SOUTH WAYNE - Pecatonica-Argyle senior Nick Gilbertson didn't know he would wrestle at heavyweight at the Black Hawk Invitational until one day before the tournament.
Gilbertson, who usually wrestles at 220 pounds, was bumped up to heavyweight after junior Lucas McKeon weighed in at 184 pounds, which was two pounds more than his 182 weight class. The shuffling at the upper weights paid off as McKeon at 220 and Gilbertson each won championships on Saturday in South Wayne. McKeon pinned Westfield's Brandon Peters in 1 minute, 2 seconds to seal the title.
"Coach Campbell pushes me every night in practice," McKeon said. "He has been pushing me so much for two years to get first place. It means a lot for me to get it for him. Without Coach Campbell, I would not be where I'm at now."
Despite giving up 74 pounds in the title match, Gilbertson pulled out a 6-4 overtime win over Westfield's Dustin Perrigo to win the championship.
"He's big and slow," Gilbertson said of Perrigo. "He gets tired fast. I just had to stay out from underneath him and in the third period, he will be gassed."
Gilbertson wasn't intimidated wrestling at heavyweight.
"Things happen," he said. "I just do what my coaches told me and they have taught me well."
Without Merrill, which had won 10 straight titles, in the tournament, the run for the team title was wide open. Mount Horeb-Barneveld edged Westfield 236-230 for the team title. Pecatonica-Argyle (96) finished sixth followed by seventh-place Black Hawk (90) and Darlington took 10th (54) at the 12 team tournament.
Five other area wrestlers finished in the top four of their respective weight classes. Black Hawk sophomore Colin Novak (113) finished second and junior teammate Dakota Meier (145) took third. Darlington senior Patrick Roche (138) and junior Hayden Black (heavyweight) each took fourth place. Pecatonica-Argyle's Casey Phillips (106) also finished fourth.
Both McKeon and Gilbertson finished 4-0 at the invite. In the semifinals, McKeon rallied from a 5-2 deficit to come through with a cradle to pin Madison East's Jordan Festge in 4:50.
"I definitely thought it would be a challenge," McKeon said of wrestling at 220. "I knew I could compete with anyone. The kids I'm wrestling are really strong. I feel my quickness has definitely helped me wrestle the bigger kids."
Gilbertson defeated Belmont-Platteville's Lucas Stoney 8-3 in the semifinals. It was a special win for Pecatonica-Argyle coach Ike Campbell whose brother is the wrestling coach for Belmont-Platteville.
"We kind of figured they would match up," Campbell said. "That was a big match. He (Gilbertson) did a great job of staying in good position and not getting in a hurry. Stoney got in a hurry and Nick did a great job of capitalizing on his mistakes."
Black Hawk had three other wrestlers take fifth place including freshman Joe Quinn (106), sophomore Jared Pickett and sophomore Beau Holland (132).
Novak rebounded after a 12-7 loss to Dodgeville's Trevor Wunnicke. He pinned Pecatonica-Argyle's Login Swearingen in 21 seconds and he edged River Ridge-Cassville's David Seng 2-0. Meier finished 2-1 at 145. He pinned River Ridge-Cassville's Cordt Esser in 48 seconds. In the semifinals, Meier lost a heartbreaker 5-4 in overtime to Mitchell Hasse of Columbus. With a 3-2 lead late in the extra period, Hasse scored on a takedown with about 16 seconds left to win it.
"The goal was definitely to make it to the finals," Meier said. "It's definitely in your head when you think you could have done better. I was wore out."
Darlington's Roche finished 2-2. He defeated Dodgeville's Jacob Recob 5-4 in the first round and Columbus' Isaiah Green 4-3 in the second round. Belmont-Platteville's John Hentrich then pinned Roche in 46 seconds. In the third-place match, Roche lost 14-3 to Mount Horeb-Barneveld's Klayton Krantz.
Black lost a third-place match to Stoney 6-4. He was trying to bounce back from a semifinal match where Perrigo pinned him.
It came down to a choice in the second period and Perrigo chose the top.
"I wanted to be on top," Black said. "It was just going through my mind that I had to stand up. I just have to as hard and as fast as I can every match. With those heavyweights you have to go quick because when they get on top of you, you can't get out."
Darlington coach Tom Mathias said Black has to get tougher wrestling on the bottom.
"I think he (Black) is definitely capable of being a state qualifier," Mathias said. "He has to decide if that is what he's going to do and get it done."
Gilbertson, who usually wrestles at 220 pounds, was bumped up to heavyweight after junior Lucas McKeon weighed in at 184 pounds, which was two pounds more than his 182 weight class. The shuffling at the upper weights paid off as McKeon at 220 and Gilbertson each won championships on Saturday in South Wayne. McKeon pinned Westfield's Brandon Peters in 1 minute, 2 seconds to seal the title.
"Coach Campbell pushes me every night in practice," McKeon said. "He has been pushing me so much for two years to get first place. It means a lot for me to get it for him. Without Coach Campbell, I would not be where I'm at now."
Despite giving up 74 pounds in the title match, Gilbertson pulled out a 6-4 overtime win over Westfield's Dustin Perrigo to win the championship.
"He's big and slow," Gilbertson said of Perrigo. "He gets tired fast. I just had to stay out from underneath him and in the third period, he will be gassed."
Gilbertson wasn't intimidated wrestling at heavyweight.
"Things happen," he said. "I just do what my coaches told me and they have taught me well."
Without Merrill, which had won 10 straight titles, in the tournament, the run for the team title was wide open. Mount Horeb-Barneveld edged Westfield 236-230 for the team title. Pecatonica-Argyle (96) finished sixth followed by seventh-place Black Hawk (90) and Darlington took 10th (54) at the 12 team tournament.
Five other area wrestlers finished in the top four of their respective weight classes. Black Hawk sophomore Colin Novak (113) finished second and junior teammate Dakota Meier (145) took third. Darlington senior Patrick Roche (138) and junior Hayden Black (heavyweight) each took fourth place. Pecatonica-Argyle's Casey Phillips (106) also finished fourth.
Both McKeon and Gilbertson finished 4-0 at the invite. In the semifinals, McKeon rallied from a 5-2 deficit to come through with a cradle to pin Madison East's Jordan Festge in 4:50.
"I definitely thought it would be a challenge," McKeon said of wrestling at 220. "I knew I could compete with anyone. The kids I'm wrestling are really strong. I feel my quickness has definitely helped me wrestle the bigger kids."
Gilbertson defeated Belmont-Platteville's Lucas Stoney 8-3 in the semifinals. It was a special win for Pecatonica-Argyle coach Ike Campbell whose brother is the wrestling coach for Belmont-Platteville.
"We kind of figured they would match up," Campbell said. "That was a big match. He (Gilbertson) did a great job of staying in good position and not getting in a hurry. Stoney got in a hurry and Nick did a great job of capitalizing on his mistakes."
Black Hawk had three other wrestlers take fifth place including freshman Joe Quinn (106), sophomore Jared Pickett and sophomore Beau Holland (132).
Novak rebounded after a 12-7 loss to Dodgeville's Trevor Wunnicke. He pinned Pecatonica-Argyle's Login Swearingen in 21 seconds and he edged River Ridge-Cassville's David Seng 2-0. Meier finished 2-1 at 145. He pinned River Ridge-Cassville's Cordt Esser in 48 seconds. In the semifinals, Meier lost a heartbreaker 5-4 in overtime to Mitchell Hasse of Columbus. With a 3-2 lead late in the extra period, Hasse scored on a takedown with about 16 seconds left to win it.
"The goal was definitely to make it to the finals," Meier said. "It's definitely in your head when you think you could have done better. I was wore out."
Darlington's Roche finished 2-2. He defeated Dodgeville's Jacob Recob 5-4 in the first round and Columbus' Isaiah Green 4-3 in the second round. Belmont-Platteville's John Hentrich then pinned Roche in 46 seconds. In the third-place match, Roche lost 14-3 to Mount Horeb-Barneveld's Klayton Krantz.
Black lost a third-place match to Stoney 6-4. He was trying to bounce back from a semifinal match where Perrigo pinned him.
It came down to a choice in the second period and Perrigo chose the top.
"I wanted to be on top," Black said. "It was just going through my mind that I had to stand up. I just have to as hard and as fast as I can every match. With those heavyweights you have to go quick because when they get on top of you, you can't get out."
Darlington coach Tom Mathias said Black has to get tougher wrestling on the bottom.
"I think he (Black) is definitely capable of being a state qualifier," Mathias said. "He has to decide if that is what he's going to do and get it done."
