by Savannah Sorensen

Over winter break, the Atlantic-CAM wrestlers traveled to Des Moines and participated in the 2015 Des Moines Lincoln High School varsity invitational duals. The Trojans swept through the day going 5-0 in their duals.

Head coach Tim Duff said, “I think we had a nice winter break with eight days off, but also got in some good work this past week. I was pleased to see the boys show more effort and attention to detail.”

Starting off, the Trojans dominated Bondurant-Farrar 60-14 with wins from freshman Kole Hansen, sophomore Carter Cox, juniors Tanner Mauk and Keagan Hosfelt, and seniors Reid Nichols, Travis Petersen and Tyler Thomas. Next up, the team defeated Des Moines North Hoover 55-21. Mauk and sophomore Drake Roller each won by fall against North Hoover, while several others received forfeits and won by decision.

The Trojans finished up the first round by once again dominating against Des Moines Lincoln, 59-18. Eight Trojan wrestlers won by fall racking up 48 points alone, and senior Austin Williamson, Petersen, and Cox each won by decision. In their fourth dual, the Trojans swept Des Moines Roosevelt with a score of 63-12 to make it into the finals to wrestle for first place.

In the finals, the Trojans defeated Iowa City High 52-12 with wins in every weight class except for three. According to Duff, Hansen and sophomore Colby Sorensen were major highlights throughout the day, and specifically in this dual. “Kole won in overtime after falling behind early, and Colby battled the entire match and won in the third period. Nice hard fought wins by both young wrestlers,” said Duff. Petersen said, “We wrestled with a lot of heart and pride.”

Starting off the new year and second half of the season strong, Duff said, “I think we took a step forward as a team in these 5 duals. Hopefully we continue to keep up the fight we displayed on Saturday. We won all five duals and pushed our team record to 10-1.  A very nice start to the season.”

As the season progresses, the team’s improvements are continuous and extremely important. Duff said, “We need to continue to win the mental battles and battle. We host Logan-Magnolia and Coon Rapids for a home meet in Anita. Always fun to wrestle in the CAM gym and both of those teams are tough, hard-nosed teams.” Cox said, “We have to keep pushing each other hard in the room and continue following the commandments of Trojan Wrestling.”

The team will host Logan-Magnolia and Coon Rapids-Bayard on Thurs, Jan. 8, in Anita for the annual CAM meet. It is set to begin at 5:30 pm in the CAM High School gym.