Raiders gear up for postseason

For any team, the goal is to get better as the season goes.

That has certainly been the case for the Williamsburg girls’ wrestling team this season.

“We have been wrestling well lately,” Williamsburg coach Drew Hinschberger said. “We have continued to make steady progress as this season has gone on.”

The Raiders went 1-1 in duals at a Triangular at Center Point-Urbana, falling to a good South Tama team 48-30 and defeating Center Point-Urbana 48-18.

Getting tested has been common for the Raiders, who ended the regular season in a tournament at the Northwest Invite in Waukee Saturday.

The Raiders took 10 wrestlers to the loaded field, and their highest two finishes came from their ranked wrestlers.

Valerie Altenhofen placed runner-up in the 140-pound division, and Keston Spratt finished fourth at 120.

As a team, the Raiders scored 92 points, placing sixth.

The WaMaC conference meet is coming up Friday in Mount Vernon. The field is filled with multiple ranked teams and many ranked individuals in both classes.

“We are excited for the final stretch of this season,” Hinschberger said. “The biggest thing that has stood out is how hard these ladies work, their coachability, and their team-before-self mentality.”

Here is a look at some other area results this week:

Center Point-Urbana Triangular

CENTER POINT — The Williamsburg boys also competed in Center Point Thursday and dominated.

The Raiders defeated Center Point-Urbana 60-16 and South Tama 64-9, winning 22 of 28 matches on the night.

Montezuma Quad

MONTEZUMA — The Iowa Valley boys went 3-0 in duals in Montezuma, defeating two conference opponents (Montezuma and Belle Plaine).

Belle Plaine picked up a 42-30 dual win over Montezuma.

Braves senior Brett Plants reached the 100-win milestone on the evening, going 2-1.

As a team, the Braves went 1-2 defeating Moravia 49-18.

BGM Quad

BROOKLYN — The BGM boys were defeated by two conference teams in a home quad Thursday.

Lynnville-Sully defeated the Bears 39-30, and Sigourney-Keota won by a larger margin, 49-23.

Colfax-Mingo Quad

COLFAX — The HLV-TC boys went 0-3 in duals Thursday in Colfax.

The Warriors wrestled with eight and lost by scores of 54-24 to Colfax-Mingo, 49-12 to Earlham and 58-18 to Wayne.

BGM January Bash

BROOKLYN — The BGM girls had six competitors at their home tournament Friday.

Amiah Lint improved her record to 36-7 winning the 110-pound division.

Taya Sincox finished runner-up at 130.

Ed Hadenfeldt Invitational

SOLON — The Iowa Valley boys leveled up in a field mostly with Class 2A and 3A schools in Solon Saturday.

The Tigers scored 115 points and had several wrestlers finish well.

Josh Read (190) finished runner-up, losing a hard-fought decision to West Branch’s Tate Frantz, 6-3.

Chance Hoyt (150) and Nolan Kriegel (175) placed third. Mason Hoyt (165) finished fourth.

WACO Tournament

WAYLAND — The English Valleys and HLV-TC boys were both in action at WACO Saturday.

HLV-TC’s Cael Weisskopf won the 150-pound division with a 19-3 tech fall victory over Mount Pleasant’s Ramzy Davis.

The Warriors’ next highest finisher was Landyn Ankrum with a fourth-place finish at 144.

English Valleys’ Ben Coffman finished runner-up at 170 and Cael Grove was third at 113 for the Bears.

Cougar Invite

ACKLEY — The Belle Plaine boys had four champions Saturday at AGWSR. Most weight divisions competed in a round-robin format.

Hunter Henry (113), Jackson Weeda (126), Aidan Timm (144) and Will Sankot (140) won their round-robin tournaments.

Derek Kressley (165) finished runner-up in a traditional tournament bracket.

Loyd-Shaffer Marion Invitational

MARION — The battle for the team title was tight, and the Williamsburg boys placed third in Marion Saturday, with 187 points.

The Raiders had four total champions on the day.

Rike DeWitt (106), Nile Sinn (150), Brady Grier (157) and Trenton Davies (Hwt.) all took home titles.