Iowa all-stars dominate Canada on mat

INDEPENDENCE - Former Wartburg coach Jim Miller went to Chase Straw with an interesting proposition at the beginning of the season - a chance to wrestle Canada.

It might have not been on as big a stage as the Summer Olympics, but Straw and other area wrestlers took on their high school counterparts from Canada last night at Independence High School.

When approached with the idea, 2014 Class 1A state champion Nick Williams of Lisbon was immediately on board.

'When coach told me about it, I was all for it,” Williams said. 'I was pretty excited about it. It's something new and it helps looking forward.”

Williams did his part, winning both of his matches to help the Iowa all-stars rout Canada with 17 victories in 21 bouts.

'It felt good and was something new,” Williams said. 'It was good experience.”

Like his teammate, Straw said the opportunity to face an international team was a good one but came with a challenge.

'Everyone has a different wrestling style, so it wasn't that much of a shock, but they definitely wrestle different,” Straw said.

Traditional wrestling in Canada is the freestyle format, much like the one the teams used in the FILA Cadet Duals last night. Straw and his teammates are more used to the folk-style wrestling employed in high school here.

Wrestlers are now gearing up for events such as the junior duals in Oklahoma next week and the junior nationals in Fargo, N. D., in July. While focusing with one eye on the competition in the coming weeks, Williams and Straw said they're hoping for post-high school careers on the mat.

'I definitely want to wrestle in college,” Straw said. 'I'll know a lot more after July.”

For his Straw and his teammates, he said the kind of opportunity as a younger wrestler helps him focus on his future. He was also on board from day one because he said he never knew when he'd have another chance to wrestle an out-of-country team.

'I hope we get to do a lot more of this kind of stuff,” Straw said.

Straw was 2-0 after winning the first and next to last matches of the night. Straw, of Independence, plans to advanced to junior duals and nationals.

Also winning a match last night was Mitch Evens of Independence.

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