Area wrestlers compete at Iowa state tournament
Published 4:00 am Monday, February 23, 2015
Three area wrestlers competed at the Class 1A state wrestling tournament Thursday and Friday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, according to a press release.
Brady Schmidt and Andrew Olsen of Lake Mills finished with a 1-2 record, and Northwood-Kensett’s Coleby Bratrud was 0-2.
Bratrud entered the tournament with a 51-1 record. His only loss was in the district meet against Clarion-Goldfield’s Brady Brott, who finished fourth at state.
Schmidt and Olsen both opened with first-round victories. Schmidt beat Rogan Pforts of Wapello 8-7 at 152 pounds, and Olsen pinned fifth-ranked Hunter Johnston of Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont at 195.
“Both wrestlers did a nice job securing wins to stay on the front side of the bracket going into Friday,” said Lake Mills coach Alex Brandenburg. “We knew going in that it’s tough to place if you lose first round.”
In the quarterfinals, both wrestlers lost with close decisions, which would have placed them in the top six placewinners.
Schmidt held a one point lead over eventual fourth-place finisher Dakota Drenth of Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn with 30 seconds to go. Drenth scored a takedown to go up by one, but Schmidt escaped and appeared to tie the match.
“We thought Brady had tied the match but Drenth was awarded a point for Brady grabbing the singlet,” Brandenburg said. “It was unfortunate that a call like that decided a match of that magnitude.”
Soon after Schmidt lost the 4-3 match, Olsen lost a close quarterfinal match against Clayton Juhl of North Cedar.
Both Lake Mills wrestlers took early leads in their next matches. Schmidt led East Mills’ Josh Hopkins 4-2 with 10 seconds left when
Hopkins took Schmidt down to his back securing 4 points as time ran out. Hopkins went on to place sixth.
Olsen led Tyler Larson of Nashua-Plainfield 2-0 in the second period when the two got into a scramble. When Olsen was about to get a reversal and back points to grab a commanding 7-0 lead, Larson rolled him through to get two back points of his own to tie it. Larson went on to get a reversal in the last period and win 5-4 to eliminate Olsen from the tournament. Larson went on to place fifth.
The losses ended the career for Schmidt and Olsen, a pair of four-year starters who combined to win 268 matches.
“I can’t think of a more stable duo of wrestlers to have,” Brandenburg said. “Brady and Andrew are not only great wrestlers but outstanding young men who were good leaders. Their stability will be very hard to replace.”
Schmidt and Olsen led the Bulldogs to 30 dual wins, a No. 8 Class 1A dual ranking and the regional dual finals, Brandenburg said. In the last four years, the duo helped Lake Mills compile a 100-26 dual record.