Lynx have their hands full with Gaels, still prevail in wrestling opener

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Webster City 44, St. Edmond 24

160-Cody Crouch (WC) pinned Dillon Nelson, 3:56; 171-David Lindner (SE) dec. Jacob Bullock, 8-3; 189-Garrett Johnson (WC) forfeit; 215-Ben Kraayenbrink (SE) pinned Justin Crouch, 1:20; 285-Kit Paper (WC) forfeit; 103-Lance Maguire (SE) pinned Avery Jackson, 0:56; 112-Trey Flatgard (SE) dec. Jacob Johnson, 9-8; 119-Tyler Raygor (WC) tech. fall Patrick Oberg, 3:10; 125-Tyler Patten (WC) forfeit; 130-Royce Nessa (WC) forfeit; 135-Teddie Harvey (SE) dec. Joey Powers, 9-4; 140-Mason Waddell (SE) dec. Eric Tolle, 4-0; 145-Josh Graves (WC) dec. Patrick Crimmins, 8-7; 152-Luke Shannon (WC) pinned Joe Winge, 1:25.

FORT DODGE - The scoreboard told one story here Thursday evening, but the action inside the circle on the mat told an entirely different one.

If you just look at the score then you may think that the Webster City wrestling team owned St. Edmond following a 44-24 victory in the opening North Central Conference dual of the season for both teams. But dig deeper and you'll realize that 24 of the Lynx points came courtesy of four forfeits and that the Gaels actually held the advantage in mat victories, 6-4.

So does Webster City head coach Ted Larson feel fortunate to pick up the win? You bet.

"Hey, I'm not taking anything away from St. Edmond and (head coach) Jimmy (Allison)," Larson said. "If they have a full lineup, that dual could be a lot different and we're aware of that. So I'm not getting too excited about this win."

The four free wins, along with a pair of falls and one technical fall allowed Webster City to build up 20 bonus points. The Lynx never trailed in the dual - St. Edmond was able to tie it at one point after seven weights, but never went in front - and Cody Crouch started them on their journey with a fall in 3 minutes, 56 seconds over the Gaels' Dillon Nelson at 160 pounds.

It was seven weights later when Webster City next picked up a win on the mat, and by that time the score was deadlocked at 18. Senior 119-pounder Tyler Raygor utilized his bread-and-butter move - the fireman's carry - to score five takedowns in a second-period technical fall victory over Patrick Oberg.

Josh Graves (145) and Luke Shannon (152) closed out the dual with back-to-back wins for the Lynx. Graves held off Patrick Crimmins, 8-7, and Shannon dismantled Joe Winge before pinning him in 1:25.

"Overall I was happy with our effort," Larson said. "I thought we wrestled aggressive, intense and physical, but we made some mistakes and that's part of it when it's the first dual."

Larson was particularly pleased with the performances of two of his grapplers that came out on the short end of the stick. Freshman Avery Jackson didn't back down against two-time state qualifier Lance Maguire, a senior, at 103 and Jacob Johnson lost by the slimmest of margins, 9-8, to Trey Flatgard at 112.

"I was really happy with Avery at 103 going against Maguire," Larson said. "He got in on a nice shot, he was aggressive and he didn't fear him. And Jacob Johnson came out of his shell and he showed more fight than I ever knew he had."

Still, there were other situations where all Larson could do was shake his head.

"We had a couple of matches that we didn't stay in mentally for six minutes and that's something we've got to work on," he said. "We have to stay tough no matter what the score is."

St. Edmond stayed away from several of the Lynx premier wrestlers. Third-ranked (Class 2A) 125-pound junior Tyler Patten and sophomore 130-pounder Royce Nessa both received forfeit wins. Garrett Johnson (189) and Kit Paper (285) picked up the other two.

With the first dual now out of the way, Webster City will now turn its attention to the first tournament of the season. That will come on Saturday when the Lynx take part in the Dallas Center-Grimes Invitational in Grimes.