A reduced L-S wrestling squad had a solid showing on Saturday, Dec. 10, at the large Saydel Invitational. Four of the five Hawk wrestlers in attendance placed in the top eight in their weight brackets. They were competing against many 2A and 3A wrestlers so had to fight hard to come out with some of the places they earned.
Junior Sage Zylstra, at 160 pounds, had the Hawks’ highest placement on Saturday, taking fifth. He lost his first match to Thomas Shehan of Des Moines East by getting pinned in 3:09. In the next match, he won against Montana Marchant from Iowa Falls-Alden by a pin in 1:33. In the match for fifth place, Zylstra won by a pin against Waukee’s Damien Wallace in 2:24.
At 145 pounds, junior Carson Dunsbergen came in sixth overall after losing his match for fifth place. Carson wrestled Matthew Scott of Des Moines East in his first match of the day and won by injury default. His next match was against Mason Hulse of Boone. Dunsbergen fell in 5:04. He then won his next two matches by pinning both of his opponents. In his fifth-place match, Dunsbergen fell to Parker Carey from Waukee in 5:21.
In the 138-pound weight bracket, senior Caden Dunsbergen took seventh on the day. Dunsbergen lost his first match to Ankeny’s Ragan Hunter. His next match was a 47-second pin of Riley Burke from Iowa Falls-Alden. Dunsbergen lost his third match to Carlos Gomez from Marshalltown but won his seventh-place match by pinning Nick Adams of Lincoln in 5:01.
Junior Aaron Van De Krol wrestled at 220 pounds, placing eighth. He was pinned by Jacob Melton of Boone in 2:44 in his first match. Van De Krol had a bye in the second round due to an injury default. He then lost his next two matches to place eighth.
At 132 pounds, sophomore Ty Breeden went 1-2. Breeden won his first match, 6-3, against Austin Pyles of Saydel. In his second match, he fell to Brock Espalin of East Des Moines, 2-0. He then lost his third match, 11-0, to Dante Tacchia of Iowa Falls-Alden.
The L-S team was short-handed on Saturday due to some wrestlers gone for family or school activities. In addition, three Hawks were out due to injury: Cayden Johnson, Jacob De Hoedt, and Eyon Moore.
Junior Sage Zylstra pins Iowa Falls’ Montana Marchant at the Saydel Tournament on Saturday. Zylstra placed fifth in the 160-pound weight division.
Experienced wrestler Caden Dunsbergen knows that even though Saturday was challenging, it was still a good thing for the L-S grapplers who were able to compete.
“There was a lot of tough competition there, but it will help us in the long run,” he said. “We need to get prepared for sectionals and districts because it will be tough. We need to keep improving throughout the year, and I feel like if we do that, we could have several district qualifiers and even some state qualifiers. Coach Walston is helping us by keeping us in great shape and teaching us new moves. The whole team hopes to improve throughout the year and have everyone qualify for districts.”
The Hawks have racked up a total of 41 wins on the season with 18 pins. Zylstra and Johnson lead the team in pins with four on the season. Zylstra also leads the team with 11 takedowns, and Johnson has the most reversals with nine.
Caden Dunsbergen attempts to take down Riley Burke from Iowa Falls-Alden. The Hawk senior pinned Burke in 47 seconds at Saydel.
The L-S grapplers were scheduled for a meet at Tri-County on Tuesday and will host a home tourney this Saturday.
