Five champs, 11 top-6 medalists push Wolverines at Coach Riley

The Nodaway Valley wrestling team picked up its first tournament win of the season Saturday, Dec. 6, taking the team title at the 25th Coach Riley Tournament. Larry Riley, a recent Nodaway Valley Wrestling Hall of Fame inductee, was on hand to present trophies and celebrate the program he once led.

Nodaway Valley won the meet with 199 points. The Wolverines were one of eight teams topping 100 points. Waukee Northwest’s junior varsity was second with 186 points, and Southwest Valley finished third with 138.5. Two other Pride of Iowa Conference teams — Mount Ayr and Central Decatur — also competed.

Only three brackets were won by someone other than the top seed. The biggest upset came from Mount Ayr’s Bracken Collier, seeded 12th at 175 pounds, who won the weight class. Clarinda’s Fisher Graves, seeded fourth at 106, and Clarke’s Uriah Fry, the No. 2 seed at 165, also won titles.

Nodaway Valley was led by five individual champions, the most of any of the 12 scoring teams. Wolverines earning titles were Josh Nelson at 113, Ty Strode at 132, Jett Christensen at 138, Caleb Christensen at 190 and Ashton Honnold at 285.

The Wolverines have two tournaments left before Christmas break. They compete Saturday at Oakland Riverside and travel Friday, Dec. 19, to Central Decatur for the 2025 Pride of Iowa Conference meet.

“Super proud of the kids today,” head coach Brad Honnold said. “We had 18 kids wrestle, and I thought we competed at a high level.”

Honnold said going 5-0 in the finals helped the Wolverines overtake Waukee Northwest.

“It was a dominant performance, and I’m proud of how we are progressing,” he said. “We come back Monday with more matches in the middle of a tough first week.”

Nelson improved to 9-0 with his win at 113. The top seed, he led 13-2 over 10th-seeded Greyson Foell of Waukee Northwest before earning a pin at 3:17. He led 10-2 after the first period.

Strode, also the top seed, won the 132-pound bracket with a 19-4 tech fall in 2:21 over third-seeded Bryson Martin of Mount Ayr. He led 16-3 after one period and recorded five takedowns.

Jett Christensen improved to 8-1 with an 8-0 major decision over seventh-seeded Erick West of Southwest Valley at 138. Caleb Christensen, now 9-0, pinned second-seeded Paul Gasparovich of Pleasantville in 1:32 after taking a 9-2 lead in the 190-pound final. Ashton Honnold, also 9-0, pinned Gabe Winter of Waukee Northwest in 4:13 to win at 285. Winter had made an upset run to the finals, and Honnold recorded five takedowns before the pin.

Nodaway Valley had six additional top-6 finishers. Three reached third-place matches: Thomas Herrick was third at 126, Matthew Nelson finished fourth at 157 and Derek Raasch placed fourth at 175. Herrick rebounded after a semifinal pin at 5:45, in which he trailed 20-5, then pinned his consolation semifinal opponent and pinned fifth-seeded Gage Hilgenberg in 3:11 for third.

Other Wolverine placewinners were Trevyn Colton, fifth at 120; Quentin Shaull, sixth at 215 and Ryer Groves, sixth at 144.

“Quentin and Ryer getting into the top six was big,” Honnold said. “Our young kids responded well to their first varsity tournament.”

He said Colton “took care of business” against the No. 2 seed from CAM and noted Herrick’s strong start.

“Thomas has had a heckuva start — he’s 8-1 and not happy about that one loss,” he said.