Fairfield clinches share of SEC title

A share of the Southeast Conference title was fittingly decided by a very narrow margin Thursday night. The Fairfield and Washington boys teams were inseparable until the sixth tiebreaker after a thrilling final dual match of the season.

What started with a forfeit win for Noah Patel at 106 pounds ended with Sebastian Ftwi at 285 doing just enough to help Fairfield hang on. After a 40-40 split of the points, the Trojans were given the win over the Demons on the sixth tiebreaker, most first points scored, which it won 21-15.

“It’s not the way we drew it up by any means,” Fairfield coach Steve Miller said. “We tried to lose that duel three different ways and then we still found a way to win it. So, thank God. We had some guys come through and really pull out some big matches.”

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The lengthy meeting at the scorers table that determined the winner highlighted why the Trojans and Demons have been neck and neck in dual matches all season. With the win, the Trojans split the SEC with Ft. Madison, with both teams finishing with 4-1 records.

“It’s a great feeling,” Miller said. “I know the kids have been working for this for several years, and we always have that hiccup match... that was in Ft. Madison this year. So, it was nice to come back and win these duels and get a share of it.”

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Fairfield’s first pin of the match came from Cael McCabe at 126 pounds. Dusty Haynes (150) and Aiden Holthus (157) gave Fairfield a 28-24 lead. Dain Burkhart and Calvin McClain also had pins at 175 and 215, respectively.

With Fairfield up 40-36, Ftwi just had to avoid getting pinned or losing by technical fall to keep the Trojans level on points. After a three round boat against Washington’s Rudy Wolfe, Ftwi lost on a major decision to put both teams at the mercy of the tiebreakers. Six categories down, the score fell Fairfield’s way.

“That’s just being a good teammate,” Miller said of Ftwi. “Doing what you have to do in your match to help the team win and help the team survive. He did exactly what he had to do.”

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Washington’s first points of the match came from a pin by Joseph Schreiber at 113. Clayton Bartholomew (132), Caden Greiner (138), Junior Valdez (144) and Jace Kinzenbaw (165) also had pins for the Demons.

“It was a tough duel,” Washington coach Joel Keller said. “It was what we expected and we came out, we wrestled tough. So that’s something to be really proud of. We had people step up that we were counting on and we were able to count on them. We just came up short.”

Both Fairfield and Washington now turn their attention to Saturday’s district meets. Fairfield will head to the Class 2A Region 3 meet at Centerville, while Washington will be in the 3A-12 meet at Williamsburg.

The top two wrestlers in each weight class at their respective regional will qualify for state. The 2026 Iowa High School Athletic Association State Tournament will take place Feb. 18-21 at Casey’s Center in Des Moines.

Fairfield 41, Washington 40

106: Noah Patel (FAIR) over WASH (For.)

113: Joseph Schreiber (WASH) over Quinn Settles (FAIR) (Fall 2:28)

120: Kohda Higdon (FAIR) over Johan Recendez (WASH) (MD 13-0)

126: Cael McCabe (FAIR) over Xavi Recendez (WASH) (Fall 0:32)

132: Clayton Bartholomew (WASH) over Jasper Carpenter (FAIR) (Fall 3:12)

138: Caden Greiner (WASH) over Aaron Wellnitz (FAIR) (Fall 0:47)

144: Junior Valdez (WASH) over Ezekiel Moore (FAIR) (Fall 1:43)

150: Dusty Haynes (FAIR) over Cash Vargas (WASH) (Fall 1:54)

157: Aiden Holthus (FAIR) over Caden Heisner (WASH) (Fall 1:34)

165: Jace Kinzenbaw (WASH) over Kenneth Houston (FAIR) (Fall 1:48)

175: Dain Burkhart (FAIR) over Mark Chenoweth (WASH) (Fall 1:34)

190: Blaine Rees (WASH) over FAIR (For.)

215: Calvin McClain (FAIR) over Brayden Vermillion (WASH) (Fall 2:45)

285: Rudy Wolfe (WASH) over Sebastian Ftwi (FAIR)(MD 9-0)

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