Written by Ezra Oldenkamp
On Saturday, February 8th, the Bulldogs went down to Coralville to compete in the Xtream Arena for State duals. Algona, being the first seed, wrestled at 9:00 AM against eight seed Mount Vernon. Algona beat Mount Vernon 52-17 in a very dominant win. Algona had seven falls; the wrestlers who got pins were Gavin Goche, Jack Limbaugh, Thomas Zabka, Isaac Wilson, CJ McGregor, Elijah Whilhite, and Carter McGregor. Limbaugh picked up a huge win over the number one ranked wrestler at heavyweight, Ethan Wood. Limbaugh states, “It was pretty crazy!” This win moved the Bulldogs to the State semifinals.
Algona’s next opponent was four seeded Williamsburg; the two teams wrestled at 2:15 PM. The Bulldogs beat Williamsburg 32-27 in a very hard fought match. There was only one fall, which Limbaugh earned. There were two tech falls, by CJ McGregor and Slagle. This win allowed the Bulldogs to go for it all in the State championship.
At 6:00 PM Algona faced two seeded West Delaware in the State championship. The Bulldogs won the State championship with a score of 28-25 in a close match. There was only one tech fall, and that was from Zabka. Tate Slagle had a huge win over Liam Weber where Slagle won by decision 11-9. The dual was won with every guy going out there and wrestling their hearts out.
At 4:30 on Sunday, there was a welcome home celebration for the dual team. Coach Nick Kuecker talked about how the team got to the place they were at and how proud of the team he was. The 14 wrestlers got their medals and recognition for the great achievement the team had earned.
The next step in the season was District wrestling at Sioux Center on Saturday, February 15th, at 10:00 AM. Everyone got a chance to head to State wrestling in Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa, by placing second or winning at Districts. Eleven wrestlers earned a State tournament ticket: Teague Alesch, Thomas Zabka, Isaac Wilson, CJ McGregor, Barrett Morgan, Ashton Moreno, Tate Slagle, Carter McGregor, Tayten Rummel, Gavin Goche, and Jack Limbaugh. Good luck to the boys as they head to State this week!