Indian wresters send Gall out a winner in final home dual
The Clarke wrestling team had only one chance to win a home dual this season for retiring long-time coach Rod Gall. The Indians didn’t let that chance slip away.
The Indians hosted South Central Conference rival Davis County Thursday night in Osceola and drilled the Mustangs, 55-20, to finish the season with an 8-3 overall and 2-3 SCC record.
Barring a trip to the Class 2A Regional Duals, Gall closes out his 24-year career with a stellar 242-109-2 record.
“I thought it would be a pretty close dual, because Davis County came close to Chariton and Centerville,” Gall said. “But they did have a kid out of their lineup.
“I thought it was fun, because all the kids wrestled hard, win or lose, and wrestled with a lot of heart. It was fun to win the last one.”
The meet started at 130, where Clarke’s Isaac Bair won by forfeit for a quick 6-0 lead. Austin Irving used a double arm bar to turn Clint Foster for the pin at 135 for a 12-0 Clarke advantage. A Mustang pin at 140 cut the Indian lead in half and a 10-1 major decision by Zach Fligg made it a tight 12-10 dual.
It was all Clarke after that.
Colton Rowley decked his Mustang opponent at 152 in 5:37 and Ryan Harmsen picked up a 7-1 win at 160, for a 21-10 lead. It was 27-10 after Caleb DeVore won by forfeit at 171. Davis County won by major decision at 189, but back-to-back-to-back pins by Sam Fotiadis (1:36) at 215, heavyweight Tony Saucedo (26 seconds) and Chasen Selsor (19 seconds) at 103 gave the Indians a 45-14 lead.
The Indians forfeited at 112, but closed out the final home dual for Gall in style with a 52-second pin by Jesse Gilbert at 119 and an 18-4 major decision by Logan Weers at 125.
Clarke traveled to Fairfield Saturday for the 13-team Southern Iowa Classic. It was rough going, as the Indians finished 12th with 67.5 points.
Saucedo was the lone finalist for the Indians, as he pinned his first two foes in 1:11 and 2:18. In the title bout, the Indians dropped a 4-2 decision to Tyler McDonald of Washington to take the silver.
“The kid is not that big, he just kept coming and coming at Tony and never quit,” Gall said. “I feel pretty good about how he’s wrestling right now, but he still needs to pick it up and get more aggressive before Saturday.”
The Indians travel to Albia for a Class 2A Sectional Tournament Saturday at noon.
Tannor Schuldt also had a solid day at 140, with a third-place finish. After losing a 9-8 decision in his first match, the Indian rallied to win four matches in a row for the bronze medal. Including in that 4-0 stretch were a pair of pins and a 10-8 victory over Jeremaih Garber of Davis County, who pinned Schuldt two nights earlier in the dual.
Harmsen placed fifth at 160 after dropping a tough 3-1 overtime decision to Randy Armstrong of Eddyville-Blakesburg in the semifinals. Selsor finished sixth at 103, as did Weers at 125. Chance Schuldt was seventh at 145, while eighth-place finishers were Bair at 130, Rowley at 152 and 189-pounder Juan Vargas. Bair was injured early in the tournament and decided to default to eighth place rather than risk further injury with Sectionals a week away.
