Ballou earns title at Tri-Rivers Tournament

BOYS WRESTLING

   Gearing up for the district tournament, the Midland boys wrestling team traveled to North Cedar High School for the Tri-Rivers Conference Tournament on Jan. 31. Dane Ballou led the Eagles, going 3-0 to take first at 175.

   Three pins did the trick for the Midland junior. Ballou pinned North Cedar’s Bentley Hormann in 18 seconds in the quarterfinals, Walter Rogan, of North Linn, in 13 seconds in the semifinals, and Lisbon’s Ryder Meeks in one minute in the first-place match.

   Kinnick Moore went 2-2 on the evening to finish third at 106 for the Eagles. Moore topped East Buchanan’s James Manson via technical fall (23-5) in round one, then dropped his round two match to Lisbon’s Kyler Happel.

   Moore bounced back in round three with a 20-10 major decision win over Maquoketa Valley’s Nolan Lahey before falling to Starmont’s Gavin West in round four.

   Tristan Minor also finished third, going 1-2 in the round-robin bracket at 120.

   Minor fell to North Linn’s Jacob Rauch via technical fall (17-1) in round one, then to Lisbon’s Cael Stricker (tech fall 19-4) in round two. Minor ended with a win, pinning Springville’s Yosef Howard in 2:44 in round three.

   Other Eagles placings include: Raiden Cruise fourth at 285, Kolton Duffy fifth at 138, Wyatt Tracy fifth at 144, Tucker Barlow fifth at 150, Jesse King fifth at 165, Kameron Sagers fifth at 190 and Wyatt King fifth at 215.

   In a quadrangular on Jan. 29 at Bellevue, the Eagles dropped duals to the hosting Comets, 45-30, Postville, 49-30, and Clinton, 75-4.

   Against the Comets, Moore, Minor, Tracy, Barlow and Ballou each won via forfeit.

   In the loss to the Pirates, Minor pinned Michael Hill in 1:20 and Barlow notched a fall over Braylon Guese in 4:34. Wyatt Schoenherr, Jesse King and Ballou each received forfeits.

GIRLS WRESTLING

   At the Tri-Rivers Conference Tournament on Jan. 23 inside Starmont High School, the Midland girls wrestling team finished fourth in the six-team event.

   Alyssa Cruise finished first at 120, picking up two wins over North Linn’s Lucy Haughenbury. Cruise won the first-round match by decision, 16-12, before earning the fall (5:27) in round two.

   Alex Coates picked up 14 team points on the evening, going 2-1 to finish second at 100.

   Coates started off with falls over Lisbon’s Ann Maire Morgan (0:22) and Starmont’s Jacey Ryan (1:09) in the first two rounds, before falling to East Buchanan’s Lyla Stiefel in round three.

   Milee Streets also placed second, going 2-1 at 135. Streets pinned Lisbon’s Alina Mallie in 2:30 in round one before falling to East Buchanan’s Kara Knipper in round two. Streets finished off the tournament with a 17-1 technical fall win over North Linn’s Alexis Williams.

   At 130, Lily Wright received a bye in round two but dropped a 7-0 decision to Lisbon’s Abby Bock in round one and fell to North Cedar’s Tayden Thurston in round three.

   Aleesha Westphal rounded out the Eagle lineup, placing fourth at 115.

   Westphal fell to East Buchanan’s Kambria Ries in round one before falling to Lisbon’s Elli Avila and North Linn’s Addyson Ratliff in round three.

   Following the conference meet, the Eagles hosted the IGHSAU Region 5 state qualifying meet on Jan. 30.

   In Wyoming, Coates finished third, one spot off a ticket to state.

   After a pair of byes, Coates pinned Lone Tree’s Carlee Sexton in 1:19 in the quarterfinals to start the evening 1-0. Wilton’s Audrey Cummings earned the pin over Coates in the semifinals, but pins over North Tama’s Lucy Monat (4:00) and Sexton (3:52) put Coates in the second-place match. West Branch’s Sawyer Rushton pinned Coates in 3:21 to deny her trip to state.

   After a bye for Cruise at 120, a pin over West Branch’s Cameron Waters in 1:36 put her in the quarterfinals. Cruise fell to Adley Sweeting, of Highland, Riverside before winning a major decision (14-2) over Lone Tree’s Madeline Bell in the fourth round of consolations. In the fifth round of consolations, Cruise fell to Cascade’s Sophie Adams in sudden victory, 13-10.

   Westphal received a bye in round one as well but fell to Cascade’s Kinzi Martin in round two. Back-to-back byes sent Westphal into the fourth round of consolations, where she fell to Wilton’s Olivia Bliss in 1:27.

   After a pair of byes for Streets put her into the quarterfinals, she pinned Lisbon’s Alina Mallie in 1:50 to move into the semifinals. Vinton-Shellsburg’s Chloe Sanders (54-0) earned the pin over Streets in the semifinal and then Mount Vernon’s Lyla Glaza topped Streets in the consolation semifinal.