Alburnett’s Halblom gets No. 3, Shulista No. 2

DES MOINES - Christopher Halblom let loose a sigh of relief.Nick Proctor's victory celebration was a bit more spirited. Both won tightlycontested matches and left the state wrestling tournament last night with Class 1A titles.Halblom put a bow on his record-setting career with a 2-1 overtime win over Lisbon's Kolbi Kohl at 125 pounds. The Alburnett senior finishes with a 164-4 career record, including 130 victories without a loss in his three seasons as a Pirate.Halblom was the 103-pound runner up as a freshman at Center Point-Urbana.He is one of only 42 wrestlers in state history who are four-time finalists.“I'm just glad it's over with,” said Halblom, who needed overtime a year ago to beat Don Bosco-Gilbertville's Ben McMahon in the finals. “This year seemed to go by so slow. I wanted it so bad. As much as I don't want to say I wasn't under pressure, I know I was. I had everything to lose.”Neither wrestler was able to get off much offense.Halblom got a one-point escape and fended off Kohl in the final 25 seconds of overtime. It was the fourth time the two have faced one another this season.Related:

See photos from the championship round.“He's a really good defensive wrestler,” Halblom said. “I kept trying to pass elbows, but he knows what I'm going to do. They scouted me well.”Tipton's Proctor was overcome with emotion after beating North-Linn's Logan Mulnix.The junior, who'd lost a decision to Mulnix earlier this year, broke a 2-2 tie on a takedown with 30 seconds to go.He nearly scored a pin and tallied back points for what ended up being a 6-2 victory over the top-ranked 135-pounder.“I knew I wasn't going to be able to ride him,” Proctor said. “I needed to let him up and take him down. That's what I did and got the job done.”Mulnix was the 125-pound champ a year ago. Proctor (44-2) came in ranked fourth.Mulnix raced off the mat after the match. He ripped off his second place medal after stepping off the podium and tossed it in a trash basket.Proctor is only the second individual champion in Tipton history.“I don't know how to explain it,” he said. “I've never been anything close to state champ, except for little kids. It's a different feeling. It's really amazing.”Tyler Shulista won Alburnett's first title of the night at 119 with a pin of Manson NW Webster's Jesse Partlow after only 1 minute, 7 seconds.All four of his victories this week came by fall.The junior got Partlow in a headlock and didn't let up.“I tried to get it over with quick,” Shulista said. “I didn't start off very good. He got off a couple shots and I defended them. Finally I threw in the headlock and pinned him.”Last year's titlist at 112, Shulista now sets his sights on championship No. 3, like his partner Halblom.“We've got state duals next week. I'll take a week off and then start training hard again for next year,” Shulista said.Valley Community's Joe Koehn was trying to become the second individual champion at his school but lost his heavyweight match, 5-3 in overtime.-

By Eric Petersen, Special to The Gazette