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Lynx pick up NCC sweep, six grapplers go 2-0

Hayes pulls upset against Lions, changes course of dual; WCHS?3-1 in NCC

ALGONA — Clear Lake had a plan, a good one at that, and it was going perfectly right up to the point that Harrison Hayes reached the third period here last night.

After that, the plan was pretty much shot.

Trailing the Lions’ Rhys Glidden 6-1 at one point during their 152-pound bout, Hayes, a Webster City senior, rallied to within one point and then pinned Glidden with just 17 seconds remaining to change the course of a North Central Conference dual that the Lynx eventually won, 39-34.

So, yeah, that nine-point swing was huge.

“That was the difference,” WCHS head coach Chad Hisler said. “That was big for him and that pretty much sealed the deal for us with (James) Cherry and (Cooper) Lawson at the end of that dual.”

WCHS opened the league triangular by knocking off host Algona, 41-30. The Lynx (5-6, 3-1 NCC) kept themselves in the hunt for the league dual title, but more importantly they started to showcase the improvements that Hisler had been hoping to see.

“We’re starting to make strides and every time out we just seem to get better,” Hisler said. “But there are still matches that I think we can do better in and there are still areas where we can improve.”

WCHS and Clear Lake split the 14 weight classes evenly, but it was a 19-13 edge in bonus points for the Lynx that made the difference.

Hayes’s pin, followed by sixth-ranked (Class 2A) Zane Williams’ fall at 170, put WCHS in front 27-25 with four matches remaining. With sixth-ranked Cherry and top-ranked Lawson to close it out, the Lynx knew they needed to just stay within 11 points.

Cherry and Lawson did their parts. Cherry tossed Dalton Mennenga to his back for the fall in 13 seconds and Lawson closed it out by decking Spencer Christensen in 55 seconds.

Chase Rattenborg (113) and second-ranked Drake Doolittle (120) put WCHS out front with back-to-back pins. Clear Lake took a gamble bumping No. 1-ranked Eric Faught (126) up a weight and the move paid off when it won both weights.

Seventh-ranked Carson Hartnett (138) gave WCHS three points with an 8-2 decision over Jackson Hamlin.

Rattenborg, Doolittle, Hartnett, Williams, Cherry and Lawson all went 2-0 on the night. Doolittle cranked out two falls that put him at 97 career victories, just three shy of becoming the Lynx 14th member of the 100-wins club. Williams also ended both matches early and he sits on 96 career victories. Hartnett, who collected a forfeit against Algona, is at 94 and Lawson, the team’s lone unbeaten grappler this season at 12-0, is up to 87.

Lawson opened his night with a statement-making 5-3 win over fourth-ranked Dominick Etherington of Algona, but the match wasn’t as close as the final score indicated. Lawson had the only two takedowns of the match and had several others waved off.

“I thought Cooper controlled that match,” Hisler said. “It’s a really small mat, so they kept going out of bounds when (Lawson) was close to a couple more takedowns.”

Reece Sadler (106), Nick Gasca (126) and Hayes all went 1-1. Sadler controlled Algona’s Evan Deal for a 10-2 major decision and Gasca stuck the Bulldogs’ Luke McKenna in 1:47.

WCHS raced out to a 23-0 lead on Algona and never trailed in the dual.

The Lynx will make the short trek to Fort Dodge on Saturday for the Don Miller Invitational, which will get underway at 10 a.m. They’ll close out the pre-Christmas portion of their schedule with a home dual against Forest City on Tuesday.

Webster City 41, Algona 30

285 — Cooper Lawson (WC) dec. Dominick Etherington, 5-3 (3-0). 106 — Reece Sadler (WC) major dec. Evan Deal, 10-2 (7-0). 113 — Chase Rattenborg (WC) major dec. Reece Eakins, 22-10 (11-0). 120 — Drake Doolittle (WC) pinned Luke McKenna, 1:47 (17-0). 126 — Nick Gasca (WC) pinned Bryce Witham, 1:27 (23-0). 132 — Hunter Berry (ALG) dec. Brady Auderer, 5-4 (23-3). 138 — Carson Hartnett (WC) forfeit (29-3). 145 — Cole Johnson (ALG) pinned Daltyn Peck (29-9). 152 — Austin Chase (ALG) pinned Harrison Hayes, 4:59 (29-15). 160 — Mitchell Priebe (ALG) pinned Carter Bedford, 2:36 (29-21). 170 — Zane Williams (WC) pinned Carter Helmers, 3:51 (35-21). 182 — Calvin Kruse (ALG) pinned Hunter Collicott, 3:57 (35-27). 195 — Cole Lewis (ALG) dec. Alex Wolfgram, 4-3, TB-1 (35-30). 220 — James Cherry (WC) pinned Noah Murphy, 0:22 (41-30).

Webster City 39, Clear Lake 34

106 — Sam Nelson (CL) pinned Sadler, 2:55 (6-0). 113 — Rattenborg (WC) pinned Conner Morey, 5:54 (6-6). 120 — Doolittle (WC) pinned Aaron Canchola, 1:41 (12-6). 126 — Brian Hillyer (CL) def. Gasca, 2-0 (12-9). 132 — Eric Faught (CL) pinned Auderer, 2:18. (15-12). 138 — Hartnett (WC) dec. Jackson Hamlin, 8-2 (15-15). 145 — Braxton Doebel (CL) major dec. Peck, 14-0 (19-15). 152 — Hayes (WC) pinned Rhys Glidden, 5:43 (21-19). 160 — Ben Finn (CL) pinned Bedford, 1:40 (25-21). 170 — Williams (WC) pinned Connor O’Tool, 1:11 (27-25). 182 — Chance Poley (CL) dec. Collicott, 7-3 (28-27). 195 — Kade Hambly (CL) pinned Wolfgram, 4:00 (34-27). 220 — Cherry (WC) pinned Dalton Mennenga, 0:13 (34-33). 285 — Lawson (WC) pinned Spencer Christensen, 0:55 (39-34).

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