Howe, Frieden have seasons and careers ended with third-place finishes at Class 2A District Tournament


End high school careers with wins for third-place finishes ... Waukon wrestling 113-pound senior Miles Howe and 182-pound senior Joe Frieden each had their high school wrestling careers come to a close with third-place finishes at the Class 2A District Tournament hosted Saturday, February 13 by Independence High School. Each split their two matches at the tournament, both being victimized by fall in their first-round matches before wrapping up their high school careers on a victorious note with wins in their final matches to claim third-place tournament finishes. Pictured at top, Howe defeated Independence sophomore Jarrett Orr, 8-5, to earn his third-place finish. Pictured at bottom, in addition to battling Dyersville Beckman senior Tyler Hirsch, Frieden also battled a bloody nose on his way to pinning Hirsch in 4:30 for his third-place finish. Photos courtesy of Nate Troy, Cresco Times-Plain Dealer.

Both end high school careers with victories in final matches

The 2015-2016 wrestling season officially came to a close for the Waukon wrestling team at the Class 2A District Tournament hosted by Independence High School Saturday, February 13, as the wrestling Tribe’s two remaining wrestlers came up just shy of the top-two finish required for advancement to this year’s State Tournament. The senior pair of 113-pounder Miles Howe and 182-pounder Joe Frieden each split two matches at the District event to have their seasons and high school careers ended with third-place tournament finishes.
Both seniors were victims of falls in their first-round District matches against champions from Sectional 10, Howe falling in 2:36 to fourth-rated freshman Riley Wright (45-3) of Denver/Tripoli and Frieden being victimized in 2:49 by senior Elliott Ryan (41-8) of Independence. To make matters worse, those two Sectional Tournament champions then went on to lose in their championship matches to claim second place and deny both Howe and Frieden any chance at a wrestleback opportunity for those Des Moines-bound runner-up placewinnings.
In the first round of the other half of each Indians’ bracket, fifth-rated sophomore Noah Fye (41-4) pinned sophomore Jarrett Orr (31-12) of Independence in 2:29 at 113 pounds, and top-rated and undefeated senior Nick Baumler (37-0) pinned senior Tyler Hirsch (26-12) of Dyersville Beckman in 1:37 at 182 pounds. After Fye defeated Wright, 5-3, in the 113-pound championship match and Baumler defeated Ryan, 9-6, in the 182-pound title bout, the senior Indian pair had their hopes of State Tournament qualification dashed.
Regardless, both Howe and Frieden did what they needed to put themselves in position for advancement should those championship matches have ended up with different results. Howe defeated Orr of Independence by an 8-5 decision in their 113-pound consolation bout, and Frieden ended up pinning Hirsch of Dyersville Beckman in 4:30. Those victories left both seniors in third place and allowed each of them to end their high school wrestling careers with victories.
The only other Indian wrestler who was on the verge of a District Tournament opportunity was senior 160-pounder Carter Fuhrman, who had his season and career ended a week earlier with a Sectional Tournament third-place finish after being forced into a wrestleback match that ended in a loss to Decorah sophomore Isaiah Mitchell. Mitchell suffered back-to-back losses at the District Tournament to be denied any chance of State Tournament advancement.
In all, 17 out of the 28 wrestlers from the Indians’ Sectional 9 Tournament earned advancement to this season’s Class 2A State Tournament. Fellow Northeast Iowa Conference teams Crestwood and New Hampton paced that charge, each advancing six wrestlers to this season’s grand finale.