Frazer lone champ at Southern Iowa Classic

FAIRFIELD - The Washington, Fairfield and Mt. Pleasant wrestling teams had to battle all night in the Southern Iowa Classic at Fairfield High School on Friday night, and just one area wrestler battled enough to wind up at the top of the podium.

Washington's Ayden Frazer won the night at 182 pounds. The Demon senior had to win three matches after a first-round bye, and he coasted to three-straight, including two pins.

Frazer took on Mt. Pleasant's Dylan Cowick in the quarterfinals. In his closest match of the night, Frazer outlasted Cowick for a 5-0 decision.

Frazer would move on to face Burlington's Nolan Simpson in the semifinals, beating him handily with a pin at 1:51. He needed just 1:02 in the 182-pound championship, where he finished his night with a first-period pin over Knoxville's Gavin Montalvo.

'I was really happy with the way Ayden competed,” said Washington head coach Brent Van Weelden. 'These matches will hopefully pay huge dividends to prepare him for sectionals.”

Frazer was the only Washington wrestler in the Top-4. The Demons had two fifth-place finishers; Jacob Miller at 138 pounds, and Curtis Stender at 195 pounds.

Mt. Pleasant's Carson Coleman was the only other Union area wrestler to make the Finals. Coleman finished second in the 126-pound bracket.

Coleman began the day with two pins. In the opening round, he knocked of Fairfield's Brecken Courtright in 3:50. He pinned EBF's Tyler Schutt in 1:00 to move onto the semifinals, and rolled past Knoxville's Daniel Gorskikh with a 16-4 major decision to advance to the 126-pound championship.

Coleman was upended by Keokuk's Tate O'Shea in the first place match. O'Shea pinned Coleman in 1:12 to win the bracket.

Mt. Pleasant had four more Top-5 finishes. Sam Carrasco polished off a third-place finish at 220 with a tiebreaker win over Fairfield's Cesar Smithburg. Cowick took fifth at 182. Ella McNamee was fifth at 113, and Bowen Davis took fifth at 132.

Fairfield didn't put anyone in the finals, but the Trojans topped both Washington and Mt. Pleasant in the team standings by placing six wrestlers in the Top-5, led by a couple of third place finishes by Cohyn Roach at 138 pounds, and Payton Cline at 145 pounds.

Roach opened the night with back-to-back pins, taking down Joey Pearson of Albia in just 33 seconds and then knocking off Davis County's Jayden Ball in 3:49. Roach lost to Knoxville's Andon Trout 6-5 to fall into the third place match, where he pinned Centerville's Jax Mosley in 54 seconds.

Cline received a first-round bye and advanced to the semifinals with a pin over Knoxville's Kale Kincaid in 3:49. In the semifinals, Centerville's Matthew Lewis pinned Cline in 1:17, but Cline bounced back with an 8-4 decision over Albia's Eli Zanoni in the third place match.

Fairfield's Zach Westercamp (132), Theodore Metcals (182) and Cesar Smithburg (220) all finished fourth. Tarence Craig took fifth at 285.

TEAM SCORES: 1. Ottumwa 144; 2. Prairie City Monroe 141; 3. Knoxville 136.5; 4. Albia 126.5; 5. Keokuk 115; 6. Centerville 105; 7. Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont 102; 8. Fairfield 96; 9. Davis County 88; 10. Mt. Pleasant 80; 11. Burlington 77; 12. Washington 63.