Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – City High had already put together its best season in more than a decade prior to Wednesday’s regional dual meet.

The Little Hawks added another achievement to its season resume and the Little Hawks did it emphatically.

Class 3A sixth-ranked City High won the first six matches and rolled to 53-16 win over No. 13 Western Dubuque (21-8) in the regional dual finals to secure its first trip to the state dual meet since 2006.

“It means a lot, it really does, I’m not going to downplay that,” City High coach Cory Connell said. “From where we were when I first got here to where we are now, for the coaches for the wrestlers it really truly means a lot.”

City High (25-2) didn’t just return to the state dual meet on Wednesday, it steamrolled its way to Des Moines.

The Little Hawks won 10 matches, seven by fall and never trailed while snapping a more than decade long drought without a state duals appearance.

“It’s really big, we haven’t done this since 2006,” City High senior Lance Bormann said. “It’s kind of starting to cap off what we’ve been trying to do with getting our program going again.

The dominating regional win continued an impressive two-week stretch for City High.

City High won its first Mississippi Valley Conference regular season dual title since 2006 and claimed its first MVC Super Meet crown since 2002 in a three-day span last month.

The Little Hawks will face third-ranked Waukee (20-4) in the quarterfinals of the Class 3A state dual meet at 9 a.m. on February 14 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

“The kids have great opportunities in front of them and so far we have taken advantage of the opportunities,” Connell said. “We have another opportunity on Saturday that we want to take care of at districts and then next week Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday we have a lot more work to do.”

The Little Hawks were at their best on Wednesday.

Seventh-ranked sophomore Ethan Wood-Finley (37-4) started the dual with a bang, pinning Dawson Bierman in 1:41 at 106 pounds to open the dual.

Garrett Bormann (25-15) followed with a first-period pin of Jaylan Kidd at 113 and City High led 12-0 before fans could settle into their seats.

“Obviously it was a big dual and we knew if we came out ready to take care of business we would be good,” Bormann said. “We did a good job starting with Ethan who went out there ready to go and got a pin and we kept it going.”

Major decisions from Michael Santoro (19-19) at 120 and No. 7 Lance Bormann (33-6) at 132 and pins from Reece Caven (29-10) at 126 and No. 9 Joey Harney (34-5) at 138 put City High up 32-0 after six matches.

The Little Hawks never let up.

Seventh-ranked Kyle Hefley (39-1) won a 5-3 decision over fifth-ranked Ryker Kurimski in the match of the night at 152 and Fourth-ranked Wilfred Kadohou (34-6) secured the dual win with a first-period pin of Levi Burds at 160 pounds.

“It was fun to watch,” Connell said. “106, 13, 20, 26, 32, 38 all come out here and fought hard,” Connell said. “52 beat a ranked kid, 60 got a pin and it’s fun to watch them when they get on a roll and they compete like that.”  

Hefley scored a pair of first-period takedowns to build a 4-1 lead and rode Kurimski for the entire second period.

“It’s been a huge jump for us,” Hefley said. “We are finally starting to make that uphill climb and we are starting to reach that peak.”

Second-ranked Jacob Dykes (36-1) added a first-period pin at 195 and Jacob Murry put the finishing touches on the win with a pin of Nathan Simon at 285.

“We don’t have a weak spot in our lineup,” Dykes said. “You can go up and down and get pins and by the time you reach our upper tier guys the dual is already decided.”

City High 53, Western Dubuque 16

106 – Ethan Wood-Finley (ICH) pinned Dawson Bierman 1:41

113 – Garrett Bormann (ICH) pinned Jaylan Kidd 1:52

120 – Michael Santoro (ICH) major dec. Joseph Gamblin 13-4

126 – Reece Caven (ICH) pinned Dakota Lau 2:29

132 – Lance Bormann (ICH) major decision J.D. Kluesner 10-2

138 – Joey Harney (ICH) pinned Trenton Miller :27

145 – Elijah Demmer (WD) major dec. Jack Anson 11-1

152 – Kyle Hefley (ICH) dec. Ryker Kurimski 5-3

160 – Wilfred Kadohou (ICH) pinned Levi Burds 1:24

170 – Jake Hosch (WD) dec. Brandon Lalla 11-8

182 – Jedison Lux Morales (WD) pinned Dan Gustafson 1:40

195 – Jacob Dykes (ICH) pinned Tim Feltes 1:37

220 – Jason Simon-Ressler (WD) dec. Jason Lemus 4-3

285 – Jacob Murry (ICH) pinned Nathan Simon 3:16