By Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – The record for City High in Mississippi Valley Conference duals this season says the Little Hawks are the same as they were last season, 4-2.

Anyone who watched City High blow past Cedar Rapids Kennedy and Cedar Rapids Washington in an MVC double dual on Thursday night knows these aren’t the same Little Hawks of the past few seasons.

City High gave a glimpse of how far it has come in a year with a 52-20 win over Kennedy, a team that defeated the Little Hawks 46-34 last season.

The Little Hawks won a combined 21 matches in the two duals on Thursday, capping the double dual with a 57-16 win over Cedar Rapids Washington.

“We are 4-2 this year, we were 4-2 last year but we are a lot more competitive within those duals,” City High coach Cory Connell said. “Last year we lost to Kennedy, so it was nice to beat Kennedy who beat us last year.”

City High had seven pins among its 10 wins in the victory over Kennedy and added five more pins against Washington.

The 2-0 performance came a week after City High fell to Dubuque Hempstead 48-23 in a double dual in Dubuque and improved the Little Hawks to 12-6 in dual meets this season.

“Last week was kind of a rough week for us so coming back strong today was a big thing,” City High junior Jacob Dykes said. “Last year we got beat pretty handily by Kennedy so to come out and show them where we have come in a year under coach Connell is big.”

City High started fast and never let up against the Cougars.

Wilfred Kadohou opened the dual with a first-period pin of Spencer Bevins at 152 pounds and Kyle Hefley followed with a 10-5 win over Hunter Erickson at 160.

Only two matches were decided by less than six points and City High won both as freshman Ethan Wood-Finley added a 4-0 win over Ben Hoeger at 106 pounds.

“I knew going into that dual we could win 12 matches or it could be a one-point dual,” Connell said. “I knew it was going to come down to close matches and the matches that were close we won them all. That was the biggest thing is that we pulled out the close matches.”

Dykes bumped up to 220 pounds and pinned Sam Pape in the second period to put City High up 24-12.

With a pin of Washington’s Jared Scherrman in his final match of the evening, Dykes improved to 30-0 on the season.

“I don’t really mind going up, that’s what’s best for the team,” Dykes said. “You have to do what you have to do.”

In an evening that proved the growth City High has made in a season its freshman 106 pounder showed how far he has come in a month.

Wood-Finley was pinned by Kennedy freshman Ben Hoeger at the Five Seasons Invite back on December 10th.

On Thursday Wood-Finley used takedowns in the first and third periods to pick up a 4-0 decision over Hoeger.

“This time around I stayed on my offense more,” Wood-Finley said. “I didn’t let him hit his offense as much.”

The win improved Wood-Finley to 23-13 on the season and gave City High a commanding 32-12 lead in the dual.

“A lot of it is mental,” Wood-Finley said. “Coach just told me that the last time I wrestled him it was close and I should have gotten him and this time I just went out and got him.”

City High cruised from there.

Michael Santoro (113), Lance Bormann (126), Joey Harney (132) and Alex Kooker (145) all added pins as City High put the match away.

“Last week I thought was a real down week, when we wrestled Hempstead, when we wrestled senior I thought we weren’t there mentally or physically so I wasn’t very happy last week,” Connell said. “We showed up against Kennedy.

 

City High 52, Cedar Rapids Kennedy 20

106 – Ethan Wood-Finley (ICH) dec. Ben Hoeger 4-0

113 – Michael Santoro (ICH) pinned Gabe Long 4:29

120 – Cam Shaver (CRK) maj. dec. Ryan Ceynar 16-3

126 – Lance Bormann (ICH) pinned Dylan Falck 5:56

132 – Joey Harney (ICH) pinned Cole Curfman 1:02

138 – Dylan Ironside (CRK) maj. dec. Bryan Berg 9-1

145 – Alex Kooker (ICH) pinned Noah Cunningham 5:41

152 – Wilfred Kadohou (ICH) pinned Spencer Bevins 1:47

160 – Kyle Hefley (ICH) dec. Hunter Erickson 10-5

170 – Ben Sarasin (CRK) pinned Brandon Lalla :24

182 – Brock Hunger (ICH) pinned Cade Parker 1:56

195 – Garrett Kubovec (CRK) pinned Brandon Tigrett :48

220 – Jacob Dykes (ICH) pinned Sam Pape 3:41

285 – Jordain Buckland (ICH) maj. dec. Josh Vis 8-0

City High 57, Cedar Rapids Washington 16

106 – Ethan Wood-Finley (ICH) won by forfeit

113 – Aden Abram (CRW) dec. Michael Santoro 9-3

120 – Ryan Ceynar (ICH) pinned Jason Techau 1:43

126 – Will Foreman (CRW) maj. dec. Lance Bormann 20-7

132 – Joey Harney (ICH) pinned Caleb Velasquez :36

138 – Bryan Berg (ICH) won by forfeit

145 – Logan Sears (CRW) dec. Jack Anson 5-3

152 – Wilfred Kadohou (ICH) pinned Jabari Walls 1:28

160 – Kyle Hefley (ICH) dec. Tyonchi Johnson 6-4

170 – Brandon Lalla (ICH) pinned Brooklyn Butler 3:26

182 – Brock Hunger (ICH) won by forfeit

195 – Jacob Dykes (ICH) pinned Jared Scherrman 2:43

220 – William Faulkner (CRW) won by forfeit

285 – Jacob Murry (ICH) won by forfeit