Williamsburg captures special title at Eckenrod Invitational

VAN HORNE - Williamsburg Coach Grant Eckenrod has displayed his emotion in the past.

This time was different from the occasional fiery and intense demeanor from the corner chair during a match.

Eckenrod stopped and composed himself, contemplating the Raiders team title Saturday at the Bobcat Jerry Eckenrod Invitational. The championship was the first time one of his teams won the tournament named for his late father and Hall of Fame Benton Community wrestling coach.

'I'm very proud of them,” Eckenrod said. 'I know they are wrestling for themselves and each other, but it means a lot.”

Jerry Eckenrod coached Benton from 1968-96. He won 212 duals and coached 41 state qualifiers, including four state champions. Grant Eckenrod was a two-time state medalist in three trips to Des Moines, graduating in 1984. Grant Eckenrod followed in his father's footsteps, ranking fifth all-time in career coaching victories. This win is a little more notable, bringing the Raiders to this tournament all 16 seasons as their head coach and attending with his Mount Zion (Ill.) team in the 1990s.

'It's pretty special,” Williamsburg's 106-pound champion Grayson Kesterson. 'I thought we could do it. We just needed some heart from everyone. It all came together.”

The tournament boasted a balanced field with 10 teams crowning at least one champion and none with more than two titlists. The Raiders' balance helped them come away with the title, placing 12 of 13 wrestlers including 10 fourth or better. Williamsburg tallied 194 points, 6 ½ more than runner-up Don Bosco.

Eckenrod said the Raiders started to show signs of being able to beat wrestlers who seem better on paper. The performance could propel them.

'We talk about taking it to the next level,” Eckenrod said. 'We haven't walked the walk and maybe this is the first step.”

Kesterson was Williamsburg's lone champ, but was joined in the finals by freshman 113-pound runner-up Jalen Schropp. Their offseason efforts in freestyle and Greco-Roman have helped make gains on the opposition.

'They're great kids,” Eckenrod said. 'They've put in a lot of wrestling time. They eat, sleep and breathe wrestling.”

Kesterson, ranked fourth in 2A, recorded an impressive victory, pinning Union's second-ranked Jack Thomsen in 3:04 of the final. He built a 5-0 lead in the first, cinching up a cradle for nearfall. Kesterson turned him for the fall with a bar arm.

'I had to be the aggressor,” Kesterson said. 'I had to do my things and be offensive.”

Eckenrod said Kesterson has matured from being undersized into a full 106-pounder this season. The two-time state qualifier could build off the victory over a ranked foe.

'It's pretty encouraging for the end of the year,” Kesterson said. 'It's a confidence boost.”

North Linn matched the Dons, third-place Davenport Assumption and Dallas Center-Grimes with two champions.

Brady Henderson (126) and heavyweight Kyler Schott won titles. Schott decked Cedar Rapids Jefferson's David Bonner in the final.

Henderson ended the day with victories over two ranked foes, including a 6-0 decision over Assumption's Class 2A No. 10 Sean Casey in the final. He had two falls and the shutout.

'I felt comfortable in every situation I was in,” said Henderson, who edged Cedar Rapids Washington's 3A fourth-ranked Will Foreman, 6-5, in the semifinals.

Henderson, ranked fifth in 1A, entered the tournament as the No. 4 seed behind Foreman, Casey and Don Bosco's second-seeded Logan Lutgen. He had something to prove and wrestled to his strength.

'You just have to go out and wrestle,” Henderson said. 'It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. You just have to do you.”

Jefferson had three finalists, placing fourth with 147 points. Tavian Rashed captured the only J-Hawk title, beating Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont's Austin Angle, 7-3, at 182.

Union's Derek Holschlag (132), West Delaware's Mitch Mangold (145) and Vinton-Shellsburg's 170-pounder Kort Johnson all won titles.

Host Benton had two finalists. Sam Maresh (195) and Blade Durbala (220) placed second.

Don Bosco's Gable Fox received Outstanding Wrestler honors. Third-ranked Fox defeated North Linn's No. 2 ranked and state champion Brock Henderson, 8-2, in a battle of wrestlers who have combined for five state medals.

BENTON COMMUNITY'S BOBCAT

JERRY ECKENROD INVITATIONAL

At Van Horne

Teams - 1. Williamsburg 194, 2. Don Bosco 187.5, 3. Davenport Assumption 165, 4. C.R. Jefferson 147, 5. Dallas Center-Grimes 136, 6. North Linn 123, 7. Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont 115, 8. West Delaware 107, 9. Vinton-Shellsburg 100.5, 10. Union Community 84, 11. Benton Community 83, 12. (tie) C.R. Washington and Centerville 81, 14. Independence 72, 15. West Marshall 48.5, 16. Maquoketa 41.

Championship matches

106 pounds - Grayson Kesterson (Will) pinned Jack Thomsen (UC), 3:04; 113 - Hunter Pfantz (WM) dec. Jalen Schropp (Will), 16-15; 120 - Gable Fox (DB) dec. Brock Henderson (NL), 8-2; 126 - Brady Henderson (NL) dec. Sean Casey (DA), 6-0; 132 - Derek Holschlag (UC) dec. Matt Robertson (DA), 7-6; 138 - Bryce Murano (DCG) dec. Austin Hellman (DB), 6-2; 145 - Mitchel Mangold (WD) dec. Scott Betterton (VS), 4-3; 152 - Zane Mulder (DCG) pinned Jeremy Schmitz (DB), 2:52; 160 - Julien Broderson (DA) dec. Matt Culver (CRJ), 1-0; 170 - Kort Johnson (VS) dec. Jacob Sherzer (CRJ), 9-2; 182 - Tavian Rashed (CRJ) dec. Austin Angle (EBF), 7-3; 195 - Walker Even (DB) dec. Sam Maresh (BC), 7-1; 220 - Noah Broderson (DA) pinned Blade Durbala (BC), 2:34; Hwt. - Kyler Schott (NL) pinned David Bonner (CRJ), 1:29.

l Comments: (319) 368-8679; kj.pilcher@thegazette.com