to tie the dual at 30. Gaul needed a little over a minute to defeat Michael Hartmann to give Central/Ed-Co the lead, and Bormann secured the dual victory after pinning Gaige Miller. The Warriors went 5-2 in matches and won 42-30.
“This was an all-around team win. The kids wrestled tough and we had a couple come-from-behind wins. Everybody came ready to wrestle and it definitely showed tonight. We improved as each dual went on and it was fun to watch us having success as a team,” Koehn said.
On Dec. 21, the Warriors took seven wrestlers to the 12-team Doug Guilford Tournament at Starmont, including Kloser at 120, Brown at 132, Gaul at 138, Collin Jaster at 144, Perrinjaquet at 150, Kulper at 157 and Hoisington at 165. Central scored 22 points as a team and finished 11th.
Kloser opened with a 7-6 decision loss to Hayden McDowell from DeSoto, but made it to the consolation semis after a bye and 7-3 decision win over Kaesyn Husmann of Monticello. There, Kloser lost in sudden victory to Parker Evans from Riceville.
Brown started his tournament pinned by Landyn Sanders from De Soto, but won his way to the consolation semi after a bye and pin over Cayl Christensen from Waukon. Brown was then pinned by Asher Ebert of Riceville.
Gaul won his first match over Adam Wheeler of Waukon, but was pinned in the quarterfinal by Treven Delagardelle of Jesup. He won his next match in consolation round two with a fall over Jacob Baxter of Waukon, but in the consolation semifinal, he was defeated by Zachary Doud of Pekin.
Jaster received a bye into the quarterfinal, where he lost to Ryan Mathis from Waukon. Tayten Elledge of East Buchanan also pinned Jaster in consolation round two, ending Jaster’s tournament.
Perrinjaquet had an up and down tournament, with a bye into the quarterfinal, where he suffered a tech fall loss to Tyce Larson of Jesup. Perrinjaquet received another bye into the consolation semi, where he was pinned by Hayden Ries of Riceville.
Kulper was defeated by Landen Schnuelle from South Winneshiek by tech fall in his first match, followed by a win via pin over Landon Crow of Pekin and loss by tech fall to Wyatt Cole from Durant.
Hoisington defeated Logan Roach of Starmont to start, but lost to Holten Palmer of Waukon by pin in the quarterfinal. In consolation round two, Hoisington pinned Mason McKee of Waukon before dropping the final match to Jack Gericke of East Buchanan.
“The team came back with a lot of matches wrestled and a lot of experience gained. We ran into some tough competition and came short of coming home with some medals. The kids learned a lot and went into break with a good experience of where we need to be and what small things we need to work on over break,” Koehn said.
The Warriors will have an extended break and be back in action Jan. 9 at home for the UIC Dual Tournament.
