WRESTLING: Warner captures 285 title at Coach Riley

The Nodaway Valley/OM Wolverines were the highest-finishing Class 1A program at their own Coach Riley Invitational Saturday, Dec. 2 at Nodaway Valley High School.

The Wolverines were second, scoring 197 points, behind the team champion Knoxville Panthers’ 208. Knoxville is a Class 2A program.

NV/OM went toe to toe with Knoxville for much of the tournament, however the Panthers had the firepower late to make a little bit of distance.

“I’m super proud of the kids, to be honest with you. The day didn’t start out the best with a couple of guys not being very disciplined with their weight, so we made a challenge to the rest of the guys to step up,” NV/OM co-head coach Brad Honnold said. “One or two things go differently and that team title’s ours. With two starters out, what you do is you focus on what the other guys did, stepping up.”

Warner sweeps

Junior heavyweight Trent Warner was top finisher for NV/OM, winning by fall and two decisions to take the championship.

Warner, ranked eighth in Class 1A at 285, pinned Colton Miller of Pleasantville in 2:21 in the quarterfinals, Clarinda’s Bryson Harris by 4-1 decision in the next round and outlasted AHSTW’s Henry Lund 9-4 in the championship. Lund is 1A’s 10th-ranked 215-pounder.

“After Thursday’s match with [ACGC’s Payton Jacobe], I realized I needed to work more on shots and positioning. My second match is the one I was probably most proud of. I had always struggled with him, for some reason, but I took him down three or four times and that gave me quite a bit of confidence,” Warner said. “I won 9-4 in the finals. He’s a good kid. He qualified [for state] at 220 last year. There were a lot of stoppages and it was a hard-fought match for both of us.”

Steeve, Honnold second

Keyin Steeve (120) and Ashton Honnold (215) were each second place at their respective weights for NV/OM.

Steeve, ranked 10th, opened with two byes, before beating Knoxville’s Dane Gullion in the semifinals by fall in 43 seconds. 1A No. 3 Brock Shaha of Mount Ayr defeated Steeve by fall in 1:03 in the championship.

Fourth-ranked at 190 pounds, Honnold moved into the 215-pound finals by beating Lenox’s Keaton Lynn by technical fall, then Clarinda’s Mason Nally by fall in 3:53 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Honnold won by technical fall against Knoxville’s Jayden Montalvo. Clarinda’s Karson Downey, ranked third at 190 in 2A, defeated Honnold by 5-2 decision.

Other placewinners

Medals were given to top-3 finishers, however top-6 finishers were recognized on the medal stand at the conclusion of the tournament.

Seniors Bradley Gebbie (132) and Carmine Shaw (150) were each third at their weights.

Gebbie’s only loss was to Blake Rowson of Pleasantville. Shaw pinned Knoxville’s Tristan Sinnard in 1:18 in the third place match after fighting through on the back side of the bracket with a 20-15 decision over CAM’s Brentyn Hoover.

Fourth place finishers were Eli Harris (144), Caleb Christensen (165) and Dylan Bartles (190).

Harris went 3-2 on the day, with all of his wins being pins. Christensen won consecutive matches on the back side of the tournament but took a second loss for the day to Knoxville’s Kale Kincaid. Bartles finished 3-2 on the day.

Kasen Hansen (138) and Ayden Goetz (175) were each fifth. Matthew Rudolf (190) was sixth at his weight.

“The kids who were in the finals were really good and the kids who were on the back side really responded to their losses in the quarterfinals and semifinals to keep us in the team race and help us pull away from Pleasantville,” Honnold said. “It was a three-team race there for awhile. It was a two-team race between us and Knoxville, but they just had a few more irons in the fire today.”

Nodaway Valley/O-M had a meet scheduled for Thursday at Martensdale-St. Marys — a triangular with the host Blue Devils and Wayne. On Saturday the Wolverines travel to the Lenox Invitational.