Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

SOLON – Somewhere along the line Zeb Gnida stopped counting how much time he has spent on a wrestling mat.  

Since kindergarten Gnida has devoted countless hours to the sport.

“It’s a lot of time,” Gnida said. “I try not to think about how much exactly but it’s a lot of time for sure.”

On Thursday it took Gnida less than a minute on the mat to complete one of the most impressive feats of his already stellar prep career.

Gnida needed just 58 seconds to pin Ben Gibson of Marion for career win 150 as Solon split a pair of duals in a WAMAC Conference triangular on senior night in Solon.

“He is on the mat as much as he can be and has really put in the time that you need to be successful like that,” Solon coach Blake Williams said. “You just don’t get 150 wins, you really have to work and really have to dedicate yourself to it and he really has. He loves the sport and he wants to get better every day.”  

Gnida won 32 matches as a freshman, narrowly missing a trip to the state meet.

Over the next two seasons Gnida would pile up 87 wins while earning state medals as a sophomore and junior.

“Freshman year was rough because I didn’t get a chance to show my stuff until sectionals,” Gnida said. “Sophomore year I really got a chance to show my stuff. Once I started getting on my game I knew I was going to get (150 wins).”

After a fourth-place finish at state at 120 pounds as a sophomore Gnida settled for a sixth-place finish at 132 pounds a year ago.

This season Gnida has found a perfect spot at 152 pounds where he is currently ranked third in Class 2A.

“Last year was tough because it was a lot of weight,” Gnida said. “This year I’ve handled that a lot better so I feel like my conditioning is better my technique is better and I can focus on that stuff more than just my weight.”

After picking up win 150 in his first match on Thursday, Gnida added a first-period fall against Jonathan Barns of Mount Vernon improving his season record to 32-4.

“I don’t think anything really phases him at this point,” Williams said. “He just goes out and wrestles as hard as he can and does the best he can and he is coachable on the mat.

Gnida has won 25 of his last 26 matches with only one of those 25 wins going all six minutes, a 11-3 major decision over Garret Arp of South Tama.

The lone loss for Gnida during that stretch came in the final of the J-Hawk Invitational on Monday to 3A top-ranked Eli Loyd of Pleasant Valley, a match that Gnida led 4-3 in the final 15 seconds.

“I took confidence from that loss because I felt like I worked the match,” Gnida said. “No disrespect to (Loyd) because he’s a buddy of mine and a great wrestler and great guy but I felt really, really good after that.”
The pin by Gnida against Marion was part of a string of six straight falls for the Spartans in a 51-28 win.

Solon couldn’t quite complete the senior night sweep, falling to Mount Vernon in the final match of the triangular.

The Spartans won seven matches in the dual that ended in a 36-36 tie but Mount Vernon earned the dual victory on criteria.

Solon trailed 30-6 after six weights but cut the lead to 33-30 behind pins from top-ranked Hayden Taylor at 145, Gnida at 52, third-ranked senior Jax Flynn at 170 and Seamus Poynton at 182.

Gage Marty earned a 7-1 win at 195 before Nash Altman recorded a 1-0 victory over Keaton Dennis at 285 to tie the score at 36-all.

“We’ve been in some close meets and this is an example of a meet where every single point matters,” Williams said. “Unfortunately the criteria didn’t go our way but that doesn’t change the fact I thought our kids fought we just have to fight a little more to save a team point or get a team point and there were a lot of points in that match that we could have.”

Mount Vernon 36, Solon 36 (Mount Vernon wins on criteria)

106 – Arnie Galvan (MV) won by forfeit

113 – Henry Ryan (MV) pinned Cheyenne Mulford :14

120 – Jaruthat Dervo (MV) pinned Kaden Lamm 3:25

126 – Jakobe Lahr (SOL) pinned Jacob Coon 2:21

132 – Henry Steine (MV) pinned Christian Jonathan Barnes Moore 1:43

138 – Walker Lawrence (MV) pinned Garrett Swan 3:27

145 – Hayden Taylor (SOL) pinned Tyler Stine :59

152 – Zeb Gnida (SOL) pinned Jonathan Barnes 1:39

160 – Trenton Pitlik (MV) dec. Lucas TePoel 5-4

170 – Jax Flynn (SOL) pinned Dylan Winkler :41

182 – Seamus Poynton (SOL) pinned Kayden Pendergrass 1:38

195 – Gage Marty (SOL) dec. Clark Younggreen 7-1

220 – Keean Kamerling (MV) dec. Erich Karsten 9-4

285 – Nash Altman (SOL) dec. Keaton Dennis 1-0

Solon 51, Marion 28

106 – Niyo Gady (MAR) won by forfeit

113 – Wesley Logan (MAR) pinned Cheyenne Mulford 1:38

120 – Rafael Boucher (MAR) major dec. Kaden Lamm 12-0

126 – Gaven Hiler (MAR) won by forfeit

132 – Jakobe Lahr (SOL) pinned Caden McQuerry :22

138 – Austin Fritz (MAR) pinned Christian Moore 5:36

145 – Ethan Swan (SOL) pinned Lance Wood 1:50

152 – Hayden Taylor (SOL) pinned Thomas McAllister 1:46

160 – Zeb Gnida (SOL) pinned Ben Gibson :58

170 – Jax Flynn (SOL) pinned Isaac Cechota 2:43

182 – Seamus Poynton (SOL) pinned Abraham Duval 3:06

195 – Gage Marty (SOL) pinned Austin Johnson :33

220 – Erich Karsten (SOL) won by forfeit

285 – Nash Altman (SOL) dec. Ayden Baker 1-0

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