Creston wrestling puts bow on season

Creston wrestling finalized the 2021-2022 season inside the commons of Creston Community High School Tuesday night with a banquet.

“We didn’t really know what our season expectations were, we knew we had some kids coming back with a lot of experience but we also graduated a great class last year,” Creston head coach Cody Downing said. “There were a lot of unknowns, but at camp I thought we showed we could be a good team but we’d also have a lot of kids in the lineup who didn’t have JV or Varsity experience at all.”

The Panthers had a 19-1 dual record including wins at the following invitationals: Dallas-Center Grimes, Riverside, Ft. Dodge Don Miller, Cresco “Flanagan”, Creston Panther and John J. Harris.

Creston won the Hawkeye 10 dual chapionships, were runner-up at the Hawkeye 10 tournament and the team qualified for the regional duals.

“We beat some really good teams this year,” Downing said. “We had some great moments. Started out the year with a win against Winterset people didn’t think we’d get, we beat Atlantic, we knocked off Logan-Magnolia who was at the state duals, we beat Humboldt who was in the state duals two out of the last three years or something like that.”

A septet of seniors were honored, Justin Parsons, Triston Barncastle, Briley Hayes, Chris Wells, Chris Wilson, Tyson Smith and Andre Davis.

“I’ve said this every year at banquet that when these guys were eighth graders, you need to look out for this kid and this kid,” Downing said. “None of them stuck with it. They stuck it out. It’s a hard sport. It’s going to make you better in life, it’s going to make you a better worker, it’s going to make you a better worker, a better father, a better husband down the road, a better citizen. This group I 100% believe is better for having the last four years. I know for a fact that every single one of them has hated me at times, maybe some still do, but they’ll get over it. Here they are four years later. We don’t get to state duals last year without this group.”

Creston had 10 wrestlers qualify for districts, and a trio of grapplers, Austin Evans, Triston Barncastle and Quinten Fuller, advanced to state.

Savannah Sistad, Creston’s first girls state wrestling champion, was also honored.

“I think the foundation and the plan for girls wrestling in Creston was cemented by what Savannah did,” Downing said. “The recognition she brought to Creston and the recognition she brought to girls wrestling this year.. She’s been compared a lot to boys because I don’t have another girl to compare her to, that’s probably not fair at times. There are talks to sponsor a team. This time next year could look a lot different. They’re having those talks way above me, so we’ll see where that goes.

Triston Barncastle led the Panthers with 40 wins. Christian Ahrens and Justin Parsons each had 22 points which led Creston.

Austin Evans had three technical falls to be at the top of the leaderboard for the Panthers. Christian Ahrens led the Panthers in two-point near falls with 15 and Barncastle led the three-point near fall category with 21.

Brandon Briley led the way with 26 reversals and Trey Chesnut led with 56 escapes.

Postseason awards

Letterwinners — Seniors: Justin Parsons (4), Triston Barncastle (4), Briley Hayes (4), Chris Wilson (4), Chris Wells (3), Tyson Smith (1), Andre Davis (1). Juniors: Owen Henderson (3), Carter Henderson (3), Trey Chesnut (3), Kaden Street (3), Chris Aragon (3), Ty Morrison (3), Austin Seaton (3). Sophomores: Brennan Hayes (2), Jagger Luther (2), Austin Evans (2), Wil Bolinger (2), Quinten Fuller (2), Lincoln Keeler (2), Max Chapman (2), Christian Ahrens (2), Brandon Briley (2), Gavin Bolton (2), Gavin Evans (1), Boone Pryor (1), Carson Rieck (1), Wyatt Barber (1), Savannah Sistad (1), Milo Staver (1). Freshman: Tyson Looney (1), Luke Travis (1).

Participation awards – Sophomore: Brice Hull. Freshman: Will Stuart, Jarrett Miller, Stephen Sistad, Tristan Evans, Camden Smith.

Manager letterwinners — Seniors: Macy Wiley, Kate Foglesong, Jalyn Klejch. Junior: Jenna Busch. Freshman: Mila Kuhns.

State qualifier certificates — Austin Evans, Triston Barncastle, Quinten Fuller.

Hardest Worker Award – Austin Evans.

Best Teammate Award – Kaden Street.

Most Improved Wrestler Award – Quinten Fuller.

Hawkeye 10 Academic All-Conference Award — Briley Hayes, Chris Wells, Chris Wilson, Tyson Smith, Macy Wiley.

Team Captain Awards — Justin Parsons, Triston Barncastle, Briley Hayes, Chris Wells, Chris Wilson, Andre Davis, Tyson Smith.

2022 Coaches Awards — Quinten Fuller, Austin Evans, Trey Chesnut, Wil Bolinger, Andre Davis, Owen Henderson, Carter Henderson and Justin Parsons.

Mike Abel Outstanding Wrestler Award – Triston Barncastle.