Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Rowan Udell ran off the mat and straight into the bleachers following the 195-pound title match at Saturday’s Regina Invitational.

Still out of breath and dripping sweat Udell began handing out hugs, handshakes and high fives to a large contingent of Regal fans.

That is the beauty of winning a tournament at home, everyone gets to share in the fun.

Udell earned his chance to celebrate a home tournament title after an impressive 4-1 win over sixth-ranked Tyler Thurston of North Cedar in the 195-pound championship match.  

“It feels pretty great especially since all my friends and family can see me wrestle and compete against guys that are really good,” Udell said. “A win at home feels pretty good.”

Udell highlighted a strong day for Regina which got a runner-up finish from sophomore 285-pound Caden Shetler and a third-place finish from Sam Aitchison at 138 pounds.

Tipton won the team title with 125.5 points, 12.5 better than runner-up Columbus/Winfield Mount-Union. Regina finished seventh at the 12-team meet with 80 points.

“They came out and attacked and were aggressive,” first-year Regina head coach Zach Ries said. “We saw some good things to keep building on as we work toward February.”

Udell certainly earned the first Regina Invitational title of his career with back-to-back decisions over strong competitors.

The senior handed Tyreese Johnson (13-1) of Davenport West his first loss of the season with a 11-9 sudden victory win in the semifinals.

Seventh-ranked Udell then used a second-period reversal and a late takedown to secure a 4-1 decision over Thurston in the title match.

“I think I’ve gotten better at just coming off the beginning of the match harder and not waiting to wrestle hard until the middle of the second or third period,” Udell said. “Just wrestling hard from the get go.”

Udell was 25-9 last season as a junior and improved to 15-0 this year with his 3-0 performance on Saturday that also featured a first-period pin of Tipton’s Jerry Havill in the quarterfinals.  

“I feel like I can get a lot better even from where I am right now,” Udell said. “I still think I have a lot of room to improve.”

After a scoreless opening period Udell took a 2-0 lead 12 seconds in the second period of the 195-pound title match.

Udell started on bottom and quickly got loose from Thurston but rather than settling for a point immediately reshot and turned and reshot for what ruled a reversal.

“Being on bottom is a mindset, if you want to get ridden you are going to stay ridden but if you want to get out you are going to get out you just have to put three or four moves together it’s a mindset and he has that,” Ries said. “He’s a great leader for us.”

Udell kept his 2-0 lead intact by riding Thurston (16-3) for the final 1:45 of the period.

Thurston started the third period down and Udell rode him for another 45 seconds before allowing an escape.

“That mindset on bottom translates over to being the hammer on top,” Ries said. “He has to wrestle against bigger guys all the time in practice so he’s always working with that added weight and he has that mindset of a champion.”

Leading 2-1 Udell put the match away when he countered a Thurston shot for the matches’ only takedown with 13 seconds left.

“I tried to work on that over the summer a lot just countering and reshooting,” Udell said. “I just had to finish it out.”

Shetler went 2-1 with a pair of pins to earn a runner-up finish at 285 pounds.

With his 2-1 performance on Saturday Shetler improved to 8-8 on the season to match his win total from all of his freshman season.

“I’ve already beaten my record I had last year by two matches and I hope to keep adding to it,” Shetler said. “Heavyweight has always been dominated by older guys and so it’s been a challenge but I like it.”

Regina Invitational

Team scores – 1. Tipton 125.5; 2. Columbus/Winfield-Mount Union 113; 3. Davenport West 105.5; 4. Pekin 104; 5. Sigourney 91; 5. WACO 91; 7. Regina 80; 8. Fairfield 74; 9. H-L-V 51; 10. West Branch 46; 11. North Cedar 44; 12. Mount Pleasant 37

Championship matches; Area placewinners

106 – 1. Lane Scorpil (COL) pinned Ayden Nicklaus (DW) 2:53

113 – 1. Travis Hodges (DW) pinned Zach Westercamp (FAI) 1:48

120 – 1. Carson Coleman (MP) dec. Jonah Cooper (FAI) 11-6; 3. Quinn Hayden (WB)

126 – 1. Jalen Collins (WAC) dec. Mason Dye (SIG) 12-10

132 – 1. Austin Lenz (TIP) pinned Garrett Palmer (COL) 2:31; 4. Logan Keeler (WB)

138 – 1. Michael Jones (PEK) pinned Marcus Kolesar (H-L-V) 5:45; 3. Sam Aitchison (ICR); 5. Jaxson Kaalberg (WB)

145 – 1. Brody Hawtrey (NC) dec. Jonah Clark (WAC) 7-3; 5. Sean Nugent (ICR); 6. Joe Seydel (WB)

152 – 1. Cameron Rice (COL) pinned Cael Baker (PEK) :29; 5. Will Bobst (ICR)

160 – 1. Jaden Williams (WAC) major dec. Skyler Schmidt (TIP) 11-3; 5. Will Freeman (ICR)

170 – 1. Noah Freeman (COL) dec. Dylan Tomlinson (DW) 2-0; 4. Danny Gavin (ICR)

182 – 1. Lucas Barnum (TIP) pinned Robert Loveless (COL) 3:48; 3. Morgan Hartz (WB)

195 – 1. Rowan Udell (ICR) dec. Tyler Thurston (NC) 4-1

220 – 1. Mason Juhl (PEK) pinned Clayton Broderson (DW) 2:53; 6. Dalyn Pedersen (WB)

285 – 1. Kody Timm (H-L-V) pinned Caden Shetler (ICR) 1:57

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