The wrestling Jags returned to the mat after Christmas break in their first home dual of the season on Tuesday, January 6th, tangling with the Raiders of East Sac. E-Hawks of Emmetsburg, and the Hawks of South Hamilton. Over break the young Jags adjusted their line up over break resulting in the Jags being able to fill 13 out of the 14 weights. Even with an abundance of inexperience in the line up, the young Jags hammered out 2 out 3 dual meet victories. In the opening dual of the night the team wrestled aggressively against East Sac winning 57-24. In the second dual, the E-Hawks beat the Jags 52-30, and in the final contest of the night, the Jags regrouped, stepped on the offensive pedal, wrestling hard winning the dual 57-24.

Kasen Loeffler(106), Wyatt Blair(120), Keelan Wellman(126), Caden Milham(132), and Colton Haug(157) went 3-0 for the night. Josiah Hefley(113), and Colin Johnson(144) finished with two wins and Blaise Echeverria(150), Drake Nitch(165), Brock Norine(175), and Kyle Eastman(215) picked up 1 victory for the team. Eli Rude(120) won 2 matches wrestling JV and Evan Kuhn(126) notched 3 wins at the JV Level.

In a short turn around the Jags were making weight again on Thursday, January 8th at Earlham wrestling Ogden and the hosts in a triangular meet. The Jags weren’t as sharp, looking a bit tired and sluggish, took it somewhat on the chin, dropping both duals. Ogden defeated the Jags 47-29, and The Cardinals of Earlham won 59-18.

We were out physicaled by both teams. Our young guys had match ups against upperclassmen and had a hard time handling their strength and experience. Kasen Loeffler and Wyatt Blair went 2-0, Keelan Wellman, Colton Haug, Kyle Eastman, and Korbin Spangler picked up a win and Caden Milham, Chris Andrews, Colin Johnson, Drake Nitch, and Brock Norine competed for the Jags.

In the third competition of the week, the young Jags regrouped, banded together and took home the Dual Meet championship on Saturday, January 10th. The young men won four dual meets, wrestled hard and had some fun en route to the first place plaque. In the first dual the Jags wrestled a scrappy Fort Dodge JV team winning 48-32. After the win, momentum started to build as the Jags hammered Sioux City West 72-12. In the third dual right before lunch break, the Jags defeated the Gaels of St. Ed’s 57-15. After lunch, the Jags capped the undefeated day with a 60-23 win against AG-WSR going 4-0 for the day.

Josiah Hefley(113), Wyatt Blair(120), Keelan Wellman(126), Colton Haug(157), Drake Nitch(165) and Kyle Eastman(215) finished undefeated for the day. Caden Milham(132), Chris Andrews(138), Colin Johnson(144), and Korbin Spangler(285) finished 3-1 while Kasen Loeffler(106) completed his day at 2-2 and Brock Norine notched a win for the Jaguars.