Tempers flare in final placing match for Warhawks

OSAGE – Wrestling the final match of the day at the Top of Iowa Conference meet at Osage’s new gymnasium, a little animosity at the end was hard to miss between Central Springs’ Dalton Dewitt and Levi Janssen.

Janssen hung on for a 5-3 decision, but after the match was over, Dewitt let the frustrations of his day out and shoved and trash-talked Janssen, resulting in a team point being deducted from the Panthers.

And, of course, Janssen was hoping for better for himself, but he was stunned in the match that would have sent him to the consolation championship.

“Not the way he wanted to finish, not the finish he wanted, but at least he came out on top,” coach Jared Arbegast said of Janssen. “Heavyweight is tough in our conference, we beat the Osage kid earlier in the year, not today. We kind of lost ourselves and you’ll have that in wrestling. But, you know, he came back and for fifth-place, which is still pretty good, so hopefully he’s not satisfied with that because next week obviously is a big week and we’ve got some things to work on from there.”

Indeed, heavyweight is stacked in the TIC with the Nos. 1 and 2 wrestlers reaching the final as top-ranked heavyweight Chet Buss of North Butler-Clarksville pinned second-ranked West Hancock wrestler Chandler Redenius and earned Wrestler of the Meet as a sophomore.

The Warhawks had a wrestler in the 106-pound final, Kale Petersen, who lost by a 12-2 major decision against third-ranked (Predicament) Garret Rinken of Nashua-Plainfield. According to IAWrestle.com, Rinken is second-ranked and Petersen is No. 9.

“He’s doing well,” Arbegast said. “We’re behind the eight-ball as far as conditioning is concerned. That was something we knew was going to be an issue and he’s just got to adapt and overcome that, especially going forward. Because he’ll face him the next two weeks since he’s in our sectional and districts.

“He’s doing well, he’s not at the level he thinks he should be at. He knows that, I know that, but you come back from a knee injury as a freshman, not getting those matches early in the year, it’s a big transition, no matter how good you are at a young age.”

The only other wrestler to place for coach Arbegast’s squad was Kaden Petersen, Kale’s older brother at 126 pounds. Petersen was leading the consolation championship match, when he was injured and gave up a late fall to finish fourth. The Warhawks placed 12th in the 16-team field with 63 points. Osage won the team title with 258.5.

“Going forward, we’ll keep working on that,” Arbegast said. “His brother, Kaden, if we can clean some things up with him, he has a shot at being the best, too.”

Four others just missed reaching a placing match, including Rafe Arbegast (113), Max Heimbuch (138), Tristan Halfpop (195) and Cannon Craighton (220).

“All the guys, we’ve made some progress as far as conference tournament,” coach Arbegast said. “We had more guys wrestling longer in the day, which is as a coach of a young team, you hope for. Some of them aren’t to the level I wish they were, but they are coming. It takes time.

“Tristan Halfpop just came back, he’s been a great addition. It’s nice to have everyone at every weight class. The guys supporting each other, that’s what it’s all about.”

2020 Top of Iowa Conference Tournament

Team Scoring

1. Osage 258.5; 2. Lake Mills 214.5; 3. Nashua-Plainfield 184.5; 4. Forest City 179; 5. West Hancock 161; 6. Central Springs 143.5; 7. Eagle Grove 140.5; 8. North Butler 110.5; 9. Northwood-Kensett 83; 10. GHV 82.5; 11. St. Ansgar 78; 12. West Fork 63; 13. North Union 41; 14. Mason City Newman 15; 15. Belmond-Klemme 13; 16. Rockford 12.

West Fork results

106– Championship match, Garret Rinken (N-P) major dec. Kale Petersen 12-2.

113– Rafe Arbegast DNP.

126– Third-place match, Jimmy Gallardo (LM) pinned Kaden Petersen 5:24.

138– Max Heimbuch DNP.

160– Ki Janssen DNP.

170– Carson Nuehring DNP.

195– Tristan Halfpop DNP.

220– Cannon Craighton DNP.

285– Fifth-place match, Levi Janssen dec. Dalton Dewitt (CS) 5-3.