Central/Ed-Co wrestles through week of sickness and injuries

By Willis Patenaude | Times-Register

It was a tough week for the sick and banged up Central/Ed-Co boys wrestling team, with duals at Postville and Lake Mills ending with a 1-7 record. But as coach Joe Koehn said, they “still showed up and competed.” 

The Warriors opened the UIC Duals at Postville against Riceville, going 1-5 in matches, with the lone win by Braxton Bormann, who defeated Riley O’Donnell at 144 pounds with a 17-0 tech fall. Unfortunately for the Warriors, Bormann’s night and week was finished due to an ongoing injury that is being monitored. His status moving forward is listed “week by week.” 

The Warriors got other points from Adam Kloser (113) and Zane Embretson (120), who both picked up wins by forfeit, while Derek Deitchler (132), Nolan Gaul (138), Colton Hoisington (165) and Connor Davis (285) were all pinned. Competing at 157 pounds, Preston Kulper fought hard for three periods, but ultimately lost a 14-2 major decision. 

The next dual was against Clayton Ridge, and though the Warriors lost 54-10, Kulper executed a perfect slam in the first period and continued to aggressively maneuver for the pin in the second period, getting the win over Paxton Ehrhardt. Kloser added four points after winning a 13-1 major decision, and in other action, Embretson, Deitchler and Davis all lost by fall while Gaul and Hoisington dropped their matches by decision. 

“We were definitely out wrestled here in our matches, with multiple matches that we could’ve/should’ve won and we need to win those down the road getting closer to postseason,” Koehn said.

The final dual was against Postville, which the Warriors lost 52-25. Central went 4-2 in matches, with Deitchler and Kulper winning by fall. Deitchler was ahead after a single leg takedown in the first period, but the match got sketchy in the second period, until Deitchler got the pin from an unfavorable position over Gael Torres. Kulper scored a quick takedown and worked for the fall, which came just before the end of period one against Dylan Wenthe. 

Gaul and Davis both won by decisions, a 16-3 major decision for Gaul and 9-2 decision for Davis, while Kloser won by forfeit. Embretson dropped a tough 9-1 major decision and Hoisington was pinned. 

“This was our best dual of the night by far and we finally wrestled to our potential. We scrapped well and are showing much improvement,” Koehn said. 

On Jan. 18, Central/Ed-Co traveled to Lake Mills for a dual tournament against some tough competition, including North Butler-Clarksville, GMLOS, South Winneshiek, Southeast Polk JV and Lake Mills. 

“There was plenty of good competition and plenty of learning and winning done at Lake Mills, and we are grateful for that opportunity,” Koehn said. 

The Warriors’ started against North Butler-Clarksville, going 0-6 in matches and losing the dual 63-12. Kulper and Kloser both won by forfeit, while Deitchler, Gaul, Mack Perrinjaquet (144 pounds) and Davis all lost by fall and Hoisington lost a hard fought decision 7-3. 

“NBC is a tough 2A squad and our kids scrapped, but we need to bring it early on. We get off to such slow starts and need to get warmed up and ready to go sooner,” Koehn said. 

Next up for the Warriors was GMLOS from southern Minnesota. Central/Ed-Co dropped the dual 57-21, but Embretson pinned Lincoln Lunning in 90 seconds, Perrinjaquet won by fall over Felix Christenson and Kulper picked up a close 16-15 decision win over Calum Sween. Kloser added points with a win by forfeit, but Davis, Deitchler and Gaul all lost by fall, while Hoisington lost a 7-0 decision. 

“Embretson wrestled very well in this dual and is really filling in nicely at the 120-pound spot and is battling well as a freshman. The highlight of the dual was Kulper’s match, where he was down 12-3 and came back and won 16-15. Nice seeing that grit out of one of the team’s captains,” Koehn said. 

The third dual was the only victory for the Warriors, and it was a rather historic win at that, as Central defeated South Winneshiek for the first time in over 20 years. The final score was 39-34 and required every ounce of effort Central/Ed-Co could muster.

Embretson scored a pin in under a minute over Matthew Donovan, and Deitchler got a fall on Steven Andrea early in the second period. Kloser got a “revenge win back,” Koehn said, by securing a 7-3 decision over Clayton Kuboushek, while Gaul, Perrinjaquet, Brown and Kulper all won by forfeit. Hoisington battled into the second period, but lost by fall, and Davis lost an 11-1 major decision. 

The remaining two duals were against stiff competition, starting with Lake Mills, a top five team in 1A. The Warriors dropped the dual 74-0, with Davis, Perrinjaquet, Kulper and Hoisington all losing by fall. Kloser and Embretson lost by tech fall. Deitchler was on the brink of losing by tech fall before he got a couple reversals and a takedown to close the gap, losing the match by 18-8 major decision. 

“We didn’t win a single match, but we saw a lot of good things. Really nice seeing that kind of grit from one of our freshmen,” Koehn said. 

The day ended in another dual loss against Southeast Polk’s JV by the score of 78-6. Kloser was the lone winner, being taken deep into the third period by Jaren Wirtz before pulling out the pin. Embretson, Deitchler, Gaul, Perrinjaquet, Hoisington and Davis all lost by fall. 

“Kloser has been very consistent for the team with a record of 28-9. He has been improving throughout the year and has been getting better and better as the season goes on,” Koehn said. 

Central/Ed-Co has another busy week, starting Jan. 21 with duals at North Linn, followed by a journey to Cresco Jan. 23 to wrestle Crestwood and Charles City. The team caps off the week at the John Byers Invitational at Midland on Jan. 25.