Wolverines take down three teams on senior night

Senior night for the Nodaway Valley wrestling team was a special one as senior 285-pounder Ashton Honnold continued his trajectory toward becoming the 29th Iowa wrestler to capture 200 match wins, picking up career win No. 178 with three more wins.

The first win was one that tied the school record for most career wins set by 2025 graduate Trent Warner, and his second win on the night broke the record.

Honnold also captured career pin No. 100. The University of Northern Iowa signee is chasing not only a third straight championship.

The Wolverines earned three more dual wins, bringing their record to 16-1 in meets this year, beating Van Meter 60-23, Clarke 54-30 and state ranked Earlham 39-36. The three wins extended the Wolverines’ dual win streak to 16 straight.

The Wolverines are also hopeful of securing a fourth-straight trip to the regional duals on Feb. 3. The Wolverines, now ranked fifth in Class 1A by IA Wrestle, are still in the running to be one of eight host sites for the event.

This senior class of Keyin Steeve, Ty Strode, Matthew Nelson and Ashton Honnold also finished their career with no dual losses at home. Wolverine head coach Brad Honnold secured his fifth season of leading the Wolverine program.

“It’s been a fun, fun ride with this group of kids. Thirty-nine and 0 at home in duals. It’s hard to get that many home duals — throw in sicknesses and weather and that is a lot of opportunities," he said. “We have been blessed over the last four years to get that. It’s a testament to the kids and them being resilient.”

The Wolverines beat Class 2A state ranked Woodward-Granger recently and added a victory over Class 1A 13th-ranked Earlham at the dual meet.

The seniors had lots to say after sweeping the home quad.

“Right now I am just focusing on being fundamental for the big matches. We are working hard and want to be wrestling at our best come the postseason,” NV senior Keyin Steeve said. “As much as I don’t want to admit it, I am going to miss practices. Honnold is always there chewing on us, telling us to get better. Anytime they do that, we know they are wanting to help us achieve our goals.”

The dual came down to the final three weights after the Wolverines trailed 36-21. Clay Raasch got a forfeit win at 190 to set the score at 36-27 with two weights left. Caleb Christensen at 215 pinned AJ Dunskey in 48 seconds at 215 to set the score at 36-33. Two-time state champ Ashton Honnold completed the comeback with a pin at 285 over Keegan Long in 36 seconds to give the Wolverines a three-point win.

Nodaway Valley got early wins by Josh Nelson by forfeit at 113 and Thomas Herrick by decision at 120 to lead 9-6. Later, back-to-back pins by Ty Strode at 132 and Keyin Steeve at 138 gave NV a 21-12 lead. The Cardinals then won five straight matches and scored 24 points to take what looked like a commanding 36-21 lead.

“I just go one meet at a time so it’s not overwhelming,” Strode commented. “We have had really good competition this year, and I think we have and will be prepared for the postseason. We have a mentality of going into a meet or tournament that it doesn’t matter who or what team we’re going against, we just want to give it our all each time out.”

Nodaway Valley won all but five matches in the Clarke dual. The Wolverines won five contested bouts in the dual, all with pins. Leading 35-6 early, the outcome wasn’t ever in doubt. Steeve, Mason Johnson, Matthew Nelson, Caleb Christensen and Honnold were all winners by fall. Josh Nelson, Thomas Herrick, Jett Christensen and Strode picked up forfeit victories.

NV had a run of five weights won and another run of three in a row against Van Meter, giving only one weight up to forfeit. Wins by forfeit were from Jett Christensen at 126, Strode at 132, Steeve at 138, Johnson at 144, Kenan Kadric at 150, Derek Raasch at 165, Silas Pieken at 190 and Ashton Honnold at 285.

There were five contested matches in the dual. The Wolverines won two of those matches: a pin by Caleb Christensen at 215 over Austin Croat in 1:51 and a first-period pin from Josh Nelson in 49 seconds over Bryor Simmons. Nodaway Valley claimed every weight class from 126 through 150.

The senior class started out bigger, but as with any sport, some fell away. To get where you want to go, you have to do things that you haven’t done before.

“Coming from middle school you have so much to learn,” NV senior Matthew Nelson said. “You have to grow and get better. It takes commitment to be consistent on the mat and that starts early. Early morning practices or leaving for tournaments make you think about how far you have come from those early days.”

The success with his classmates he joined here coming into high school has not gotten lost on the younger Honnold either.

“Wrestling senior night is a little different because it’s not the end of the season yet, but it’s your last night being able to wrestle at home and show out in front of your home crowd,” Honnold said. “I enjoyed it very much.”

The Wolverines will travel to Shenandoah Thursday for a dual meet with Hawkeye 10 foes Shenandoah, Denison and Creston. The last dual meet of the regular season will be on January 29 when the Wolverines tangle with Southwest Valley at Southeast Warren in Corning.