Kelsay earns 'revenge' in ranked match against City High's Maas

IOWA CITY – Micah Kelsay wanted revenge.

The Iowa City West senior entered last night's dual meet at Iowa City High with a few scores to settle. Ranked No. 5 at 195 pounds, Kelsay (22-8) moved up a weight class in the No. 6 Trojans' 60-12 dual win over the Little Hawks (6-15, 2-5 Mississippi Valley Conference) to 220 pounds, and stared a rematch with No. 4 Ryan Maas (17-3) right in the face.

'He'd actually beat me last year, so I had a lot of motivation coming in,' Kelsay said after his 14-5 major decision over Maas last night. 'I knew if I gassed him out, I would beat him. So that was my approach the whole match.'

"I really wanted to beat him. And being a football player, I really wanted to get revenge on City High.'

Call it revenge or call it settling a score, Kelsay did exactly what he sought out to do for West (15-6, 6-1), riding Maas for much of the match and wearing him down.

Kelsay is no stranger to wrestling at 220, having spent time at the weight last season, and said the biggest difference between the two is a little bit of speed. He said going forward this season he doesn't care much where he wrestles.

'At this point it doesn't matter, it's just what my coach (wants me to wrestle),' Kelsay said. 'Both weights are fine for me.'

West Coach Mark Reiland said he's not sure yet what he and his staff will do with Kelsay going forward, and was thrilled with how the ranked matchup worked out.

'(Kelsay) kind of took the action to (Maas), and forced his offense, and that's kind of the way you need to wrestle that match,' Reiland said. 'He put himself in (some) danger there in the third period, but really wrestled strong throughout the match.'

With the Trojans sporting two capable wrestlers at 195 pounds – Mitch Yoerger (16-6) took a forfeit win last night with no City High wrestler at 195 – and Kelsay having experience at 220, there's some flexibility that can work in their favor.

Reiland said Kelsay has had an up-and-down year at times, but hasn't been afraid to put the senior in difficult spots. Experience in those situations, Reiland said, can lead to big things down the road.

'We've had the luxury of having two 195-pounders, so we always find a way to put him against the tougher guy,' Reiland said. 'There's nights where he struggles. A week ago he had the defending state champ. But that's what he wants, he wants the tough matches. It's going to make him better in the end.'

Despite the dominating final score, Reiland described his team's effort as 'sluggish' in a few matches. The Trojans trotted out five other ranked wrestlers in addition to Kelsay, and all five earned pins.

Senior Heavyweight Aydan Wynos (18-6), ranked No. 8 at 285, opened the dual for West with a third-period pin of City High senior Derek Delaney (0-3). Fellow senior, No. 2 Chris Walters (29-2), pinned City High sophomore Aaron Flores in 1:44 at 126 pounds.

West junior Tanner Rohweder, ranked fourth at 113 pounds, scored the quickest pin of the night, dispatching City High senior Seth Schwarting (11-5) in 1:30. No. 6 John Milani (23-9) nearly bested his teammate at 160 pounds, pinning City High freshman Dillon Africa (13-13) in 1:39.

No. 7 Donovan Doyle (23-6), son of Iowa football strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle, got a pin for the Trojans in 3:30 over City High's Harrison Whitlow (5-15). Jackson Voigt (15-13) registered one of the six pins overall for West as well, catching City High senior Dallas Slater (5-10) at 170 pounds.

Carter Rohweder (10-0) and Nate Kelsay (11-16) also got wins for the Trojans last night, with Carter beating City High's Daniel Kelly (13-10), 12-1, at 120 pounds, and Nate beating City High sophomore Ali Omar (7-12), 14-5, at 152 pounds.

'I think we were sluggish in some parts, and obviously we closed it in a big way,' Reiland said. 'In most cases, we did what we were supposed to. In a couple spots, we didn't. We've got to regroup in those, and figure it out.'

The highlight of the night for City High – the biggest spot Reiland was referring to – came in the second match of the night at 106 pounds. Little Hawk junior Will Ortiz (13-6) earned a pin over West's Alex Aguirre (12-21) in 3:45 after a back-and-forth match.

City High also got its crowd going at 145 pounds, when Little Hawk sophomore Nic Jarvis (14-10) and Trojan senior Tyler Hebl (13-13) wrestled in the longest match of the night. The two traded takedowns through three periods, and needed a sudden death period to decide it. Jarvis eventually got the win on a takedown, 6-4.

The Little Hawks also got a win from Ethan Vermace (2-2) at 138 pounds, with an 11-8 decision over West's Sage Wisner (5-18).

City High forfeited at 132 and 195 pounds to bring the final score to 60-12.