Creston runner-up at Hawkeye 10 conference tournament

ATLANTIC – Atlantic/CAM, hosts of the 2021 Hawkeye 10 Conference wrestling tournament, won their first title since 2019 on Saturday.

Creston, who won the prior two titles in a row, had a back and forth battle with the Trojans all day.

With sectionals next week at Central Decatur, the setback is just a detour in the road to Creston finding success in the postseason.

“We just want to be our best next week,” Creston head coach Cody Downing said. “We’ve really picked up the training the last few days so some sore legs, some tired legs but our goal is to be the best next week.”

Atlantic/CAM defeated Creston 238-228.

“Credit to Atlantic, they did enough to beat us today,” Downing said. A lot of back and forth but we didn’t deserve to get first today, maybe this will wake our kids up.”

The Panthers had four wrestlers Lincoln Keeler (120); Austin Evans (138); Triston Barncastle (145); Max Chapman (220), in the finals.

Austin Evans (138) was the lone champion for Creston.

“He had a good day, looked good in the finals, had a good pace and that’s what his practices have looked like,” Downing said of his 138 pounder. “It seems like the guys that have really picked up the pace and the effort in the practice room are the ones that are succeeding here right now.”

Evans’ path to the title included a pin of Harlan’s Tytan Frohlich in :25, a 22-7 technical fall win over Reese Fauble of Glenwood and a 15-6 major decision over Kuemper Catholic’s Jake Irlbeck in the finals.

“I just went out there, did my thing, and I came out on top,” Evans said.

The Panthers had four wrestlers Lincoln Keeler (120); Austin Evans (138); Triston Barncastle (145); Max Chapman (220), in the finals.

“I thought we had a chance to maybe get a couple more with those other guys that were in the finals,” Downing said. “Lincoln was right there in the end, Barncastle really had a chance at the end. Maybe he can make some adjustments now, maybe learned a little bit from that match. Max has been nursing an injury. I don’t think we got him quite back to 100%. This is a good week. No duals. We’ll get our legs back fresh, injuries and wounds all healed.”

Other Panthers that placed include: Justin Parsons (106) who finished third, Christan Ahrens (113) who also finished third, Brandon Briley (126) brought home a fourth place finish, Trey Chesnut (132) finished third, Briley Hayes (152) finished fifth, William Bolinger (160) finished fourth, Kaden Street (170) finished third, Ty Morrison (182) finished fifth and Quinten Fuller (285) finished fourth.

With sectionals in Leon having Hawkeye 10 foes Atlantic, Clarinda and Shenandoah in attendance, as well as Clarke (Osceola) and Central Decatur, Downing looks forward to seeing some familiar faces.

“We’ll get to beat up on each other again,” Downing said.

Team Scores

1. Atlantic-CAM, 238; 2. Creston, 228; 3. Glenwood, 160.5; 4. Clarinda, 158.5; 5. Harlan, 149.5; 6. Kuemper Catholic, 140; 7. Lewis Central, 125; 8. Red Oak, 70.5; 9. Shenandoah, 53; 10. Denison-Schleswig, 46; 11. St. Albert, 42.

Championship Results

106: Aiden Smith, Atlantic/CAM, dec. Kaden Whipp, Clarinda, 6-1. 113: Vincent Mayberry, Glenwood, tech fall over Zach Williams, St. Albert, 17-2. 120: Riley Parkis, Kuemper Catholic, dec. Lincoln Keeler, Creston, 3-1. 126: Ethan Follmann, Atlantic, dec. Matthew Beem, Glenwood, 4-2. 132: Luke Musich, Harlan, dec. Easton O`Brien, Atlantic, 8-4. 138: Austin Evans. Creston, major dec. Jake Irlbeck, Kuemper Catholic, 15-6. 145: Kale Downey, Clarinda, dec. Triston Barncastle, Creston, 7-4. 152: Shea Parkis, Kuemper Catholic, dec. David Helton, St. Albert, 8-2. 160: Dawson Bond, Red Oak, major dec. Karson Downey, Clarinda, 10-2. 170: Kadin Stutzman, Atlantic, dec. Braylon Kammrad, Lewis Central, 8-4. 182: Zane Bendorf, Harlan, pinned Jase Wilmes, Clarinda, :46. 195: CJ Carter, Glenwood, dec. Jaxson Hildebrand, Denison-Schleswig, 5-2. 220: Cal Wanninger, Kuemper Catholic, pinned Max Chapman, Creston, 5:16. 285: Logan Green, Clarinda, dec. Sam Barrientos, Lewis Central, 5-0.