Pirates prove they can hang with big schools

The Alburnett Pirates proved to others what they have already known - no matter the size or ranking, they can compete with anyone.

The Class 1A program ranks 219th in the BEDS document, which uses enrollment from grades 9 through 11 from the previous year, but managed to beat two ranked 3A teams to finish seventh at Saturday's Five Seasons Duals.

The Pirates, fifth in the 1A tournament rankings by The Predicament, beat ninth-ranked Urbandale, 40-39, and No. 10 Mason City, 36-34. Mason City was 33rd on the BEDS list with 907 ninth-through-11th graders last year, one spot ahead of Urbandale with 883. Alburnett had 159.

“It just proves a point I was driving home to our kids,” said Alburnett Coach Kane Thompson, who added Cedar Rapids Jefferson's J-Hawk Invitational to the schedule last year. “I had to hammer it into our kids' heads that those kids go to a bigger school, so those schools have more kids to choose from, theoretically, but they are just kids weighing in at the same weight class. To me beating those teams is not the biggest deal in the world, but to our kids it proves the point that they can hang with anyone no matter what size of school you go to.”

Sorry, coach, but they already knew. Nonetheless, junior Colton Martin said the team drew added motivation from online doubters.

“We kind of carried a chip on our shoulders,” said Martin, who improved to 8-2 and is ranked eighth at 132. “Some people on the message boards said that they were curious to see how some of our kids do against 3A competition, and that kind of fired us up a little bit. We wanted to show everybody we can hang with bigger schools.”

The Pirates, who qualified for the state duals for the first time in school history last year, lost to Iowa City West (sixth on BEDS with 1,426) and West Delaware (79th with 391), ranked second in 3A and 2A, respectively.

Alburnett (6-2) wrestled while forfeiting two weights, waiting for wrestlers to drop down and fill those open spots.

“We didn't wrestle any team not ranked in the top 10 of their class,” Thompson said. “Every team we wrestled was a tough quality team, so to come out of that 2-2 is pretty good for our kids to know they can wrestle with those teams.”

Alburnett's inaugural showing was solid, but Thompson wants his team to be in position to win it in the future.

“It boosts our kids' confidence,” said Thompson, noting that many 1A teams don't risk wrestling big schools. “I'm not worried about their record right now. I'm worried about getting them ready for the end of the year.”

Thompson said the level of competition will prepare them for that postseason challenge as the Pirates own title aspirations after placing third at state the last two years.

“We want to be that team to win the matches you're supposed to win and then starts winning matches that you're not necessarily supposed to win,” Thompson said. “Then I think getting into tournaments like the Five Seasons Duals and kids getting some big wins will really help with that process.”

Freshman 106-pounder Hunter Washburn went unbeaten Saturday, winning close matches against Mason City's fourth-ranked Kaz Onoo and West Delaware's No. 6 Pat Woods. Washburn is 10-0 and ranked third.

“He stood out big time,” Thompson said. “He just impressed me with his scrambling skills and ability to keep wrestling.”

The Pirates have five ranked wrestlers, including two-time state champion and top-ranked 126-pounder Tyler Shulista (9-1), Grant Henderson (8-2) who is ranked fifth at 145 and No. 10 Dylan Windfield (8-3) at 160. Washburn is an example of the program's progress, especially in developing youth wrestlers.

“Every year we keep getting better,” Martin said. “We have (younger) kids that are stepping into the program and they do good things for us. They come in and push the team.”