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Lake Mills competed in the 32-team Battle of Waterloo dual tournament this weekend, which brings in many of the best teams from all three classes in Iowa.

The team tied the best finish in program history (2019), by finishing 10th in the final standings.

Action began Friday afternoon with the Bulldogs taking out Pleasant Valley, 39-28, in the quarterfinals of the first day bracket.

Next up for fourth-ranked Lake Mills was Alburnett, who came in ranked No. 3 in the same class (1A). The dual did not go well, as the Pirates rolled to a 53-15 victory. In the third-place dual of the bracket, a back-and-forth victory was claimed against class 3A’s 15th-ranked Norwalk, 34-33.

“Friday was an up-and-down day for our team as we wrestled very well in our two victories and very poorly in the loss,” said coach Alex Brandenburg. “The wins were exciting duals and easily could have swung the other way, but our kids wrestled as a team and got the job done.”

For Saturday, the Bulldogs were put into a round-robin format with the three other teams who placed third in their respective brackets on Friday. The day began with another nail biter, as the squad picked up a third win over a 3A school, Ankeny, by a score of 36-34.

West Delaware, who has been a top 3 team in 2A over the last several years, was the next opponent and took down Lake Mills, 44-22.

In the final dual, a rematch of an earlier season battle with No. 5 Nashua-Plainfield ended up being the most important for the team to wrestle well. It was an exciting back-and-forth dual from the beginning, and Lake Mills won the rematch, 41-34.

During the dual, junior Hayden Helgeson got a second-period pin to earn his 100th career win.

“We are so proud of how these kids wrestled this weekend,” Brandenburg said. “It took a full team effort in all four dual victories.”

Lake Mills 39, Pleasant Valley 28
150- Cody Cox (L) dec. Camrin Rondeau, 7-1. 157- Garrett Ham (L) pinned Harrison Fierce, 2:31. 165- Beau Kaufman (L) dec. Tanner Cournyer, 8-6. 175- Josiah Kjeldahl (L) pinned Chase Cournyer, 1:38. 190- Avyn Nelson (P) tech. fall Andrew Grunhovd, 18-2. 215- Wyatt Hanna (L) dec. Nathan Musel, 8-2. 285- Cary Cox (P) pinned Jakobe Anderson, 3:32. 106- Lucas Oldenkamp (L) won by forfeit. 113- Lucas Reeder (P) won by forfeit. 120- Soren Kelsall (P) maj. dec. Carter Helgeson, 10-1. 126- Carter Seibel (P) maj. dec. Royce Peterson, 20-8. 132- Caden Ervin (P) dec. Hayden Helgeson, 7-1. 138- Landon Price (L) pinned Owen Welvaert, 1:20. 144- Steve Brandenburg (L) pinned Carson Duncan, :21.

Alburnett 53, Lake Mills 15
157- Reece Klostermann (A) maj. dec. Ham, 11-3. 165- Shayden Washburn (A) pinned Kaufman, 4:52. 175- Hunter Sauer (A) pinned Kjeldahl, 3:19. 190- River Williams (A) dec. Grunhovd, 4-2 ot. 215- Emmit Fleshman (A) dec. Hanna, 8-7. 285- Josiah Redel (A) pinned Anderson, :26. 106- Atlee Dewitt (A) dec. Oldenkamp, 6-3. 113- Clayton Strang (A) won by forfeit. 120- Rowdy Neighbor (A) pinned C. Helgeson, 1:06. 126- H. Helgeson (L) dec. JJ Callahan, 5-2. 132- Peterson (L) won by forfeit. 138- Price (L) pinned Cooper Franklin, 5:05. 144- Preston Klostermann (A) maj. dec. Brandenburg, 19-7. 150- Dawson Becker (A) pinned Austin Stene, 2:37.

Lake Mills 34, Norwalk 33
165- Kaufman (L) maj. dec. Kadan Borcherding, 18-6. 175- Tyler Stanford (N) pinned Kjeldahl, 1:32. 190- Victor Esparza (N) dec. Grunhovd, 5-1. 215- Hanna (L) dec. Harrison Tripp, 11-4. 285- Kolton Borcherding (N) pinned Anderson, 1:47. 106- Oldenkamp (L) won by forfeit. 113- Asaiah Martinez (N) won by forfeit. 120- Tyler Harper (N) pinned C. Helgeson, 1:12. 126- H. Helgeson (L) maj. dec. Aiden Moret, 8-0. 132- Peterson (L) pinned Jaxon Stoulil, 5:02. 138- Price (L) pinned Kale Wadle, :32. 144- Brandenburg (L) tech. fall Tate Turner, 18-1. 150- Liam McLaughlin (N) dec. Cox, 5-4. 157- Dominic Tigner (N) dec. Ham, 5-2.

Lake Mills 36, Ankeny 34
175- Kaufman (L) pinned Ryleigh Egeberg, 1:25. 190- Grunhovd (L) pinned Karsten Bernholtz, 1:57. 215- Hanna (L) pinned Andrew Haase, 1:09. 285- Jack Dorfler (A) pinned Anderson, 1:49. 106- Oldenkamp (L) dec. Ben Walsh, 3-2. 113- Hayden Fontana (A) won by forfeit. 120- Aiden Winkie (A) pinned C. Helgeson, 3:13. 126- Truman Folkers (A) maj. dec. H. Helgeson, 10-2. 132- Price (L) pinned Perez Perez, 4:50. 138- Brandenburg (L) pinned Brady Claeys, 1:43. 144- Skogen (L) dec. Harrison Folkers, 5-0. 150- Ben Hansen (A) pinned Stene, :14. 157- Kash Johnson (A) dec. Cox, 4-3. 165- Teagan Peiffer (A) dec. Ham, 6-4.

West Delaware 44, Lake Mills 22
190- Jeryn Funke (W) maj. dec. Grunhovd, 12-2. 215- Hanna (L) pinned Owen Pettlon, 1:31. 285- Wes Devaney (W) dec. Anderson, 5-0. 106- Oldenkamp (L) pinned Lucas Peters, :40. 113- Jarrett Engel (W) won by forfeit. 120- Brayden Maury (W) pinned C. Helgeson, 1:58. 126- H. Helgeson (L) won by forfeit. 132- Kooper Waugh (W) dec. Peterson, 10-5. 138- Jax Miller (W) dec. Price, 6-3. 144- Brandenburg (L) maj. dec. Ryan Hillby, 10-2. 150- Liam Weber (W) maj. dec. Cox, 13-3. 157- Blake Mather (W) dec. Ham, 8-5. 165- Garrison Gillihan (W) pinned Kaufman, 1:02. 175- Brent Yonkovic (W) pinned Kjeldahl, 1:22.

Lake Mills 41, Nashua-Plainfield 34
215- Aiden Sullivan (N) maj. dec. Grunhovd, 12-3. 285- Hanna (L) pinned Isaac Jones, 1:44. 106- Oldenkamp (L) pinned Connor Sullivan, :59. 113- Nic Brase (N) won by forfeit. 120- Hayden Munn (N) pinned C. Helgeson, 1:18. 126- Jayden Rinken (N) pinned Peterson, 3:58. 132- H. Helgeson (L) pinned Jonathon O’Neill, 3:38. 138- Price (N) maj. dec. Tyler Zimmer, 12-2. 144- Brandenburg (L) dec. Devon Blanchard, 6-3. 150- Cox (L) maj. dec. Aiden Gelner, 14-6. 157- Jackson Carey (N) pinned Stene, 2:47. 165- Ham (L) pinned Dylan Blanchard, 2:48. 175- Kaufman (L) pinned Dalton Downing, 5:45. 190- Tate White (N) pinned Ethan Lawson, 1:23.