It’s the opening week of competition for the Sailor wrestling team, and they have not eased into the season. They once again open the season with multiple competitions in the first week. This year they will notch 4 weigh-ins in the first 7 days to open up the season. After opening the season with the Metro Tournament on Tuesday, they traveled to Eldora for the first road competition of the year to take on Hudson and BCLUW/SH.
In the opening dual of the night against BCLUW/SH the Sailors came out of the gate hot, winning the first 5 matches of the evening. The Sailors earned bonus team points in every victory to overcome the defect caused by open weights in the lineup to emerge from the dual victorious, 40-36. In the second dual of the evening, the Sailors faced the Hudson Pirates for the first of a series of meetings this season. The Sailors went 5-1 in contested matches, but would drop the dual 48-33.
Coach Denny Boleyn was encouraged by his teams start to the season, “We seem to be in attack mode on our feet which is really good to see to start the season. We are looking to push the action early and often in matches and looking to score points in all positions. Against BCLUW we had some of our younger guys step up and get bonus points for us that sealed the victory. In particular Henry Erie and Jonathan Hackett stepped up and got a pair of pins for us that ended up being huge in the team score at the end of the night. Against Hudson, we do not match up very well, we didn’t have many contested matches, we ended up 5-1 in those matches which is always a positive but unfortunately we missed out on some of their top talent that we would like to match up with. Hopefully we can shuffle the lineup when we see them again down the road this year.” There was no rest to be had for the Sailors, as they would head out on another road trip on Friday for the toughest test of the season. The Dan Gable Donnybrook was on the schedule for last year, but was unfortunately cancelled due to Covid. The inaugural Dan Gable Donnybrook tournament drew teams from across the Midwest, including powerhouses from Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri, and Nebraska to go along with some of the biggest and best schools from across Iowa. With 175 ranked wrestlers across the 14 weight classes, this tournament was not to be missed. Due to the level of competition at this tournament, you can make the case that this will be the toughest tournament that Columbus will see all year, and that would include the IHSAA State Tournament.
The story of the tournament for the Sailors would have to be the 170 pound weight class. Undefeated returning state champion Max Magayna would enter the tournament as the 3 seed. Max would roll his way through the tournament on Friday, setting up for a showdown with #12 in the nation Tate Naaktgeboren from Linn Mar. This is a rare matchup of #1 ranked wrestlers and reigning Iowa State Champions, as #1 in 1A will take on #1 from 3A. Naaktgeboren is a familiar foe for Magayna from the youth circuit, as those two have matched up numerous times in the past. This would mark the first time that these two meet in official IHSAA competition. After a scoreless first period, Max was in deep on a shot and as he was looking for the finish was caught in a cradle and put to his back, putting him in a hole and completely changing the complexion of the match. In the third period, Max was unable to get a turn as Naaktgeboren displayed excellent defense stopping Max’s leg ride. Tate would close out the match for a 12-1 win, marking the first loss on Magana’s record. Max would bounce back in his next match to secure third place for the tournament.
At 182 pounds, Carson Hartz was seeded as the 5th seed. He would drop an opening round bout to the eventual semifinalists from Aurora Marmion Academy in Illinois. That would be the only loss of the weekend, as Carson would battle back on the consolation side of the bracket picking up a pair of decisions and receiving an injury default victory in his final match.
Coach Boleyn had some mixed emotions following this weekend’s action, “Our focus this weekend wasn’t really on where we finished as a team, or even where we finished as individuals. Obviously we would like all of our guys on the podium and all of our guys to bring home that gold medal, but with the competition that we saw at this tournament that’s not really realistic. The purpose of entering this tournament was really to see how our guys would compete against elite competition early in the year. This tournament also gives our team a feel of what it like to wrestle in big tournaments, in particular the State Tournament in Des Moines. That’s something that isn’t easy to simulate throughout the year, so getting guys a taste of what that environment will be like is really valuable as we progress through the season. The biggest takeaways for us this weekend is to identify areas of improvement against top talent. Everyone that competed this weekend has things that they can work on and improve. When facing this type competition, sometimes it comes down to the finer details that determine the outcome in matches, so it’s good that we can correct and work on those things throughout the season instead of at the end of the year.”
The Sailors are back in action for the first home meet of the year on Thursday December 9th. Columbus will host AGWSR and North Tama starting at 6:15 pm.
Columbus- 40 vs BCLUW/SH- 36
126- Mason Burr- W Maj 10-1 (Chance Cordes)
132- Joseph Kwofie- L Fall 0:34 (Nick Feldpausch)
138- Jonathan Hackett- W Fall 5:44 (Lane Hartwig)
145- John Meyer- L Fall 5:24 (Cayden White)
152- Gus Skilling- L Fall 1:41 (James Bricker)
170- Max Magayna- W Fall 1:35 (Kynnedy Gunderson)
182- Henry Erie- W Fall 0:44 (Wyatt Guiles)
195- Carson Hartz- W Fall 1:36 (Orlando Montoya)
220- Mason Knipp- W Forfeit
285- Connor Knudtson- W Fall 1:58 (Caden Steding)
JV- CJ Schuman- L Dec 9-6 (Kenna Paxson)
JV- Jack Sitzmann- L Fall 3:42 (Luke Kriegel)
JV- Carter Seilger- L Fall 1:42 (Jeffery Conaway)
JV- Jack Sitzmann- L Fall 1:00 (Ryan Busch)
Columbus- 33 vs Hudson- 48
170- Max Magayna- W Fall 1:48 (Gavin Richer)
195- Mason Knipp- W Fall 4:19 (Jack Christianson)
220- Connor Knudtson- W Forfeit
285- Carter Seilger- L Fall 0:34 (Jacob Taylor)
126- Gavin Reed- W Dec 7-3 (Ben Holton)
132- Joseph Kwofie- W Fall 1:12 (Carter Boeding)
138- Jonathan Hackett- W Fall 2:39 (Braden McCullough)
JV- Henry Erie- W Fall 1:17 (Emmalee Sharar)
JV- Gus Skilling- L Fall 0:25 (Noah Borcherding)
JV- Mason Burr- W Fall 1:46 (Jackson Colsch)
JV- CJ Schumann- L Fall 1:51 (Cameron Seible)
Dan Gable Donnybrook
126- Mason Burr
W- Fall 3:14 (Ammon Peterson)
L- Fall 1:10 (Sergio Lemley)
L- Fall 1:26 (Sam Hornyak)
L- Fall 1:10 (Kaden Witzenburg)
W- Dec 7-6 (Ammon Peterson)
L- Fall 0:43 (Drew Metcalf)
126- Gavin Reed
L- Dec 5-3 (Zach Carnrite)
W- Tech 15-0 (Drew Metcalf)
L- Dec 5-1 (Karter Guzman)
L- Dec 1-0 (Gable Brooks)
L- Inj Def (Nathan VanDruff)
132- Joseph Kwofie
L- Fall 1:37 (Alvin Wasmoen)
L- Fall 3:00 (Tanner Smith)
L- Fall 2:35 (Collin Bird)
L- Fall 3:11 (Cael Stanley)
138- Jonathan Hackett
L- Fall 0:46 (Easton Hilton)
W- Dec 8-5 (Frank Whipple)
L- Tech 16-0 (Luke Elgin)
L- Inj Def (Henry Niebauer)
L- Inj Def (Jaxon Ruden)
170- Max Magayna
W- Fall 1:42 (Luke Moller)
W- Fall 1:32 (Anthony Izzo)
W- Fall 1:04 (Sean Mwangi)
L- Maj 12-1 (Tate Naaktgeboren)
W- Dec 6-1 (Cole Glazier)
182- Carson Hartz
L- Maj 8-1 (Jack Lesher)
W- Dec 4-1 (Watson Reed)
W- Dec 12-6 (Rylan Breen)
W- Inj Def (James Keller)
195- Mason Knipp
L- Fall 1:24 (Wentric Williams III)
W- Dec 5-1 (Ben Wiley)
L- Fall 1:49 (Aidan Nolting)
L- Inj Def (John Powers)
220- Connor Knudtson
L- Fall 4:53 (Trenton Bindel)
L- Fall 3:39 (Trevor Bindel)
L- Fall 3:01 (Jack Dorfler)
W- Fall 1:23 (Manson Thies)
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