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Assumption wrestlers complete turnaround

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By Christopher Maloney | Sunday, February 03, 2008 | No comments posted

WILTON, Iowa — After completing the 2006-2007 season regular season with a 1-12, record, the Assumption wrestling team turned things around in a big way this year.

Not only did the Knights improve to 16-2 overall, they also won the Iowa Class 2A Wrestling Sectional at Wilton High School on Saturday.

In the process, eight Knights advanced to next weekend’s district tournament at Anamosa, Iowa. Assumption scored 237 points Saturday to also advance to Tuesday’s team dual regionals against Mt. Vernon.

Wilton finished with 179.5, Camanche had 118, and North Cedar finished with 105.

Wilton was second in advancing individuals with six wrestlers moving on, however, while DeWitt advanced five.

Six Knights won their sectional titles while two placed second to advance to districts.

The six victors were: Bradley McDermott (103), Landon Williams (125), Brody Grothus (130), Willie Argo (189), Drew Sheeder (215) and Andrew Bush (285).

Freshman Tommy Argo and Sam Gervase were Assumption’s second-place finishers.

“It has felt really great winning this year,” senior Willie Argo (35-0) said. “It was great watching my team go out there confident they could compete and win. I have enjoyed it a lot.”

Knights coach Pete Bush said what his team has accomplished this year has left him speechless.

“Words can’t do enough to share how I feel about this team,” he said. “It is all about getting to state and we are one step closer to that goal. I am just so ecstatic with most of the effort put out there today and throughout the season.”

Assumption wasn’t completely unbeatable Saturday, though. Wilton junior Ryan Hand defeated Tommy Argo 13-2 to win the 140-pound class and advance.

“It felt pretty good winning the sectional title,” Hand (32-4) said. “Assumption has had a really good year with their underclassmen this year. I knew Tommy Argo would be pretty good and I would have to do things right to win.”

The Sabers had a key performance from senior T.J. Salyars at 160.

For Salyars (17-13), his 160-pound regional title marked the first tournament win of his high school career. He said his “big dog” attitude is what took him to the top Saturday.

“I’ve really struggled with keeping a mental focus when wrestling,” he said. “Today, I came here with a ‘there’s no tomorrow’ mentality and I put forth the effort I needed. I think I wrestled my two best career matches today to win this title.”

In the semifinal match, he had to survive a double-overtime to defeat Mt. Vernon’s Josh Haug 4-3. The title match was more one-sided as he defeated Wilton’s Lucas Bohnsack 11-3.

Wrestling with an ankle injury from earlier in the day, Mass squeezed out a 1-0 victory over Wilton’s Tommy Mosher.

If Mosher had won that match, Mt. Vernon’s team would have advanced to the next round.

“We lost some great kids in that some didn’t win their matches,” Sabers coach Kurt Kreiter said.

“On a positive note, this team’s finish gives those wrestlers a second chance to advance toward state. This finish today is because of the team effort those who finished fifth put forth. They still concentrated and got some points for the team, and that made a big difference with such a slim victory.”