SOUTH WAYNE - The Darlington-Black Hawk wrestling co-op won the championship in a Ridge and Valley dual wrestling tournament Saturday, Dec. 14.
Darlington-Black Hawk won five matches to win the title. Darlington-Black Hawk defeated De Soto 45-31 and knocked off Kickapoo-La Farge 57-24. Darlington-Black Hawk defeated North Crawford-Seneca 51-28 and beat River Ridge-Cassville 54-27. Darlington-Black Hawk sealed the title by knocking off Weston-Ithaca 48-26. Weston-Ithaca is ranked No. 5 in the Division 3 state poll.
"It was definitely a team effort," Darlington-Black Hawk co-coach Tom Mathias said. "Everyone went out and gave it everything they had in every match. Their goal was to win it and that is exactly what they did."
There were four wrestlers for Darlington-Black Hawk who went 5-0 including Caleb Novack (113 pounds), Jared Pickett (120), senior Dakota Meier (152) and senior Zach Wolf (heavyweight).
In the championship match against Weston-Ithaca, Darlington-Black Hawk got pins from Beau Holland (132) and Casey Lobdell (160) to help secure the win. Holland pinned Weston-Ithaca's Jordan Rupp in 2 minutes, 50 seconds and Lobdell came back from a two-point deficit to pin Frank Tomczak in 2:40. Wolf, who posted four pins Saturday, pinned Kyler Koch in 1:22 to seal the win.
"That was a 12-point swing for us," Darlington-Black Hawk co-coach Jim Seffrood said. "If we don't get those two pins it would have been a lot closer. We always want the two best teams in the finals. Our goal was to get to Weston-Ithaca. It's a lot of fun with the strategy of finding out who we need pins and wins from."
Joe Quinn (113) and Holland (132) each went 4-1 during the dual tournament. Novack won four matches by forfeit and pinned North Crawford-Seneca's Tyler Finnell in 2:51. Pickett (120) edged De Soto's Nick Cahalan 7-6 and pinned River Ridge-Cassville's David Seng in 2:44.
Meier (152) pinned Kickapoo- La Farge's Aaron Townsend in 3:03 and pinned River Ridge-Cassville's Logan Hein in 3:30. Meier pinned Weston-Ithaca's Jake Carter in 3:28 and he won two matches by forfeit.
"We had a number of kids who won big matches at the right time," Mathias said.
Darlington-Black Hawk won five matches to win the title. Darlington-Black Hawk defeated De Soto 45-31 and knocked off Kickapoo-La Farge 57-24. Darlington-Black Hawk defeated North Crawford-Seneca 51-28 and beat River Ridge-Cassville 54-27. Darlington-Black Hawk sealed the title by knocking off Weston-Ithaca 48-26. Weston-Ithaca is ranked No. 5 in the Division 3 state poll.
"It was definitely a team effort," Darlington-Black Hawk co-coach Tom Mathias said. "Everyone went out and gave it everything they had in every match. Their goal was to win it and that is exactly what they did."
There were four wrestlers for Darlington-Black Hawk who went 5-0 including Caleb Novack (113 pounds), Jared Pickett (120), senior Dakota Meier (152) and senior Zach Wolf (heavyweight).
In the championship match against Weston-Ithaca, Darlington-Black Hawk got pins from Beau Holland (132) and Casey Lobdell (160) to help secure the win. Holland pinned Weston-Ithaca's Jordan Rupp in 2 minutes, 50 seconds and Lobdell came back from a two-point deficit to pin Frank Tomczak in 2:40. Wolf, who posted four pins Saturday, pinned Kyler Koch in 1:22 to seal the win.
"That was a 12-point swing for us," Darlington-Black Hawk co-coach Jim Seffrood said. "If we don't get those two pins it would have been a lot closer. We always want the two best teams in the finals. Our goal was to get to Weston-Ithaca. It's a lot of fun with the strategy of finding out who we need pins and wins from."
Joe Quinn (113) and Holland (132) each went 4-1 during the dual tournament. Novack won four matches by forfeit and pinned North Crawford-Seneca's Tyler Finnell in 2:51. Pickett (120) edged De Soto's Nick Cahalan 7-6 and pinned River Ridge-Cassville's David Seng in 2:44.
Meier (152) pinned Kickapoo- La Farge's Aaron Townsend in 3:03 and pinned River Ridge-Cassville's Logan Hein in 3:30. Meier pinned Weston-Ithaca's Jake Carter in 3:28 and he won two matches by forfeit.
"We had a number of kids who won big matches at the right time," Mathias said.
