Mentor defeats mentee

WELLMAN - New London has a well-earned reputation as a strong wrestling program under head coach Mark Chiri, who is in his 35th year at the helm. The Tigers are ranked fifth in Class 1A and opponents love to beat a ranked team.

Mid-Prairie head coach Justin Garvey has extra incentive to defeat Chiri's Tigers Thursday when Tipton and West Branch also competed.

The ranked Tigers went 3-0 and Garvey was unable to give his former coach and alma mater a loss. West Branch edged Tipton 42-36 and tied Mid-Prairie. The Golden Hawks' only wins from matches were by Josh Wallington (pin in 1 minute, 44 seconds) and Owen Trimpe (1:06). The tiebreaker was number of forfeits. Tipton forfeited five matches, two more than the Hawks and it was a 43-42 final.

Mid-Prairie's first dual of the night was a 54-24 win over West Branch with every decision either a forfeit or a pin. Golden Hawk victors were Mose Yoder in 2:54 at 113 pounds, Jardin Mufaume at 170 in 1:47, Ben Meader in 1:21 at 182, Wallington in 3:54 at 220, Brodey Neal at 285 in 1:11. At 160, Vinnie Bowlin barely gave his opponent a chance to move with a 28-second pin.

New London opened with a 50-16 triumph over Tipton. Carter Allen at 220 got a pin in 3:06. Mavy Pope scored a 10-5 decision at 106. Manny Watts win at 138 was a pin in 5:02. Dominic Lopez, who is ranked at 145 pounds in Class 1A, ran up the score for a 19-4 technical fall at 3:58. No. 8 ranked Josh Glendenning's pin at 152 was in 1:42. The 160 match lasted 1:02 with Michael Raines pin.

In the last dual, NL saw a 24-20 deficit after Currey Jacobs' 14-8 win at 195, Marcel Lopez's tech fall and Dominic Lopez pin at 1:39. A Glendenning pin and a Raines pin clinched the win before Boden Pickle was hurt in the final match and a disqualification awarded for a 38-26 win.

New London took a 47-36 win from Garvey, who won a state title in 1998 at 189 pounds under Chiri.

'There is always incentive to beat New London, for me there's extra because I want to show my old coach that I have the team to take his out,” Garvey said.

Chiri is a strategist and doesn't care what possible matchups there might be that would delight fans.

'I coached with Hall of Fame coach John Siegel at Morning Sun who said the goal of a dual is to win,” Chiri said. 'Tournaments are for the individual.”

Chiri won the coin flip, then turned to his team asking what they wanted.

'That made me laugh,” Garvey said. 'You are not going to fool me. He always knows what he wants.”

Meader's pin in 2:56 was answered by Jacobs in 0:37.

Tied at 6-6, Chiri forfeits 220 and puts his 220 wrestler against M-P heavyweight Brodey Neal, who pins Carter Allen in 1:52.

'I want to put our best guys in the best position to win and that might be different from putting your best guys out there,” Chiri said. 'I screwed up a bit on the 220 move.”

A M-P forfeit, then two NL forfeits follow. Marcel Lopez scores a 22-7 tech fall in 2:32 and the team score is 30-17 for M-P, 36-23 after each forfeits another weight.

'I remember that he would strategize about things and he's always been that way,” Garvey said. 'He moved some guys around and I think it bit him a little bit,”

The Tigers close the match with four straight pins from D. Lopez (2:32), Glendening (2:57), Raines (2:22) and Boden Pickle (1:26) to win 47-36.

'I feel like we were right there,” Garvey said. 'I feel like we had them on the ropes.”

It was New London's first meet this season and it will host a 'monster tournament” Saturday, Chiri said, pointing out the teams that would be there include Cedar Rapids Washington, Columbus/W-MU, Fort Madison, Illini West, Louisa-Muscatine, Lisbon, Mid-Prairie, Notre Dame-West Burlington-Danville, Solon, and West Hancock.

Garvey said his message to the team is to get better every week, whether a win or a loss improve no matter what.

'By February will be looking pretty good with everybody back,” Garvey said.