Regina’s Big Schott: Senior Ryan Schott wins third tournament title

IOWA CITY — Iowa City Regina's Ryan Schott could not have scripted the day much better.

The Regals senior had his brother, T.J., in his corner, his family cheering him on from atop the bleachers and he was in his home gymnasium. The setting was perfect for him to reach a coveted prep wrestling milestone.

Schott opened with a pin for his 100th career victory and closed Saturday with the 170-pound crown at the Regina Invitational. He remained unbeaten this season, handling Marshalltown's Brian Trowbridge, 9-2, in the finals.

'It's really great, especially doing it in front of the home crowd,' Schott said. 'It's really nice, showing all the hard work throughout the year is finally paying off and getting that milestone of 100 (wins) and winning the tournament.'

Schott, ranked seventh in Class 1A, was a state qualifier as a junior. He dedicated a lot of time to getting stronger in the offseason, balancing time in the weight room with the demand of playing baseball and football.

'Every week he is improving,' Regina Coach Adam Martensen said. 'He has a goal and he's doing what it takes to try to reach that goal. This is just one of those steps to that and we'll keep going.'

Schott said the sting of those state losses motivated him to work harder and improve. He is now 16-0, going 3-for-3 in tournament titles to start the season.

'I think the defeat really got to me,' said Schott, who was 22-4 last season and owns a career mark of 102-31. 'The loss was the biggest thing which drove me through the offseason to keep getting better this season. You don't want to have that feeling anymore.'

He stuck Columbus Community/WMU's J.T. Cunningham in 1:28 and then topped North Cedar's Tyler Thurston in the semifinal.

Schott said he has focused on getting better in the neutral position. He demonstrated his scoring ability, dominating Trowbridge with two takedowns in the first and third periods. They came from various attacks.

'He's not one-dimensional,' Martensen said. 'He has a huge arsenal of moves and he's not afraid to go from one thing to another. If something opens up, he's going for it.

'It's not always sticking to his go-to stuff all the time. I think that just makes him dangerous because at any position he is able to wrestle and scramble through it.'

As strong of a start as Schott has produced, he has aspirations to finish even stronger. He doesn't want to just return to the state meet and earn a medal, but he wants to end with a title.

'I just want to be at the top of the podium at state,' Schott said. 'Just going into the room every day and trying to get better. I'm working for that ultimate goal.'

Solon had eight finalists and won the team title handily with 212 1/2 points, accumulating 51 1/2 more than runner-up Mount Pleasant. Zeb Gnida (120), Zack Bevans (152), 160-pounder Jax Flynn, Mike Hoyle at 182 and heavyweight Tyler Linderbaum won titles for the Spartans. Hoyle won by pin, while Bevans and Flynn added major decisions in the finals.

'I thought it went well,' Solon Coach Blake Williams said. 'As the day got longer I thought we got a little bit better. We started a little slow but I think we finished well with most of those finals matches.'

The only championship bout between ranked wrestlers came at 220. Sigourney-Keota's Kaleb Reeves, ranked second in 1A, pinned Solon's 2A No. 8 Zach Wegmann in 47 seconds.

Tipton crowned two champions. Austin Lenz at 113 and 126-pounder John Crowley each posted one-point decisions in the finals.

REGINA INVITATIONAL

At Iowa City

Teams — 1. Solon 212.5, 2. Mount Pleasant 161, 3. Pekin 113, 4. (tie) Columbus Community/WMU and Marshalltown 108, 6. Davenport West 85, 7. Fairfield 81, 8. Tipton 67, 9. North Cedar 65.5, 10. Sigourney-Keota 60, 11. Iowa City Regina 39, 12. HLV 35, 13. Lone Tree 31, 14. West Branch 30.

Championship matches

106 pounds — Jarod Kadel (CC/WMU) pinned Travis Hodges (DW), 1:43; 113 — Austin Lenz (T) dec. Zach Bitker (Mar), 1-0; 120 — Zeb Gnida (Sol) dec. Ben Emrich (T), 12-7 SV1; 126 — John Crowley (T) dec. Wyatt Shade (DW), 2-1; 132 — Cam Rice (CC/WMU) pinned Christian Haight (Sol), 2:30; 138 — Zach Hammes (P) dec. Juanito Piper (CC/WMU), 4-1; 145 — Nate Wallace (MP) pinned Caleb Ebert (Sol),: 37; 152 — Zack Bevans (Sol) major dec. Abe Wilson (MP), 12-4; 160 — Jax Flynn (Sol) major dec. Keaton Baayen (P), 12-0; 170 — Ryan Schott (ICR) dec. Brian Trowbridge (Mar), 9-2; 182 — Mike Hoyle (Sol) pinned Skyler Juhl (P), 1:37; 195 — Jordan Fox (Mar) pinned Zach Beason (MP),: 43; 220 — Kaleb Reeves (SK) pinned Zach Wegmann (Sol),: 47; Hwt. — Tyler Linderbaum (Sol) dec. Brendon Lunsford (F), 2-1 TB-1.

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