Panthers open with 2-1 performance at home quad

Woodward-Granger swept the quadrangular Thursday at Creston while the Panthers went 2-1 in their season opener.

They were big wins against Lenox and South Harrison, Missouri, as Creston took those duals 54-20 and 46-15, respectively.

Creston coach Cody Downing knew Woodward-Granger would be a challenge coming in, and the Hawks came out strong — winning 52-24 against the Panthers.

The Panthers scored on four falls, but the Hawks came out with seven pins, six of them in the first period.

Senior Lane Travis and sophomore Ben James were bright spots for the Panthers Thursday as they both went 3-0 on the night, earning pins in each match.

Creston opened against Lenox where the Panthers won four contested matches, all by fall.

Travis defeated Levi Fitzgerald in 1:06; James topped Laine Brown in 1:20; Jose Avila came back to win in a 5:05 pin over Caden Kaufman and Zadek Engdahl beat Colton Haidsiak in 3:16.

Senior Brodrick Phelps lost to Wylie Brokaw in a 9-8 decision after being caught out of position earned Brokaw back points.

He put it behind him and went on to pin his next two opponents.

Against South Harrison, Creston won nine contested matches, including six pins. Winning by fall were Colt Key (3:02), James (3:46), Travis (2:45), Phelps (0:36), Colby Brammer (1:29) and Drake Wilson (1:05).

Engdahl won his bout in a 17-6 major decision; Avila won in an 8-6 decision and Noel Ornelas-Perez came out ahead 16-12.

South Harrison won just three bouts — two by pin and one in a decision.

Scoring against Woodward-Granger were Kylen Parsons, James, Travis and Phelps.

Woodward-Granger beat Lenox 42-32 and South Harrison 48-31. South Harrison defeated Lenox 42-32.

Tournament

Saturday the varsity boys traveled to Humboldt for the Joe Fitch Invitational where they placed fourth with 188 points. Humboldt won with 245; Eagle Grove was second with 214 and Forest City finished third with 211.5.

Creston had seven top-three finishers including individual winners Travis (138) and Phelps (144).

Travis won his first two bouts in first-period pins. In the finals, he defeated Andrew Hofmann of Forest City in a 26-14 major decision.

Phelps flew through the bracket with ease, pinning three of four opponents in the first period and one early in the second period. He was on the mat for less than six minutes total in the tournament.

Placing second were Key, Parsons and Gunner Martwick.

At 120, Key defeated his first opponent in a pin and his second in a 6-1 decision. In the finals, Dylan Williamson of Van Meter won in a 19-4 tech fall.

At 126, Parsons had to claw his way to the finals. In the first round, Parsons wrestled Kylar Sisson of Eagle Grove. Parsons went up 3-0 on a takedown in the first period. In the second, Sisson earned a takedown and Parsons escaped, the score 4-3 in Parsons’ favor.

In the third, Parsons started in the top position, Sisson scoring on a reversal, taking a 1-point advantage with 1:21 remaining. Parsons was able to escape to tie the bout, sending it to overtime. Just 13 seconds into the extra period, Parsons won on a takedown. From there, Parsons won two decisions before Dylan Terwilliger of Eagle Grove won in a 20-2 technical fall in the finals.

At 285, Martwick pinned his first two opponents before winning a close 5-4 decision against Nick Saxton of Emmetsburg. No one scored in the first period. In the second, Martwick scored two on a reversal.

In the third, Saxton escaped the down position, but Martwick took him back to the mat, taking a 5-1 lead. Saxton scored two on a reversal and one on a penalty to narrow the lead to just one point but couldn’t come out with the win.

In the finals, Martwick was pinned in the second period by Joe Constable of Humboldt.

In the same bracket as Parsons, James finished third at 126. Both of them only lost to Terwilliger, but James faced him in the semifinals, leading to his third-place finish. In the third-place match, he pinned Sisson in 4:56.

Rounding out top-three finishers was Tom Mikkelsen at 215. Bryan Bridges of Forest City came back to win round one against Mikkelsen in an 11-9 decision.

Mikkelsen started with a 7-2 advantage after the first period, scoring on two takedowns and an escape. In the second period, Bridges scored on a takedown, making the score 7-5 heading into the final period.

Mikkelsen chose to be on the bottom in the final period, earning a point for an escape, but Bridges tied it up at 8 on a takedown. Once again, Mikkelsen escaped for the point advantage, but with 13 seconds left, Bridges earned three on another takedown.

Bridges went on to finish second while Mikkelsen won out the rest of his matches for a third-place finish.

Placing fourth for Creston were Engdahl and Brammer. Tyler Travis placed fifth.

The Panthers return to action Thursday in a Hawkeye 10 triangular at Red Oak with Atlantic.

Saturday they travel to the Riverside Tournament where they will face Hawkeye 10 foes Shenandoah, Harlan and Clarinda as well as local 1A powerhouse Nodaway Valley.