WILLIAMSBURG — On Thursday, Jan. 8, the Solon boys and girls wrestling teams took the 30-plus minute drive southwest to Williamsburg High School to face the Raiders along with Vinton-Shellsburg in a three-team duel. In the prime of the season, the Spartans showed flashes of dominance as well as areas of concern with the postseason looming – first against Vinton, then against Williamsburg.
Solon girls
Solon struggled mightily against Vinton as the Vikings cruised to a 52-24 finish. Of the 11 matches played, only four of them went the Spartans’ way. Those Spartan wrestlers that stood out in its performances are Raelynn Hamer (105 pounds), Brilee Muller (125), Adlie Miller (190) and Haiden Wolfe (235), all winning their matchups with pins.
Hamer was trailing 3-2 to Paige Clemensen in the first period, then 5-4 in the second period before she flipped the script and secured the pin. Her teammates erupted into a frenzy after the referee slammed his hand on the mat, indicating six points for Solon.
“They’ve been pretty good about being supportive for each other, whether it’s on the mat, off the mat,” said Solon girls head coach John Cooper. “The big thing is that they’re there for each other, win or lose. That’s something you can’t really teach.”
The Williamsburg matchup ended in a similar fashion with a 54-30 finish in the Raiders’ favor. Alannah Mahoney (130) was the lone Spartan to win her match outright with a pin in the first 1:39 of the match. The other six matches played out went for the opposition.
Cooper is taking the next few weeks to ramp up his team ahead of postseason matches.
“They’ve got to believe that they can do what they can do. They’ve got the ability,” Cooper said. “It’s just building that confidence. And sometimes that can be really challenging, especially if you’re taking these losses and things like that. So hopefully they can rebound.”
Solon boys
The script was flipped for the Solon-Vinton boys match as the Spartans ran off with the 52-22 win. Despite the 22-6 start by the Vikings, Solon swept the rest of the match with a 46-0 run spanning seven matches.
Jadyn Bevans (144), Eli Cash (150), Carson Kidwell (157), Connor Dunn (175), and Tripp Johnson (190) all secured pins. Lucas Feuerbach’s (285) open victory secured the 100th career win of his illustrious high school career.
And while vibes were high with the Spartan boys, its matchup against Williamsburg had a bitter ending after the Raiders stole the 37-29 victory in the closing matches. The two sides traded matches before Williamsburg pulled away with a 22-11 lead, only for Solon to close the gap and go ahead, 26-22. The Raiders ended up winning three of the last four matches to wipe the smile off the Spartans’ faces.
With a dominant victory on one end and a disappointing loss on the other, the team will assess both matches and will learn how it could be better throughout the rest of the 2025-26 season, including the postseason.
“You learn from your wins and your losses,” said Solon boys head coach Aaron Hadenfeldt. “It’s not like we’ll focus only on the Williamsburg one, because winning the duel in our conference is tough to do. So yeah, we will spend a lot of time on both parties.”