Demons maintain perfect season

The Washington wrestling team had five duals at Dike-New Hartford left in the 2015 portion of the season entering the weekend.

They left feeling pretty good about themselves on Saturday evening.

The Demons claimed all five dual matchups against BGM (72-9), Saint Ansgar (62-12), GRNT-GC (Reinbeck) (68-6), South Winneshiek (38-30), and host Dike-New Hartford (42-27) to improve its season dual record to 17-0 before the winter break.

The Demons had four wrestlers go 5-0 on the day, led by freshmen juniors Kyle Anderson (two wins by fall, one major decision) and Trey Van Weelden (two wins by fall, two technical falls, one major decision).

Demon freshmen Tristan Westphal-Edwards (four wins by fall) and Walker Ikerd (two wins by fall, one major decision) also went undefeated on the day.

In the closest dual of the day, the Demons sneaked past South Winneshiek 38-30.

As a team, Washington jumped out to a 20-3 lead in the first five matches, earning pin fall from Ikerd at 113 pounds, while Garret Ikerd (106 pounds) earned a 13-1 major decision and Anderson claimed a 16-4 major decision.

The Demons continued their run after that with pins from senior Michael Ellingson (145 pounds), Van Weelden (152 pounds) and Westphal-Edwards (160 pounds).

South Winneshiek claimed the final five matches with three pin falls and two decision victories, but it wasn?t enough as Washington claimed the dual.

The other close dual on the night (against Dike-New Hartford) saw the Demons fall behind early, but pin falls from Anderson and Austin Hazelett (138 pounds) put Washington back on top.

Van Weelden earned a 17-2 technical fall in the dual, followed by a pin victory from Westphal-Edwards and an 11-6 decision from senior Bryce Rickey at 170 pounds.

Karlton Skubal earned a pin fall at 182, with Tanner Murphy claiming a 4-2 decision, before Walker Ikerd claimed a 14-3 major decision and Cade Pohren earned a 4-0 decision to round out the dual.

Skubal, Hazelett, Ellingson, Garret Ikerd, Andrew Waite and Rickey all went 4-1 throughout Saturday?s duals, with Murphy going 3-1 at 195 pounds.

Washington will take a rest during winter break, and will resume action on Jan. 7 with a home conference dual against Fort Madison.