1A State Wrestling Duals: Tough lesson for Alburnett, again runner up

DES MOINES - Alburnett Coach Kane Thompson huddled his team and provided some words of wisdom.

He shared some perspective of the Pirates latest accomplishment.

'When you don't get a goal, you can't focus on it as being unsuccessful, because there were some successful things along the way,” Thompson said. 'We talked about learning a lesson in the semifinals.”

Second-seeded Alburnett suffered a one-point loss in the semifinals and placed third for the second straight year at the Iowa High School Athletic Association Class 1A State Duals wrestling tournament Wednesday night at Wells Fargo Arena. The Pirates beat No. 4 Don Bosco, 53-27, in the final round.

The Pirates (28-8) were focused on returning to the finals, winning the 2013 championship, but that aspiration came to a screeching halt at the hands of No. 3 Southeast Warren.

Each team won seven matches, but the Warhawks scored an additional bonus point for a 37-36 win.

'I think some of us thought we were going to put guys away and those guys fought,” Thompson said. 'We didn't have our switch turned on early enough. It's hard to turn it on halfway through a match.”

Alburnett had a chance to send the dual into a criteria tiebreaker with a pin, but Drake Sharp repeatedly fought off his back, losing to Tucker Franklin by a 17-2 technical fall.

Southeast Warren (38-2) used five pins to help erase a 21-3 deficit. The close loss added to the sting.

'It makes it worse, knowing we could have given more effort and we could have gotten more points on the board that we should,” Washburn said. 'Losing by that small amount, that is what makes it hard.”

The Pirates ended the dual tournament with a decisive win against a Don Bosco team that sat most of their starters. The mission was to rebound and compete hard and Thompson said they did it.

'There is a fine line between winning this thing and being third or fourth,” Thompson said. 'Tomorrow, if we re-wrestled this, I could see us on the championship mat, if a couple things go your way.”

Thompson said many teams would switch places with the Pirates, but they were not satisfied with the results. The finish left them wanting more.

'We have gotten third before,” Washburn said. 'We want that championship. Everyone wants that next step. We want to be the best.”

Clarion-Goldfield (22-1) repeated as champion, beating Southeast Warren, 33-26.

Fifth-seeded Lisbon returned to the State Duals for the first time since 2010. The Lions placed sixth, falling to No. 6 Logan-Magnolia, 47-25, in the final round.

Lisbon lost to Don Bosco, 38-26, but rebounded with a 47-30 win over No. 8 Woodbury Central in the consolation semifinal.

The Lions finished 24-11.