January 28, 2025

Panthers take fourth at John J. Harris

Ben James makes 113 finals

By LARRY PETERSON
The Creston team is shown after receiving the fourth-place trophy at the John J. Harris Invitational. The Panthers had five medalists.

The Creston team is shown after receiving the fourth-place trophy at the John J. Harris Invitational. The Panthers had five medalists. (Larry Peterson)

CORNING — Creston used scoring power in the consolation rounds to snare one of the four team trophies at the 70th annual John J. Harris Invitational.

Freshman Ben James, runner-up at 113 pounds, was Creston’s lone finalist as the Panthers scored 125.5 points and finished without an individual champion for the first time since 2005.

Other placewinners were Lane Travis (132) and Weston Trapp (175) each in third place; Gunner Martwick (215) fourth place; and Kylen Parsons (120) fifth place. Brodrick Phelps (138) Jackson Pettegrew (157), Nate Bentley (165) each won second-round consolation matches Saturday afternoon in the two-day tournament, but came up one victory short of placing.

“We don’t want to get used to fourth place trophies, but for this group with 11 new starters and five freshmen in the lineup, that’s probably a pretty good accomplishment,” Creston boys wrestling coach Cody Downing said. “Shenandoah had two finalists who score a lot of bonus points, so we thought they’d be right there. We had a better consolation round, and getting Ben James into the finals helped. It also helped that Parsons, Travis and Trapp ended up with bonus points in their consolation matches.”

Atlantic wins title

Atlantic captured its eighth John J. Harris title and first since 2019 with 220 points, nearly a 20-point margin over runner-up Winterset. Creston, Atlantic and Winterset have won all of the championship trophies since that Trojan victory six years ago.

Four of Atlantic’s five finalists were champions — Keaton Schroeder (106), Collin Harris (113), Aiden Smith (138) and Kalvin Hayes (144). Coached by former Nodaway Valley coach Tim Duff, a total of 11 Trojans were medalists. Undefeated heavyweight Evan Sorensen was pinned by top-ranked Jaydn Cooper of Winterset in the finals.

“Atlantic has a lot of depth,” Downing said. “Anytime you get five guys in the finals you’re going to be tough to beat. We left a lot of points on the table. We just need to do some little things to finish some consolation matches that we were leading in. I told the guys afterward, third place wasn’t out of reach for us.”

Shenandoah finished 8.5 points behind Creston for the final team trophy.

Ben James of Creston works from the top position against Atlantic's Collin Harris in the 113-pound championship match. Harris won a 9-0 major decision after James won by two pins and a 7-1 decision on his way to the finals.

Ben James of Creston works from the top position against Atlantic's Collin Harris in the 113-pound championship match. Harris won a 9-0 major decision after James won by two pins and a 7-1 decision on his way to the finals. (Larry Peterson)

All five of Creston’s placewinners finished above their seedings, which was a key in surpassing Shenandoah. James was seeded sixth at 113 pounds and upset No. 3-seeded Nate Edmonds of Washington in the semifinals by a 7-1 decision, before pinning Earlham’s Konner Keller in the semifinals. Atlantic sophomore Collin Harris blanked James in the championship round, 9-0.

“Harris has wrestled a lot of varsity Atlantic,” Downing said. “Last time it was a tech fall and this time a major. He’s closing the gap. Ben has been a great story for us. He comes in the room and works hard. He’s been a leader of that freshman class.”

Downing praised the two-day effort of his young squad.

Gunner Martwick of Creston (top) looks to turn Seth Vanderlinden of Winterset during their third-place match at 215 pounds. Vanderlinden won by a fall in 5:20.

Gunner Martwick of Creston (top) looks to turn Seth Vanderlinden of Winterset during their third-place match at 215 pounds. Vanderlinden won by a fall in 5:20. (Larry Peterson)

“All of our guys who medaled wrestled above their seed,” Downing said. “Travis was the five seed and placed third. His only loss was to the No. 1 seed (Washington’s second-ranked Aaron Boone) in the semifinals. We moved Trapp to 175 for this weekend and had freshman Nate Bentley in at 165 for us. Trapp was seeded sixth and placed third, wrestling up a weight. It was a great tournament for Gunner Martwick and he was leading in the third-place match. He was also seeded sixth. Gunner is really starting to believe in himself and could do some things down the stretch. Parsons was seeded seventh and finished fifth in a loaded 120 class. It’s tough to place in this tournament.”

Creston's Kylen Parsons works for nearfall points during his fifth-place match against Chase Slaybaugh of AC/GC. Parsons won by a fall in 3:30.

Creston's Kylen Parsons works for nearfall points during his fifth-place match against Chase Slaybaugh of AC/GC. Parsons won by a fall in 3:30. (Larry Peterson)

Creston is at the Lewis Central quadrangular Thursday before Saturday’s Hawkeye Ten Conference tournament at Denison.

Two Lenox champs

Lenox placed sixth with 95.5 points and two champions in Dylan Stein (150) and Chase England (157). It was Stein’s third John J. Harris title.

Dylan Stein of Lenox (top) and Winterset's Jax Jensen are airborne during one of Stein's takedowns in his 7-3 championship victory at 150 pounds.

Dylan Stein of Lenox (top) and Winterset's Jax Jensen are airborne during one of Stein's takedowns in his 7-3 championship victory at 150 pounds. (Larry Peterson)

Nodaway Valley, participating without No. 1-ranked heavyweight Trent Warner and one other regular, ended up eighth with 88 points. Ashton Honnold, defending state 1A champion and ranked No. 1, cruised to his second Harris crown at 215 pounds.

Mount Ayr’s Brock Shaha, ranked fifth at 126 pounds in Class 1A, won his first Harris title at 120 pounds by pinning Earlham’s Max Millage in the finals. Shaha won a 1-0 semifinal battle over Matt Genobana of Centerville.

Team scoring — 1. Atlantic 220; 2. Winterset 200.5; 3. Riverside 157; 4. Creston 125.5; 5. Shenandoah 117; 6. Lenox 95.5; 7. Washington 89; 8. Nodaway Valley 88; 9. Missouri Valley 82; 10. Centerville 81; 11. Earlham 80; 12. Red Oak 65.5; 13. Wayne 59.5; 14. Central Decatur 55.5; 15. Mount Ayr 54.5; 16. Panorama 53.5; 17. AC/GC 52.5; 18. Clarinda 52; 19. Tri-Center 37; 20. Clarke 27; 21. Griswold 20; 22. Southwest Valley 18; 23. Bedford 14; 24. Denison-Schleswig 13; 25. CAM 12; 26. Southwest Iowa 3.

106 — 1. Keaton Schroeder (Atl) pinned Cade Harlan (Wint), 4:18; 3. Joseph Schrieber (Wash) pinned Izic Zarate (RO), 1:17; 5. Josh Nelson (NV) pinned Tucker Olsen (T-C), 1:00.

113 — 1. Collin Harris (Atl) major dec. Ben James (Crest), 9-0; 3. Sebastia Brooks (Wint) major dec. Kingston Kerrigan (Riv), 20-9.

120 — Brock Shaha (MA) pinned Max Millage (Earl), 1:05; 3. Braxton Haas (Atl) dec. Matt Genobana (Cent), 3-0; 5. Kylen Parsons (Crest) pinned Chase Slaybaugh (AC/GC), 3:30.

126 — 1. Dallas Canoyer (Earl) dec. Davis Bramman (Riv), 9-4. 3. Owen Becerra (MV) by medical forfeit over Kayin Steeve (NV); 5. Landon Hagen (Atl) tech fall Bryson Martin (MA), 6:00 (18-3).

132 — 1. Aaron Boone (Wash) major dec. Drew Anderson (Riv), 12-0. 3. Lane Travis (Crest) by medical forfeit over Jayse Jensen (Wint).

138 — 1. Aiden Smith (Atl) dec. Kyler Sandholm (RO), 5-1. 3. Anthony Knott (Cent) dec. Kaciyn Watson (CD), 9-8.

144 — 1. Kalvin Hayes (Atl) dec. Tuylly Wood (Way), 6-4. 3. Cord Hamilton (CD) major dec. Cole Scamman (Shen), 13-3.

150 — 1. Dylan Stein (Len) dec. Jax Jensen (Wint), 7-3. 3. Austin Henderson (Way) pinned Jaxon Gordon (Riv), 5:10.

157 — 1. Chase England (Len) tech fall Taven Moore (Riv)m, 3:26 (17-1). 3. Gabe Wagner (Pan) pinned Dreven Smith (Atl), 1:20.

165 — 1. Jacob McGargill (Shen) tech fall Kahne Kiburz (Wint), 4:12 (21-4). 3. Jeff Roswe (Riv) dec. Blaine Rees (Wash), 10-3.

Creston's Weston Trapp (top) works for nearfall points against Bowen Tradlock of Winterset in their consolation semifinal match. Trapp won by a technical fall on the way to placing third for the Panthers.

Creston's Weston Trapp (top) works for nearfall points against Bowen Tradlock of Winterset in their consolation semifinal match. Trapp won by a technical fall on the way to placing third for the Panthers. (Larry Peterson)

175 — 1. A.C. Roller (Riv) dec. Dominick Polsley (Clar), 11-5. 3. Weston Trapp (Crest) pinned Caleb Christensen (NV), 4:20. 5. Brandon Collier (MA) major dec. Bowen Tadlock (Wint), 12-4.

190 — 1. Jayden Dickinson (Shen) major dec. Brian Snyder (Cent), 17-8. 3. Jordan Martin-England (Len) pinned Donovan Hedrington (Atl), 1:57.

215 — 1. Ashton Honnold (NV) tech fall Mason Nally (Clar), 4:51 (19-4). 3. Seth Vanderlinden (Wint) pinned Gunner Martwick (Crest), 5:20.

285 — 1. Jaydn Cooper (Wint) pinned Evan Sorensen (Atl), 3:07. 3. Vinny Zappia (MV) dec. RJ Dishong (Griswold), 4-2.

Larry Peterson

LARRY PETERSON

Former senior feature writer at Creston News Advertiser and columnist. Previous positions include sports editor for many years and assistant editor. Also a middle school basketball coach in Creston.