SOLON — A sure sign of the end of the season drawing near is the celebration of Senior Night, which was held Thursday, Jan. 19 as the Spartans hosted rival Mount Vernon in a dual meet.
Joe Ebert, Braydon Hoffman, David Karam, and Zeb Kleinsmith were recognized for their contributions to Spartan Wrestling.
Mt. Vernon 54 Solon 12
The Mustangs entered the meet ranked sixth in Class 2A and with five ranked wrestlers.
Kyler Jessup pinned the Mustangs’ Drew Thurn in 1:56 in the 120-pound match, Jordan Schmidt took a 5-3 decision from Croix Shebetka at 132 pounds, and Zeb Kleinsmith took a 4-3 decision from Watson Krob at 182 pounds.
Charlie Karam and Milo Ashbacker won extra (no points awarded) matches with Karam winning by technical fall (17-2, 2:47) over Stanley Krob and pinning Isaac Dausener in 1:55 while Ashbacker pinned Nathan Conrad in 1:48.
“Mount Vernon has a good group this year and they wrestle like you’re supposed to wrestle,” said Head Coach Aaron Hadenfeldt. “The score didn’t reflect it, but I was proud of the effort that our kids gave, they didn’t back down from tough competition.”
Herb Irgens Invitational
The boys traveled to Ida Grove and OABBCIG (Odebolt, Arthur, Battle Creek, Ida Grove) HS for the two day Herb Irgens Invitational Friday and Saturday, Jan. 20 and 21 and placed eighth out of 25 teams represented.
Jordan Schmidt (14-5) placed third at 132 pounds, Braydon Hoffman (22-14) placed fourth at 195, and Evan Burg (14-18) was seventh at 113. Carson Kidwell (12-11), Zeb Kleinsmith (13-9), and Joe Ebert (14-21) placed eighth at 138, 182, and 285 pounds.
Hunter Campion (5-12), Kyler Jessup (13-14), Teague Williams (19-17), David Karam (13-19), Jackson Feuerbach (5-16), Kyler Jensen (16-16), and Grant Wilson (15-10) did not place.
“We enjoy this trip and it helps bring our team together,” said Hadenfeldt. “We get to see teams we haven’t seen all year and get away for a couple days. There are always tough teams at this one and this year was no different.”
Looking ahead at the remainder of the season the Coach added, “We are trying to wrestle our best at this time in the season, so practices start to get a little shorter and less intense. We want our guys fresh when it comes to the most important time in the season. The WaMaC tournament is a mini-state tournament, it’s that good of competition. Our guys will come out and give it all they’ve got, just as they have all year.”
Upcoming Schedule
The regular season wraps up Thursday, Jan. 26 with a double dual meet at Beckman Catholic (Dyersville) starting at 6:00 p.m. and Saturday, Jan. 28 with the varsity WaMaC tournament at Independence at 10:00 a.m.
Regional duals for all three classes of wrestling will be held Tuesday, Jan. 31 with the top eight teams in each class qualifying for the State Dual Team Tournament Saturday, Feb. 4 at Xtream Arena in Coralville.
District tournaments will be held Saturday, Feb. 11 with Solon competing at West Delaware HS in Manchester. First and second-place winners in each weight class advance to the State Championships at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines Wednesday, Feb. 15 through Saturday, Feb. 18.