Dec 20, 2024
T-R PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER – West Marshall’s Jack Decker picks up Perry’s Hayden Gilmore before putting him down and to his back on the way to an eventual pinfall victory during Thursday’s Heart of Iowa Conference dual meet in State Center. Decker pinned Gilmore in 1 minute, 24 seconds, and the Trojans went on to defeat both Perry and South Hamilton.
STATE CENTER — West Marshall boys wrestling is on the attack.
The Trojans scored early and often to dominate a Heart of Iowa Conference triangular with Perry and South Hamilton at West Marshall High School on Thursday night.
West Marshall started with a 62-18 win over Perry and closed out the night as 74-6 winners over South Hamilton.
“We’ve really been preaching to just go after guys over and over and making that opponent not want a rematch,” West Marshall head coach Stephen Adams said. “We want to leave no doubt for that opponent on how things would go a second time. Our studs do a great job of that, and our guys under them are copying that, they want to be like them, they want to go out there and be aggressive in a sportsman-like way.”
In addition to starting the season ranked 20th in Class 2A in the IWCOA dual team rankings, the fully-loaded Trojans have four individuals in rankings recently released by IAwrestle, and all four picked up two wins each on Thursday.
T-R PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER – West Marshall’s Shane Hanford, behind, secures the spladle on South Hamilton’s Kyler Ziesman during their 150-pound match in Thursday’s triangular in State Center. Hanford, ranked third in Class 2A, scored a technical fall of 18-1 to down Ziesman.
Urijah Courter, a sophomore ranked No. 1 in Class 2A at 106 pounds but wrestling at 113, pinned both of his opponents in the first period to improve to 8-0. Adams said it’s probable to see Courter down to 106 to start the 2025 schedule.
“He’s explosive and strong, and he’s got a whole lot of weapons,” Adams said. “It’s going to be exciting to see him wrestle more and more and he’s excited for the competition that he’s going to be seeing.”
Jon Gonzalez, who was fourth at state at 113 pounds at last year, is currently rated third at 120 pounds. He received a forfeit in the Perry dual, then locked down a 23-second pin against South Hamilton and is now 8-0 on the season.
“He’s got good muscle on him, he’s got the technique and he’s strong,” Adams said. “He’s making it look like he’s on a different level right now so we’re looking forward to getting him out to these tournaments, too.”
The Trojans’ 144-pounder Kinnick Geers had the closest call of the day with a 16-13 decision over Perry’s Townes Wilson. Geers is rated 10th at 144 and was 0-2 at state last year. He received a forfeit in the South Hamilton dual.
“What you’ll see with all of Kinnick’s matchups is that he’s very explosive,” Adams said. “Yeah, it’s tighter than I would’ve liked it to finish, and I think he should’ve probably finished that match. He’s got the opening to put up even more more out there, he’s just got a couple things to shine up and it’ll be an even more impressive victory.”
Shane Hanford, another fourth-place state finisher last year, is currently ranked third at 150 pounds and scored two technical falls in the first period on Thursday to improve to 7-0.
“We’re sad we lost the Mount Vernon tournament where he would’ve faced number two and number one in his bracket, that would’ve been really good for him,” Adams said. “But I think he’s going to have a really good matchup on Saturday so we’re excited to see what he can do there.
“We know exactly what we’re going to get from Shane Hanford. Two years in a row on the podium, very reliable, great leader, and got a lot of guys following his lead.”
Elsewhere in the Trojan lineup, Jack Decker and Bryce Crawford added 2-0 nights with two head-to-head victories each at 126 and 190 pounds, respectively. Dawson Goodman and Ben Buck got pins against Perry while Garrett Bear, Wade Weuve and Ben Gonzalez had their arms raised after forfeits. In the South Hamilton dual, Weuve added a pinfall victory and Bear, Buck, Ben Gonzalez, Goodman and Connor Yakel all added wins by forfeit.
“The guys are really excited about the dual team they have this year,” Adams said. “We’ve got really good numbers, and it’s spread out quite well. We’re excited to see what we can do dual-wise and any time they can add a couple more tallies and hopefully climb the rankings a little bit more, get a little more respect, they’re excited about it.”
West Marshall heads to Iowa Falls for the Jones Brothers Invitational on Saturday.
West Marshall 62, Perry 18
175–Dawson Goodman (WM) pinned Daniel Hernandez, :51; 190–Bryce Crawford (WM) pinned James Baker, 1:40; 215–Brian Alejandro (P) pinned Jacob Dare, 1:14; 285–Narciso Hidalgo (P) pinned Skylar Hanford, 3:23; 106–Garrett Bear (WM) won by forfeit; 113–Urijah Courter (WM) pinned Dionisio Andres, 1:24; 120–Jon Gonzalez (WM) won by forfeit; 126–Jack Decker (WM) pinned Hayden Gilmore, 1:24; 132–Ben Buck (WM) pinned Trent Maggitt, 1:23; 138–Ben Kusar (P) pinned Dalton Eldridge, 2:55; 144–Kinnick Geers (WM) dec. Townes Wilson, 16-13; 150–Shane Hanford (WM) tech. falled Cohen Galivan, 19-4; 157–Wade Weuve (WM) won by forfeit; 165–Ben Gonzalez (WM) won by forfeit.
West Marshall 74, South Hamilton 6
215–Gaige Willis (SH) pinned Jacob Dare, 1:37; 285–Skylar Hanford (WM) pinned Brody Harris, :50; 106–Garrett Bear (WM) won by forfeit; 113–Urijah Courter (WM) pinned Hagen Klein, 1:15; 120–Jon Gonzalez (WM) pinned Jacob Lutjen, :23; 126–Jack Decker (WM) pinned Holden Moore, 1:26; 132–Ben Buck (WM) won by forfeit; 138–Connor Yakel (WM) won by forfeit; 144–Kinnick Geers (WM) won by forfeit; 150–Shane Hanford (WM) tech. falled Kyler Ziesman, 18-1; 157–Wade Weuve (WM) pinned Trace Junker, 1:21; 165–Ben Gonzalez (WM) won by forfeit; 175–Dawson Goodman (WM) won by forfeit; 190–Bryce Crawford (WM) dec. Parker Stuck, 10-9.
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