“From The Mat” High School Wrestling Report From The Weekend

Business has certainly picked up for high school wrestling programs in the area. This past weekend saw various area programs in action. Teams and individual wrestlers are looking to find their peak performance as the postseason draws closer.

Fort Dodge wrestling finished 5th at the Benton Van Horne Invitational on Saturday. Drake Ayala took the gold at 126. Kody Cook got silver at 160. Dru Ayala at 106 and Lane Cowell at 120 both had bronze finishes. Ben Egli at 182 and Damarion Ross at 132 finished 5th. Freshman Kane Butrick was 7th at 113.

St. Edmond female wrestler Elly Berry had a tremendous performance Saturday at a tournament in Ogden. Berry went 3-0, with all of her wins coming via fall. She claimed the title in her division at the event.

Southeast Valley took 2nd place at the St. Edmond Duals over the weekend. The Jags fell in the finals after getting wins over Roland-Story, Fort Dodge JV, St. Edmond and AGWSR. For St. Edmond, Ronnie Orres and Tyler Rossmanith had two pin fall wins on the day. St. Edmond was without standout Ryan Duckett due to injury. For Southeast Valley, Lathe Muench, Aaron Graves and Zack Miller all went unbeaten on the day.

Alpha Media Fort Dodge plans to have postseason wrestling coverage beginning Feb. 6th with 1A Sectionals. Then continuing Feb. 13th with 1A and 3A Districts (Fort Dodge has been selected as a host site once again for a 3A District) and finishing with the State Tournament Feb. 18th-20th from Des Moines. Stay tuned for more announcements in the coming weeks regarding postseason wrestling.