Alburnett posts convincing win in State Duals debut

CEDAR RAPIDS - Alburnett was one of five schools making its debut at the Iowa High School Athletic Association State Duals tournament Saturday.

The fourth-seeded Pirates topped that by becoming the only one of those teams to post a victory, topping Manson-Northwest Webster, 46-24, in the Class 1A quarterfinals at the U.S. Cellular Center. Alburnett, which won its second straight team trophy, placing third, at the traditional state tournament in Des Moines last week, assured itself of a top-four finish. The Cougars dropped to 20-3.

"That's pretty big to come down and not only be a participant, but to compete and win," Alburnett coach Kane Thompson said. "There were a lot of matches there we just kind of out-fought and out-hustled them a bit."

The Pirates won the first nine bouts, including five with bonus points. State champion Tyler Shulista (119) notched the team's first pin. Alex German and Dylan Windfield added consecutive falls at 140 and 145.

"Once Tyler started pinning everyone started pinning," said German, a senior. "Everybody got in the mood and started wrestling real well."

The Pirates were competing so well that Thompson said he approached the scorer's table to question the score when it was 40-0 after Zach Hoyle's major decision at 152. Thompson then realized how strong the team was wrestling.

"I said, 'Holy cow.' There's only 84 possible points," Thompson said. "We were sitting pretty darn good."

Alburnett didn't plan to settle for just being invited to the party. They want to earn attention while they were here.

"They wanted to come and win," Thompson said. "They've really been talking, as a team, about coming down and putting on a good show."

For some, it provided one final chance to compete and contribute to the Pirates program. German, a state qualifier last year who didn't make it to Des Moines this season, said it was nice to reach the State Duals.

"At districts when I lost, I knew we had qualified so I wasn't really done wrestling," German said. "Getting to bring home two trophies in about a week is really pretty nice to put in our trophy (cases) at school."

It also gave Thompson the opportunity to send his four seniors off in fine fashion.

"For them to get an opportunity to come here, too, means a lot to me," Thompson said. "It means a lot to them as well."

Williamsburg also made its first State Duals appearance. The Raiders, missing fourth-ranked 215-pounder Tom Malloy who will have reconstructive knee surgery next week, were edged by fifth-seeded Atlantic, 31-30, in the 2A quarterfinals. Williamsburg finishes the season (23-3).

Forest City in 2A and Mason City and Spencer, both in 3A, all lost their opening duals in their first State Duals tournament.