Coming off a strong meet in Audubon, the Trojans traveled to Creston and picked up two Hawkeye 10 Dual wins on Tuesday, Dec. 4, to bring their dual record to 5-0. The wrestlers competed against Creston and Red Oak, defeating the Panthers 40-27 and the Tigers, ranked fifth in a preseason poll, with a score of 48-23. “We really proved that we are a better team than people think we are,” said sophomore Payton Fewson.

Throughout the evening, the wrestlers were able to take 10 pins between the two teams, with an even spread of five from each dual. Fewson said, “We all gave good efforts and we competed together. We wrestled our best.” Pins against Creston were made by Chase McLaren (138), Connor Pellett (152), Aybren Moore (113), Cale Roller (285) and Garrett McLaren (106), along with a major decision from Kadin Stutzman (145) and decisions from Steele McLaren (126) and Joe Weaver (120), with Weaver winning in the final 20 seconds of the match. “I felt like I wrestled good. I just knew that if I kept shooting my shots I could take him down,” he said. An open spot at 220 for the Atlantic-CAM Trojans caused a forfeit to be given to Kendall Crawford of Creston.

While competing against the Tigers, two Trojans were able unable to wrestle because of open weight classes. G. Mclaren and S. McLaren each received six points for forfeits to add to the team score. C. McLaren, Stutzman, Weaver, Jaxon Bell (132) and Fewson (160) all secured pins in their matches. Roller earned three points for the Trojans in a sudden victory, which is a one minute overtime period. Pellett also won his match in a decision, with a score of 7-1. With another open spot in the 220 weight class, the Trojans were forced to give up six points to Thomas Bently of Red Oak.

The Atlantic-CAM Trojans will be competing at the Council Bluffs Wrestling Classic on December 7 and 8 at the Mid-America Center. The JV team will also be traveling to Southeast Polk for a tournament on Saturday, Dec. 8.