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A MAT SPLIT

Lynx easily dispose of short-handed Gaels, but come up empty against No. 9 Wildcats

Webster City 132-pound sophomore Chase Rattenborg (top) elevates the head of Humboldt’s Colby Clarken after hitting a headlock throw in the opening period last night inside the WCHS gymnasium. Rattenborg won the match by fall in 1:04, but the ninth-ranked (Class 2A) Wildcats ruled the dual, 53-30. DFJ photo/Troy Banning

WEBSTER CITY — The bump game was played to near perfection and there was little that Webster City could do to combat it last night inside the WCHS gymnasium.

Ninth-ranked (Class 2A) Humboldt moved up every one of its wrestlers from 106 pounds through 170 and the decision paid off in the form of a pile of wins in a North Central Conference dual.

The Wildcats (17-1, 5-1 NCC) claimed six of the 10 bouts and five accompanied the maximum bonus points during the bumping game on their way to a 53-30 victory that clinched a share of the league dual title with Clarion-Goldfield-Dows.

“If it would have been (Humboldt’s regular lineup) I don’t know that it would have been much different,” WCHS head coach Chad Hisler said after his squad slipped to 10-9 overall and finished 4-3 in the NCC. “We have enough kids to put out there, but some of them don’t have any varsity experience.”

Injuries continue to pile up for the Lynx, who have already seen several grapplers — varsity regulars Alex Wolfgram, Hunter Collicott and Malachi Montes specifically — go down with season-ending ailments. Trey Shannon was added to that list last night, as he was forced to injury default out of his 220-pound match against Humboldt’s Colten Goodell in the second period due to a lingering knee injury that will require surgery next week. It occurred in the opening bout of the dual, an ominous sign of things to come.

WCHS 160-pounder Sean Godfredsen fires in for a takedown against St. Edmond’s Tyler Rossmanith last night. Godfredsen won by fall. DFJ photo/Troy Banning

Humboldt won nine of the 14 weights, which included a pair of forfeits. The Wildcats owned a 26-15 edge in bonus points, had 15 takedowns to 12 for WCHS, and outscored WCHS 56-38 in match points.

The Lynx led briefly, 24-23, after Nick Gasca decked Jordan Jensen in 4:56 at 138. The score was knotted at 2 after one period and 6 after two. Jensen moved ahead 7-6 early in the third on an escape, but Gasca was able to hit a takedown that put Jensen on his back for good midway through the final period.

“He’s wrestling well and he’s got a lot of potential,” Hisler said of Gasca.

But Humboldt countered with five consecutive falls to build a 53-24 lead and clinch the dual. Joey Busse, who is ranked third at 145, moved all the way up to 160 and secured a first-period fall, and one match later Levi Naeve put the dual out of reach with a pin of his own.

Seventh-ranked Caleb Olson (195) ended the run of futility for WCHS in the final match by flattening Braxden Scott in 2:35. Olson led 7-0 at the time of the fall.

WCHS second-ranked 120-pounder Drake Doolittle puts the finishing touches on a win by fall over Humboldt’s Gage Prenger last night. DFJ photo/Troy Banning

Olson pushed his career win total to 85 matches and he could potentially join the program’s 100 wins club by the end of the season.

Tenth-ranked Camron Phetxoumphone (106), second-ranked Drake Doolittle (120) and Chase Rattenborg (132) also had falls for the Lynx. Rattenborg hit a headlock throw near the edge of the mat that put Colby Clarken on his back for good midway through the first period.

WCHS opened its night by dismantling Fort Dodge St. Edmond, 78-4. The Gaels (0-14, 0-7 NCC)

put just five wrestlers on the mat and gave up nine forfeits. The Lynx won four of the matches, all by first-period fall.

Phetxoumphone, Rattenborg, Sean Godfredsen (160) and Isaac Bernard (170) all secured the quick wins. Bernard, a first-year grappler, flipped Nathan Russell onto his back and heard the slap of the mat in 1:23.

“We wrestled well in spots,” Hisler said. “We have some kids that are doing really well and we’ve got to keep pushing them to get better. Hopefully the other guys can follow their path.”

Webster City 170-pound wrestler Isaac Bernard (top) puts Fort Dodge St. Edmond’s Nathan Russell on his back during last night’s North Central Conference triangular inside the WCHS gymnasium. Bernard pinned Russell in 1:23, part of the Lynx 78-4 rout of the Gaels. DFJ photo/Troy Banning

WCHS will head to Perry on Saturday for the Blue Jay Invite that will begin at 9:30 a.m. The Lynx junior varsity squad will travel to Jefferson for a tournament that will get underway at 10 a.m.

DFJ photo/Troy Banning

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