No trouble for Trojans in MVC sweep

IOWA CITY - Iowa City West Coach Mark Reiland said he couldn't have ask for more from his wrestling team Thursday night.Anything more would have been perfection.Class 3A third-ranked West lost just two matches in two Mississippi Valley Conference victories over ninth-ranked Cedar Rapids Prairie and Cedar Rapids Washington at West High School. The Trojans leapfrogged the No. 9 Hawks for the MVC Valley Division lead behind a 59-3 win. West beat Washington, 76-6."We wrestled pretty well," Reiland said. "We're starting to get things together the way we want them."Which means bad news for their opponents. West blitzed Prairie, building a 21-0 lead after just four matches. Elijah Sullivan and Garrett Hathaway opened with consecutive pins at 140 and 145. Britt Thompson followed with a technical fall at 152 before top-ranked 160-pounder Justin Koethe added a 16-3 major decision over state medalist Peyton Wagner.In a battle of ranked wrestlers, West's top-ranked 103-pounder Phillip Laux beat No. 6 Trey Blaha, 9-2. The Trojans'  No. 3 Kegan Wakefield beat ninth-ranked Chris Walters, 14-2, which made it 43-3.This West team might have more balanced firepower than some of its previous teams that propelled the program among the elite in 3A."From top to bottom, there are a lot of really good kids," Reiland said. "More than some of the other teams."The Trojans stockpiled and kept tallying points. West allowed just one takedown, while scoring more than 53. At times it almost looked like a contest of who could score the most points. Jack Hathaway built a 17-6 lead before getting a pin at 125 and Dakota Bauer and Gradey Gambrall ended the dual with consecutive technical falls. Bauer beat River Whitters, 26-11, at 130 and 135-pounder Gambrall topped Jamie Day, 24-8, by the end of the first period."Any time you can open the floodgates, especially in competition, you have to take advantage of it," Reiland said. "We're going to be in a lot of matches where we need to learn how to score. Right now they need to take advantage of everything they can."The only match where they surrendered a takedown, senior Sean Beasley rebounded to score a fall over Tyler Zacek as time expired in the first period at 215, giving West a 30-3 lead. After a brief discussion, the referee upheld the pin for Beasley, who was honored earlier during West's senior night."It's a good way for him to close out his (regular season) here in this gym," Reiland said.Alex Steenblock notched the only win for the Hawks (19-2, 9-1 MVC). Steenblock scored a 3-1 decision in the overtime tiebreaker over Mike Watkins at 171.It was the second loss to West this season. Prairie Coach Blake Williams said even though the score was more lopsided than their dual for third in the Five Seasons Duals on Dec. 11, the effort was better."We're looking for individual fight and battle. For the most part they did," said Williams, adding what it is like to face a West lineup, "It's humbling. You have to learn and get better."Prairie fared much better in their first dual, beating Washington, 58-12. The Hawks won 11 weights against the Warriors. Cameron Rathje (152), Wagner, Andrew Netolicky (189), Blaha (103) and Whitters (130) all posted falls for the Hawks.It was a rough night for Washington, facing two highly ranked teams. The Warriors (4-10, 2-7) managed to win just four matches all night. Heavyweight Tyler Burrell earned a pin against West and decision against Prairie. Kaiser Herz (140) scored a fall and Jordin Eicher (125) won by decision against Prairie.

Iowa City West 59 , C.R. Prairie 3

140 – Elijah Sullivan (ICW) pinned Cory Fisher, 1:39; 145 – Garrett Hathaway (ICW) pinned Marcus Jasa, :28; 152 – Britt Thompson (ICW) tech. fall Cameron Rathje, 20-5; 160 – Justin Koethe (ICW) major dec. Peyton Wagner, 16-3; 171 – Alex Steenblock (CRP) dec. Mike Watkins, 3-1 TB2 (OT); 189 – Mickey Pelfrey (ICW) dec. Andrew Netolicky, 6-2; 215 – Sean Beasley (ICW) pinned Tyler Zacek, 2:00; Hwt. – Colin Foerstner (ICW) dec. Colton Tonn, 5-1; 103 – Phillip Laux (ICW) dec. Trey Blaha, 9-2; 112 – Ernest Willis (ICW) dec. Jayden Flege, 4-1; 119 – Keegan Wakefield (ICW) major dec. Chris Walters, 14-2; 125 – Jack Hathaway (ICW) pinned Dylan Becker, 3:10; 130 – Dakota Bauer (ICW) technical fall River Whitters, 26-11 ; 135 – Gradey Gambrall (ICW) technical fall Jamie Day, 24-8.

C.R. Prairie 58, C.R. Washington 12

 135 – Jamie Day (CRP) major dec. Trevor Luebe, 10-2; 140 – Kaiser Herz (CRW) pinned 4:46; 145 – Marcus Jasa (CRP) dec. Tyler Burkle, 11-5; 152 – Cam Rathje (CRP) pinned Evan Lehrman, :40; 160 – Peyton Wagner (CRP) pinned Drake Hickok, 5:00; 171 – Alex Steenblock (CRP) won by forfeit; 189 – Andrew Netolicky (CRP) pinned Dixon Griffith, :51; 215 – Tyler Zacek (CRP) won by forfeit; Hwt. – Tyler Burrell (CRW) dec. Colton Tonn, 5-0; 103- Trey Blaha (CRP) pinned Trey Schuler, 1:38; 112 – Jayden Flege (CRP) major dec. Troy Neagle, 17-8; 119 – Chris Walters (CRP) tech. fall Jon Rockwell, 20-5; 125 – Jordin Eicher (CRW) dec. Dylan Becker, 10-5; 130 – River Whitters (CRP) pinned J.P. Mercado, 3:13.