Wolverines wrestle elite competition in Tri-Center tourney

Nodaway Valley/O-M senior Jaxon Christensen (138 pounds) and freshman Trenton Warner (285) were runners-up in a jam-packed Tri-Center Wrestling Invitational Saturday, Jan. 8.

Wolverine co-head wrestling coach Brad Honnold said the outing was a strong one for his wrestlers, who saw top-flight competition from both Iowa and Nebraska. The Wolverines placed eighth out of 18 teams in the event, scoring 90 points.

“Our first half of the season was really busy with a lot of duals and tournaments. This half of the season isn’t quite as busy but the competition level is a lot higher,” Honnold said. “I think we’re right where we want to be. We are a little banged up but we’d much rather have those now than later in the year and get those healed up with a few less competition days each week. We can focus on more individual things with kids and really get ourselves ready to pique at the end of the month.”

Jaxon Christensen and Warner both went 2-1 in matches wrestled and showed the toughness and grit coaches are looking for right now.

“Jaxon has been wrestling lights out for us. Trenton, our freshmen heavyweight, for any freshman to come in and do what he’s done, but especially at that upper weight, both of those guys had tough guys in the finals,” Honnold said. “Jaxon had a kid who is going for his fourth state title in Nebraska and is a University of Virginia recruit. We’re very impressed with both of their efforts.”

At 182, senior Caelen DeVault finished fourth in what Honnold described as a “jam-packed’ bracket, finishing the day 1-2 in matches wrestled.

Zackery Gebbie (126) placed fifth while Bradley Gebbie (120) and Jevin Christensen (145) were sixth. Carmine Shaw (152) placed eighth.

NV/O-M is 9-7 overall in duals and 7-0 in Pride of Iowa Conference action. They maneuvered their way to a 1-1 finish at Martensdale-St. Marys last Tuesday, beating the host Blue Devils but losing to Greene County.

“We usually wrestle every dual with just one open weight class, and that’s 106. More importantly, we’re filling them with kids who are going out and competing,” Honnold said. “Every kid we put out there we expect to go out, compete hard and win. They go out and compete that way and that’s compiled into a pretty decent dual record.”

The Wolverines wrestled Tuesday in a meet at Saydel and compete Saturday at the ADM tournament in Adel.