Indians fall to La Crescent...

Waukon's wrestling squad ended the 2004-05 regular season with a trio of duals in just two days. Thursday, Feb. 3, the Indians suffered a 51-19 loss in their final home meet of the year to La Crescent. Friday, Feb. 4, the Tribe redeemed itself with a couple of sizeable road wins. Waukon downed Postville, 51-21, and defeated Valley by a 43-26 count.
Overall, the Indians finished the season with a 9-7 mark in dual action. Overall, the Indians took fifth in the Northeast Iowa Conference with a 2-4 record.

vs. La Crescent...
Thursday, Feb. 3, the Waukon wrestling squad hosted La Crescent for nonconference action. The visiting Lancers handed the Tribe a tough 51-19 loss.
Junior Kale McCormick picked up Waukon's first win, receiving a forfeit at 275 and pulling his team within a single point of La Crescent, 7-6.
From then on, the Lancers began to pull away. Junior 119-pounder Andrew Schulte scored a 14-3 major decision and sophomore Luke Jones pinned Ben Kendhammer in 3:22 in the 130-pound bout, but the Indians still trailed, 25-16.
The Lancers swept nearly all of the remaining six matches, although freshman Joe Hilleshiem secured a 6-0 decision at 160.
"I like wrestling La Crescent," said Waukon coach Greg Adams. "They're a tough team and they proved that Thursday."
One of the top reasons the Indian coach was glad to match talents with the Lancers was simple. His charges could get in some tough matches without worrying about postseason seedings. "We need some tough matches at this time of year that don't carry sectional or district implications," Adams explained. "I just hope that didn't cause us to overlook anyone. I think we could've wrestled closer in a couple matches."
Complete varsity results against La Crescent are as follows:
189 - Junior Stephen Swart lost a 16-6 major decision to Jim Breuer. (0-4)
215 - Sophomore Sean Rea lost a 4-2 decision to Sam Meyer. (0-7)
275 - Junior Kale McCormick received a forfeit. (6-7)
103 - La Crescent received a forfeit. (6-13)
112 - Freshman Nick Howe lost by fall to Jared Ross. (6-19)
119 - Junior Andrew Schulte won a 14-3 major decision over Cole Gibson. (10-19)
125 - Freshman Matt McMillan lost by fall to Brandon Schiege. (10-25)
130 - Sophomore Luke Jones pinned Ben Kendhammer in 3:22. (16-25)
135 - Junior Ryan Berns lost by 21-6 technical fall to Aaron Schaitel. (16-30)
140 - Freshman Frank Weymiller was pinned by Levon Mueller. (16-36)
145 - Junior Mason Berns was pinned by Chris Mueller. (16-42)
152 - Junior Derek Wicks lost a 10-6 decision to Brent Thesing. (16-45)
160 - Freshman Joe Hilleshiem won a 6-0 decision over Dan Summerfield. (19-45)
171 - Sophomore Matt Tobin lost by fall to Dan Schulte. (19-51)

Junior varsity...
Waukon's junior varsity corps only wrestled a handful of matches with the Lancers.
Junior Nathan Jones (145) and freshman Jimmy Larson (152) both scored wins via fall.
Larson also came up on the short end of a 12-3 major decision and sophomore Danny Heffern (135) was pinned.

Double dual at Postville...
Thankfully, the Indians had a chance to finish the season with a win Friday, Feb. 4, as the Tribe traveled to Postville for a double dual with Postville and Valley. Waukon handed the Pirates a 51-21 loss in the night's opening dual. Later, the Indians handed the Tigers a 43-26 loss to round out the year with a win.

vs. Postville...
Adams hoped his team would respond positively after suffering the loss to La Crescent just the night before. "We challenged the guys to come out more aggressively than they did the night before and they did. They looked really good."
Clutching a win was of great importance, the coach added. "At this time of the season, it's important to rebound after our loss to La Crescent," he said. "It's also nice to own the county rivalry, too."
Early in the meet, the score was tight. Schulte picked up a forfeit at 119 to knot the tally at 6-6.
Postville secured back to back wins at 125 and 130, but junior Ryan Berns pinned Chris Zuercher in 2:59 to pull the Tribe within three, 15-12.
Junior Nathan Jones put the Indians back on top with a pin over Cory Miner in the 140-pound bout.
Juniors Mason Berns and Derek Wicks added to the pin parade with wins by fall at 145 and 152 and Hilleshiem scored an 8-0 major decision at 160 to spread the Tribe's gap to 19.
"Ryan and Nathan probably had the biggest wins of the night. Ryan pinned one of Postville best wrestlers and Nathan beat a quality wrestler for a big win, too," Adams mentioned. "Joe also had a big win. He's been filling in well at 160, which can be a tough spot for a freshman."
Waukon's heavy weights cleaned up well, with junior Stephen Swart winning a major decision at 189, sophomore Sean Rea receiving a forfeit at 215, and junior Kale McCormick posting a pin at 275 to ensure the Tribe a hefty win.
Complete varsity results against Valley are as follows:
103 - No match.
112 - Howe lost by fall to Kolin Berg. (0-6)
119 - Schulte received a forfeit. (6-6)
125 - McMillan was pinned by Chris Dibble. (6-12)
130 - Luke Jones lost a 14-10 decision to Sam White. (6-15)
135 - Ryan Berns pinned Chris Zuercher in 2:59. (12-15)
140 - Junior Nathan Jones pinned Cory Miner in 1:47. (18-15)
145 - Mason Berns pinned Asa Waters in :31. (24-15)
152 - Wicks pinned David Pfisters in 5:32. (30-15)
160 - Hilleshiem won an 8-0 major decision over Ethan Snitker. (34-15)
171 - Tobin lost by fall to Abe White. (34-21)
189 - Swart won a 16-6 major decision over Travis Donlon. (38-21)
215 - Rea received a forfeit. (44-21)
275 - McCormick pinned Bryan Muller in 1:28. (51-21)

vs. Valley...
Waukon's next bout was nearly a mirror image of the dual with Postville as the Indians downed Valley, 43-26.
Freshman 112-pounder Nick Howe got the ball rolling for Waukon with an 11-4 major decision. "Nick's win was a great way for him to finish out the varsity season this year. He's been having a tough time, but he never asked to wrestler JV. He's looking to score team points for us," Adams pointed out.
The Indians had to wait until 130 to get another win, this time as Luke Jones scored a 12-5 decision.
Ryan Berns put the Tribe up, 13-7, with a pin at 135.
The Indians extended their lead to ten thanks to a forfeit to Mason Berns and another pin by Wicks.
After 171, Waukon trailed, 27-26, but once again the Tribe's big guys came through. Swart, McCormick, and Rea ensured an Indian win with three consecutive pins.
"We really went out there and took care of things. We won the matches we were supposed to," Adams said.
Rea's match at 275, he said, was the most exciting bout of the evening. "Sean was losing to a much bigger heavyweight and was even in the down position. But, Sean got the reversal and pinned him," the coach noted.
Complete varsity results against Postville are as follows:
103 - No match.
112 - Howe won an 11-4 major decision over Tyler Hanson. (4-0)
119 - Schulte lost a 7-2 decision to JR Baker. (4-3)
125 - McMillan lost by fall to Alex Eischeild. (4-9)
130 - Luke Jones won a 12-5 decision over Trey Bodensteiner. (7-9)
135 - Ryan Berns pinned Andy Butikofer in :13. (13-9)
140 - Nathan Jones was pinned by Chris Wander. (13-15)
145 - Mason Berns received a forfeit. (19-15)
152 - Wicks pinned Doug Fleener in 3:19. (25-15)
160 - Hilleshiem was pinned by Jacob Larson. (25-21)
171 - Tobin lost by 16-0 technical fall to Matt Frieden. (25-26)
189 - Swart pinned Cody Steffens in 1:12. (31-26)
215 - McCormick pinned Mason Havenstrite in 1:03. (37-26)
275 - Rea pinned Steven Lane in 2:32. (43-26)

Junior Varsity..
The Indians' junior varsity squad saw limited action against both Postville and Valley with just six JV matches contested in the duals.
Against Postville, Danny Heffern scored a pin at 140 while Josh Brink (189) lost by fall and Logan Doeppke (215) dropped a decision.
Against the Tigers, Frank Weymiller (135) and Zach Howe (275) won by fall while Derek Drew was pinned at 125.
Varsity wrestlers will begin their quest for a berth in the state tournament this Saturday, Feb. 12 with sectional tournament action at New Hampton. Wrestling begins at noon with the Indians facing grapplers from Charles City, Crestwood, New Hampton, Osage, and Sumner-Fredricksburg. First and second place finishers advance to the Feb. 19 district tournament at Upper Iowa University in Fayette, which also begins at noon. Other squads in the Tribe's district are Denver, Dyersville Beckman, Independence, MFL-MarMac, North Fayette, and Oelwein.
Adams said, "We should be well-prepared. We came off a full week of wrestling and I know the guys are looking forward to Saturday."