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LIBERTY CENTER — A six pack of area wrestlers finished on top here Saturday at Southeast Warren High School at the Pride of Iowa Conference Tournament.
Bedford/Lenox had the highest place finish for an area team with a third-place total of 168 points.
Martensdale-St. Marys, behind five individual champions, easily won the title with 212.5 points. Interstate 35 was a distant runner-up with 178. Nodaway Valley edged Southeast Warren for fourth place, 154-152.5.
“Martensdale just got on a roll and it was hard to bring them down,” Bedford/Lenox co-head coach Gail Christensen said. “We wrestled back into it, we didn’t lay down. We took a full team and put nine of them in the top five. I was pretty happy with the results at the end. The guys came back and wrestled well on the back side.”
Winning individual gold for Bedford/Lenox were Cody Cline at 138 and 160-pounder Cody Morris.
Cline, seeded second, reached the finals with a pin and 8-2 victory in the semifinals. In the title match, Cline edged top-seeded Jacob Hoch of Southeast Warren, 5-4, with a last-second takedown.
“He wrestled tough. He looked good. Very impressive,” Christensen said. “He took that kid down the last three or four seconds on the clock. He never gave up.”
Morris, like Cline, cruised into the finals with a pin and 10-2 major decision. The top-seeded Bedford/Lenox senior met Tucker Waugh of Central Decatur in the finals and earned a hard-fought 6-4 decision. Morris had edged Waugh earlier in the season as well, 2-1.
“He took care of business and Waugh is a tough kid,” Christensen said.
Mount Ayr finished seventh in the team race, but did tie Bedford/Lenox and I-35 for the second-most individual winners with a pair of champs.
Shane Swank romped through the field at 152 for the Raiders. After pins of 20 and 52 seconds to reach the finals, Swank decked top-seeded Trenton Wells of Central Decatur in 4:30.
There were only two champions crowned who weren’t seeded first or second, including Mount Ayr heavyweight Joe Ricker.
The Raider freshman survived his first-round bout against Tate Van Dyne of Wayne, 8-6, and edged Clint Marshall of Bedford/Lenox in the semifinals, 3-0. In the title bout, Ricker stunned top-seed Greg Smith of Nodaway Valley with a fall in 2:52.
Other area champions were Corning’s Kory Schmelzer at 179 and Mikel Feick of Nodaway Valley at 195.
Schmelzer pinned both his opponents, including Ethan Jones of I-35 in just 48 seconds in the finals.
Feick pinned all three of his POI foes. After pins of 2:29 and 0:57 to reach the finals, the lone Wolverine champion decked Todd Graham of I-35 in the finals in 2:31.
The toughest weight class of the tournament was at 106, where a trio of rated wrestlers were in the field and all on the top side of the bracket.
In the opening round, Bedford/Lenox freshman Dusten Reed, ranked 10th in Class 2A, defeated Class 1A ninth-ranked freshman Gabe Henderson of Southeast Warren, 5-3. Reed led 1A No. 4 Dylan Gibson of M-SM late in their semifinal match, but eventually dropped a 4-2 decision in overtime.
Reed and Henderson met again for the third-place medal, where Henderson avenged his earlier loss, 7-3.
2011 Pride of Iowa Conference Tournament
Final team standings
1. Martensdale-St. Marys 212.5; 2. Interstate 35 (Truro) 178; 3. Bedford/Lenox 168; 4. Nodaway Valley 154; 5. Southeast Warren 152.5; 6. Central Decatur 139.5; 7. Mount Ayr 85; 8. Corning 69; 9. Pleasantville 28; 10. Wayne 21; 11. East Union/Murray 12.
Championship matches
106 - Dylan Gibson (MSM) maj. dec. Brad Yakle (I35), 19-5
113 - Taylor Hagen (MSM) tech. fall Christian Nook (B/L), 16-0
120 - Jake Hunerdosse (SEW) pinned Colton Ranney (CD), 4:42
126 - Kole Stapes (MSM) pinned Zach Hutton (I35), 5:34
132 - David Walker (MSM) pinned Jared Thompson (NV), 1:22
138 - Cody Cline (B/L) dec. Jacob Hoch (SEW), 5-4
145 - Robert Walker (MSM) dec. Josh Parker (SEW), 8-2
152 - Shane Swank (MA) pinned Trenton Wells (CD), 4:30
160 - Cody Morris (B/L) dec. Tucker Waugh (CD), 6-4
170 - Kory Schmelzer (Corn) pinned Ethan Jones (I35), 0:48
182 - Tommy Bregar (I35) maj. dec. Brad Nauman (MSM), 13-5
195 - Mikel Feick (NV) pinned Todd Graham (I35), 2:31
220 - Tyler Lester (I35) inj. def. Dalton Rumley (CD)
285 - Joe Ricker (MA) pinned Greg Smith (NV), 2:52
Third-place matches
106 - Gabe Henderson (SEW) dec. Dustin Reed (B/L), 7-3
113 - Johnathan Hardy (SEW) pinned Paul Queck (I35), 5:04
120 - Mikel Hilton (Corn) pinned Jake Schliessman (NV), 5:15
126 - Dustin Ford (NV) dec. Brennon Short (CD), 15-10
132 - Grant Christensen (B/L) pinned Matt Marvin (CD), 2:53
138 - David Delong (MSM) pinned Wyman Reed (CD), 0:45
145 - Tyler Hennigar (NV) dec. Sean Bennett (B/L), 7-4
152 - Daniel Kroese (B/L) pinned Jaydn Erlandson (NV), 4:50
160 - Addison Spear (SEW) dec. Levi Thompson (NV), 12-8
170 - Ty Roush (SEW) dec. Austin Green (W), 8-6
182 - Cole Bonde (B/L) pinned Clay Ramsey (NV), 0:41
195 - Jacob Anctil (MSM) pinned Ryan Bacon (P), 1:56
220 - Jacob Roach (MA) pinned Brian Jimenez Jr. (SEW), 1:15
285 - Tate Van Dyne (W) dec. Clint Marshall (B/L), 2-1
Fifth-place matches
106 - Dawson Knapp (MA) pinned Kody Murphy (CD), 1:05
113 - Clayton Dale (CD) tech. fall Patrick Sheehey (P), 15-0
120 - Jesus Gonzalez (B/L) pinned Tanner Foster (MSM), 3:31
126 - Alex Mitchell (SEW) dec. Taylor Mullen (Corn), 7-0
132 - Grant Staats (MA) dec. Brogan Kinyon (EU/M), 7-5
138 - Trey Busick (P) pinned Sam Gwinn (I35), 1:19
145 - Angelo Madonia (I35) maj. dec. Darin Martin (CD), 15-7
152 - Tanner Findley (I35) dec. Troy Harding (MSM), 16-15
160 - Daulton Gibson (MSM) pinned Brady Gray (I35), 2:42
170 - Dylon French (B/L) pinned Nolan Dodson (NV), 1:41
182 - Ty Schneider (SEW) inj. def. Zach Barton (Corn)
195 - Jake Jones (Corn) pinned Jameson Cox (EU/M), 1:59
220 - Alex Clark (Corn) pinned Dylan Cosner (MSM), 2:58
285 - Dillon Delong (CD) pinned Russell Lester (MSM), 4:31