Metro rivalries were renewed tonight in Oppold Gymnasium. The metro tournament is normally the season kickoff for Columbus, Cedar Falls, Waterloo West and Waterloo East. COVID-19 caused tonight’s action to be a little later in the year than normal as numerous events have been rescheduled, but it was worth the wait. Cedar Falls put in a dominant performance and once again took home the traveling trophy with a clean sweep of their three duals. Waterloo East finished the night 2-1, and Waterloo West was shutout going 0-3 in the duals. The Sailor wrestlers continued to build on strong early season results and put in a solid team performance. Columbus knocked off Waterloo West 43-36, lost a heartbreaking dual on criteria to Waterloo East after the dual ended deadlocked at 42, and were overpowered by Cedar Falls 24-54. The dual with Waterloo East came down to the 7th tiebreaker, forfeits given up was the ultimate difference. The Sailors performed very well in the contested matches on the evening, going 14-5 on matches wrestled on the mat.
Coach Boleyn was once again pleased with his team’s effort. “We came out tonight and wrestled nonstop. We were aggressive on our feet and were in attack mode all night. We did really well in contested matches tonight, we won 14 and only lost 5 so that’s a pretty solid night for us.” Forfeits continue to be an issue for the Sailors, and that issue again came up big as that was the determining factor against East High. “Ya, that’s frustrating,” Boleyn said. “We lead in every category, matches won, I’m not sure that we lost any contested matches against East. I feel like there’s some people that can definitely help us out here, but we have to go with who we have in the room that want to be here.” Columbus did get a boost in the final dual of the evening against West High, freshman Mason Knipp made his high school debut, earning a first period fall at 195 pounds. “Mason coming in, he has been dinged up since football. Having him come in and not having any matches so far this year, he’s really been limited to mostly light drilling. Having him step up and get that pin for us allowed us to beat a West High team that we haven’t beat in a number of years, that was huge for us and is something we can really build on going forward.”
Man of the match, as voted by his teammates this evening was Connor Knudtson. Connor led the way for the Sailors tonight going 3-0 in his matches, winning by first period fall in each match. The Sophomore team caption was happy with the performance this evening. “I thought the duals tonight went really well for us, we lost two out of three but individually we performed really well and won a lot of matches. The forfeits were really the difference tonight for us that ended up costing us in both of our losses. Having to overcome that deficit every night when we have so many positives is really upsetting.” Connor has stepped into his role as captain this year, and is embracing the leadership role. “Wrestling season is really a grind for all of us, so making sure everyone is here at practice every day is important. We have a lot of fun in the locker room and up in the room so that’s really big for us. After all, you can’t win state in a day and you also can’t grow a mullet in a day either”
The Sailors are back in action with another quad dual at home this Thursday. Live stream of the duals can be found on the Columbus Wrestling Facebook page.
Columbus vs Cedar Falls
106- Mason Burr- L Fall 0:38 to Carter Fadiga
113- Gavin Reed- W Fall 4:56 over Kane Shimp
138- Joseph Kwofie- L Fall 1:40 to Caiden Rentz
145- Sam Hackett- L Fall 3:29 to Dylan Whitt
160- Max Magayna- W Fall 0:51 over Kyle Campbell
170- Carson Hartz- W Fall 2:47 over Drew M Campbell
220- Connor Knudtson- W Fall 1:03 over Finn Duggan
Final Score- Columbus 24- Cedar Falls 54
Columbus vs Waterloo East
106- Mason Burr- W Forfeit
113- Gavin Reed- W Fall 1:52 over Landen Foote
132- Ella Anderson- W Forfeit
138- Joseph Kwofie- L Fall 0:44 to William Clark
145- Sam Hackett- W Forfeit
160- Max Magayna- W Fall 0:22 over Brayden Peters
170- Carson Hartz- W Fall 2:29 over Matthew Cary
220- Connor Knudtson- W Fall 2:00 over Lorenzo Forristall
Final Score Columbus 42- Waterloo East 42. East wins on criteria
Columbus vs Waterloo West
106- Mason Burr- W Forfeit
113- Gavin Reed- W Forfeit
138- Joseph Kwofie- L Fall 1:45 to Detravion Dollen
145- Henry Erie- W Maj 11-3 over Edi Kuduzovic
152- Sam Hackett- W Fall 2:15 over Daniel Gekpoah
160- Max Magayna- W Fall 0:38 over Brandon Huitzil
170- Carson Hartz- W Dec 7-1 over Kedrick Luogon
195- Mason Knipp- W Fall 0:33 over JaQuailyn Thomas
220- Connor Knudtson- W Fall 0:35 over Drew Hundley
Final Score Columbus 43- Waterloo West 36
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