Highland wrestles in duals at home, part of Aplington-Parkersburg tournament

The Highland wrestling was part of a dual match against Van Buren and Mediapolis Thursday, Dec. 8. Highland lost to Van Buren 33-15 and lost to Mediapolis 42-18.

Taking to the mats against Van Buren was Cullen Klebe (113) who started his match against Adam Smith with a good takedown. He fought hard from the bottom position. Cory Stewart (138) wrestled a sound tactical match against Caleb Stoltz.

He hit a nice sweep single shot near the out-of-bounds, and was able to finish it before going out of bounds. He also did a good job from the bottom position by scoring a reversal and a sound job of riding on top.

Dan Burton (160) used a headlock to score the first points in the match Ty Hamburg. He really worked hard to lock it up and earn the pin. Against Mediapolis, Stewart started things off with a pin for us by using a far-side cradle.

Brady Hahn?s match (145 weight class) was tied heading into the second period. Hunter Aney chose down, and Hahn came around in front, and executed a nice William?s Roll to score the fall.

Burton had a tough opponent against Brennan Swafford, a two-time place-winner, as Swafford was quick to score that first takedown. Klebe came out on fire in his second match.

He quickly scored a take down from his shot and latched a double-chicken wing to turn Jorden Riherd over and notch the fall.

In an invitational Saturday, Dec. 10, at Aplington-Parkersburg, Klebe really used momentum from Thursday and carried it forward to start Saturday.

He hit a nice high crotch and finished it immediately. He scored three near fall in the first period.

In the second period, he hit another nice shot to score the takedown and then went to work with his double-chicken wing.

It wasn?t long from there until the pin. In his second match, Easton Larson (Don Bosco) scored the initial takedown and cradled Klebe for the fall.

In his last match, Klebe hit a good shot, but paused which allowed Grant Bixby (Dike-New Hartford) an opportunity to cut angle around Klebe to score the first take down.

?Klebe has good shots,? says coach Clint Jones. ?It?s a matter of consistently finishing those shots which is the huge difference in some of those matches. He is showing some fire this year, which is great to see.?

Stewart really had a solid day. He started his first match scoring three takedowns (two in the first, and one to start the second period).

He really chained wrestled well in this match, as his opponent sat out, He went for a chin drop but Robert Hildebrand (Maquoketa Valley) flipped to his side, but Stewart rotated himself to the other side to put a Half-Nelson and earned the fall.

Against Austin Hellman (Don Bosco), Hellman scored the first take down before latching a far-side cradle and pinning Stewart. In his last match, Stewart used the under hook series from the neutral position really well.

He is starting to realize what different options he has with that set up. ?Stewart really took a step forward this past week by practicing technique with emphasis last week in the practice room and wrestling with sound tactical, strategy by staying in good positions,? Jones said.

In Hahn?s first match, he yielded a takedown from a scramble position, but was able to reverse Zach Anderson (Belmond) toward the end of the first period.

In the second period, Hahn scored a takedown and pinned Anderson. In his second match, he put head down and Thomas Even (Don Bosco) took advantage of it by stacking Hahn for a fall. In Hahn?s last match (against Karmen Jergenson of Clarion-Goldfield-Dows), Hahn revisited a move from Thursday by executing the William?s Roll again to earn another pin.

?One thing with Brady is his matches are never dull; action is going to happen,? Jones said. ?Brady has really good technical shots which we would like to see him hit more often. However, he is doing well so far at this point in the season sitting at 8-4.?

Burton had a respectable day Saturday by picking up two wins. His first match was tough as he wrestled Tanner Smith, Dike-New Hartford.

In his next match, he went out there and drove Keaton Pagel (Belmond-Klemme) to his back with a Cow-Catcher maneuver. In his third match (against Dayton Haley, AGWSR), Burton hit a headlock and quickly tightened it for a fall.

?His last match was just about positioning, as he was vying for upper body position, but just lost the battle with hip position,? Jones said. ?However, he is making some strides this season. There are positional things he needs to continue to improve, but make no doubt about it, he is definitely continuing to improve and he is seeing those improvements take effect on the mat.?

Highland wrestles tonight at L-M beginning at 6 p.m.