On a night where matchups were scarce, Humboldt’s numbers proved advantageous, earning them dual wrestling wins over Iola (48-18) and Erie (54-0), while the host Mustangs beat Erie, 30-6.
In contested matches, Humboldt finished the night with four wins and two losses while Iola went 3-2. Erie — whose team consisted of just two wrestlers — went winless.
“We’ve still got some things we need to work on,” Humboldt head coach Kent Goodner said. “But other than that, we wrestled to our abilities.”
“We wrestled very well,” Iola head coach Jason Bates said. “We’ve had a couple of good weeks of practice. They’ve picking the drilling up and are taking it to the next level. It really showed tonight.”
Humboldt opened the meet with Cheyenne Harris wrestling Erie’s Katy Rounds in the 138-pound division. Harris won with a pin in the third round.
“She’s tough,” Goodner said. “When she gets to stay in her own element against girls, she’s a stud.”
At 195 lbs., Seth Hegwald, got the Cubs their second win, pinning the Red Devils John Gage in the first round.
The Cubs then took on Iola.
Humboldt’s Clay Shannon and Gunner Elder took down Iola’s Damien Dryden and CJ Shields with first-round pins.
Iola got back in it, getting its first win with a first-round pin of Humboldt’s Trenton Ray by sophomore Casen Barker who was competing in his first varsity meet.
“He’s come a long way from the beginning of the year where he had no experience,” Bates said of Barker. “He competed in a couple of JV matches. Lost a few but won most of them and that just gave him the confidence to step it up to the varsity level. He’s really improving.”
Barker was one of the few wrestlers to have an opportunity at multiple wins — which he picked up later versus Erie — and said he feels that his abilities have really progressed since he joined the team.
“It was a good experience,” Barker said. “I had a lot of fun. I feel like I’ve improved every day. I came in knowing nothing and now I’m starting to get the hang of it. I’m learning lots of new things.”
In the 152-pound class, Iola’s Dillon Rieter pinned Reed Barnett in the second round.
Barker was the lone wrestler for Iola in its dual with Erie. He got a second-round pin over Rounds to get Iola’s third win of the evening.
Humboldt has one final duel this semester at Southeast-Cherokee but Iola is done until after winter break. Bates hopes that the time off will help his team get healthier as many of his heavier-class wrestlers are out with injury.
