Green Devils take consolation title trophy
By Kristi Nixon
CORALVILLE — Obviously, the ultimate goal for the Osage wrestling team was to repeat the state dual team title.
An extremely close semifinal against Sergeant Bluff-Luton ultimately came down to the final match, a close 3-0 decision to launch the Warriors to the final with the 36-33 win, sending the Green Devils to the third-place dual in which they dominated Mount Vernon, 44-28.
Third-seeded Creston went on to win, 36-33, over SB-L, also winning it with the final match.
“There is a lot of parity in 2A this year,” Osage coach Brent Jennings said. “Anybody can beat anybody on a given day, and that happened. You slip up, or not have a match go your way here or there. We knew it was going to be close. We knew our highly-ranked kids would do well, and they did. We had to have better match-ups in a few other places. We didn’t get that.”
Although it ended with a 3-0 decision for fourth-ranked 165-pounder Zayvion Ellington over Max Gast, there were other matches along the way that contributed to it.
“I think they were the better team today,” top-ranked 144-pounder Anders Kittelson said. “I don’t think they are a better team than us, but we lost a few swing matches. But at the end of the day, I’m proud of my team. We battled back, got third, and it’s hard to come off a stinger loss like that. They (my teammates) did a lot of good things well, and I can praise them for that. That’s all we can take away from it right now. The good things they did and each, and every day they are continuing to get better and evolve. That’s all we can ask at this point of the season…”
The full story and more photos will be found in the Feb. 7 print and e-editions of the Enterprise Journal.
