Ethan Wood-Finley's win in final match gives City High dual win over West

IOWA CITY — The pressure was palpable in Iowa City West's gym as the last wrestling match of the day between the Trojans and their intra-city rivals — Iowa City High — began.

With his team trailing 31-30, Little Hawk freshman 106-pounder Ethan Wood-Finley, calmly got onto the mat as the crowd got as loud as it had been all evening.

The jitters and the tension, however, didn't show as he calmly dispatched Trojan wrestler Jackson Brennan in a 7-2 decision, wrapping up a 33-31 win for City High.

'I knew I had to fight, I knew I had to get the win for my team,' Wood-Finley said. 'I got warmed up, I wasn't feeling nervous. I just went out and wrestled.'

It was a back-and-fourth dual from the beginning, as West jumped out to a 10-0 lead. The Trojans' Keaton Speicher opened the meet with a pin at 113 and teammate Alex Aguirre grabbed a major decision in the next match.

But City High fought back, winning the next three bouts — two by fall — and opened up a 15-10 lead. The Trojans, however, were just getting to the meat of their lineup.

West rattled off four wins in a row to take a 28-15 lead, which included an impressive 2:38 fall from Nelson Brands — a state title winner a year ago — who scored nine takedowns in the first period of his match at 152.

A pin from Carter Rohweder, a seventh-place finisher at last year's state tournament followed Brands' win.

But City High was not to be deterred, as it won four of the final five matches, two by pin. Jacob Dykes (195) and Jordain Buckland (220) were responsible for the falls at the backend of the meet, which helped lead to Wood-Finley's huge moment.

'We knew it could still be done and it was closer than I would have liked it to be,' Little Hawks head coach Cory Connell said. 'It was a close meet and it came down to the last match. We lost some close matches that I thought we'd win and we just need to get better."