Gentry Walston had a big start to his senior season. He went undefeated in the Davis County quadrangular, picked up two more wins at Lynnville-Sully's home meet, and was on top of the podium at Newton's tourney.
The Lynnville-Sully wrestling squad broke out their gear for the season as they had three opportunities to hit the mats in opening week. While there were some jitters, the team started their season at Davis County on Tuesday, Nov. 29. The Hawks faced tough competition and finished with 11 pins.
L-S first took on Pekin, whom they defeated, 39-27. Senior Gentry Walston pinned Zachary Doud in 22 seconds in the 120-pound weight class. Senior Kyle Squires, 182 pounds, got a pin with an 8-7 decision over Blake Juhl. Five other forfeits from Pekin put L-S on top.
The Hawks tied with Davis County, 36-36, but were ultimately defeated due to forfeits. K. Squires got a pin in two minutes. Freshman Ben Squires defeated Parker Moore in a fall of 2:23 in the 285-pound division. Walston gained another pin in 1:53. Junior Trevor Van Wyk claimed a pin in 2:31 in the 138 -pound weight class over Hank Bulechek. Sophomore Terran Gosselink defeated Morgan Van Hemert in 1:45 in the 152 -pound weight class. Senior Reese Dunsbergen also gained a pin in 3:40 in the 170-pound weight class over Luke Farley.
Ottumwa defeated L-S, 51-30. B. Squires earned his second pin of the night, this time in 48 seconds. Walston also gained his third pin of the night in 1:38. K. Squires pinned Aiden Lord in only 30 seconds for his third pin. Van Wyk gained a second pin over his opponent in 55 seconds. Walston, Van Wyk, K. Squires, and B. Squires remained undefeated throughout their matches.
The Hawks were home on Thursday, Dec. 1. The scores do not fully indicate the many great matches for the Hawks who recorded 14 pins on their home mats. The Hawks fell to Belle Plaine, 48-30. Van Wyk defeated Parker Weeda in 56 seconds. Gosselink earned a pin in 4:42 to Andrew Argo. Dunsbergen broke a fall in 2:35 against Jeremy Reineke. B. Squires earned a pin in 51 seconds to Jaden Beal. Walston defeated Joe Randall in 1:46.
Junior Trevor Van Wyk was one of the four Hawks to go undefeated at the Davis County quadrangular.
Next up for the Hawks was North Mahaska who claimed the victory, 51-24. Gosselink got his second pin of the night in 2:44 against Peter Stout. K. Squires earned another pin in 4:57 over Max Reed. Walston defeated Joel DeJong in 1:22. Van Wyk was successful on the mat with another pin in 1:34 over Hunter Wernli.
L-S tied with Colfax-Mingo, 36-36, but recorded a loss due to forfeits given up. Gosselink remained undefeated with a pin in 4:40 over Seth Brant. K. Squires defeated Isaiah Baucom in four minutes. B. Squires earned another pin in 1:54 over Donavan Baucom. Freshman Kendric Johnson was successful with a pin in 59 seconds in the 132 division over Cesar Buenrostro. Van Wyk was undefeated for the evening with a final pin in 24 seconds over Sullivan Wilkins.
The Hawks competed at their first Saturday tourney at Newton on Dec. 3 and went up against tough competition from 2A and 3A schools. A round-robin format determined the seeding for the top eight, so some of the L-S athletes were in their brackets throughout the day.
Walston was victorious in his weight division. After a round-one bye, he earned a pin in 39 seconds over Newton’s Tavian Williams. In round three, he defeated Markos Pelayo-Pintor of Johnston in 1:02, which placed him in the championship match. There, Walston claimed the win with a 17-3 major decision over Andrew Reed of North Polk.
Squires and Van Wyk earned fifth place in their respective classes. Gosselink and Dunsbergen earned sixth place, and Johnson was seventh. As a team, L-S placed seventh overall in the tournament.
Head coach Jason Walston said, “It was a busy week with a lot of good matches. As a team we battled hard. We are excited for things to come throughout the season.”
The team will travel to Saydel for their weekend tournament on Saturday, Dec. 10.
