Kurtz and Willey Win Titles For City High at MVC Tournament
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
CEDAR RAPIDS – At 220 pounds Kane Willey certainly isn’t the biggest heavyweight in the Mississippi Valley Conference.
On Saturday staked his claim as the best of the big men in the MVC.
Willey won the heavyweight title in his first appearance at the MVC tournament on Saturday at Cedar Rapids Xavier helping City High to a fifth-place team finish.
“I don’t think he knew how good he could be at heavyweight until he got in there and now he’s starting to believe he can,” City High coach Cory Connell said. “At first he thought he was getting lucky, then he saw he could actually compete and now he’s starting to believe he is the guy.”
Willey went 24-12 as a 190-pounder at Wilton last season as a sophomore.
Last fall Willey played defensive line for City High and gained plenty of experience facing against bigger opponents.
This winter he has turned the lessons he learned on the football into success on the wrestling mat.
“It definitely knocked down a wall that size isn’t always the thing matters its about how much fight you have,” Willey said. “If you are going to go out smaller and give 50 percent effort you are going to get your butt kicked.”
In his first season in a City High singlet Willey has progressed steadily while making the jump to heavyweight.
Willey has won 15 of 17 matches since making the jump to heavyweight last month with the lone two losses coming to top-six ranked wrestlers.
“I think I’ve improved on my shots,” Willey said. “When I started I took no shots because I thought if I got under some of these guys they weight so much they are going to crumple me like a stick but I’ve definitely gotten past that.”
Willey showed his improvement and potential on Saturday in his run to the MVC title.
Class 3A No. 10 Willey (20-5) went 3-0 on Saturday with a first-period pin and a 10-1 major decision before earning a 5-4 decision over 3A No. 12 Anthony Keys of Cedar Rapids Kennedy in the championship match.
“Honestly no, I wasn’t even thinking about winning this tournament at the start of the year,” Willey said. “I was just looking to get better for football but my coach has told me I can be a very high state placer so I’m going to keep going.”
Willey joined senior Kendall Kurtz atop the MVC award stand on Saturday.
Kurtz won the 120-pound title with a 5-4 win over West High’s Matthew Tran in the championship match.
It was the first MVC title in four tries for Kurtz who had finished eighth, fourth and fifth the previous three seasons.
“I didn’t realize until after I won that this was the first time winning this tournament,” Kurtz said. “It feels good winning. Every day I’ve been putting in the work and time and effort. I am making sure I can be the type of wrestler that wins these tournaments.”
Seventh-ranked Kurtz (30-5) went 3-0 with a tech fall and a second-period pin before the win over Tran in the title match.
“He’s beaten multiple kids that he’s never beaten before,” Connell said of Kurtz. “He’d start a match in the second or third period. He’d be down 10 points and then say lets wrestle and he’d lose my one point. Now he’s wrestling from the first second.”
Kurtz and Willey headlined a group of six top-five finishers for City High.
Donovan Gipson (18-8) was third at 138 pounds and Raphael Etuma (28-10) was third at 215 pounds.
Freshman Marshall Sheldon (24-14) was fourth at 165 pounds and Laith Alawneh (28-14) was fifth at 150 pounds.
Mississippi Valley Conference Meet
At Cedar Rapids Xavier High School
Team scores – 1. Linn-Mar 227; 2. West High 178.5; 3. Cedar Rapids Xavier 178; 4. Cedar Rapids Prairie 161.5; 5. City High 149; 6. Dubuque Hempstead 138.5; 7. Western Dubuque 134.5; 8. Liberty High 115; 9. Cedar Falls 104; 9. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 104; 11. Waterloo West 60.5; 12. Cedar Rapids Washington 50; 13. Dubuque Wahlert 42; 14. Cedar Rapids Jefferson 28.5; 14. Dubuque Senior 28.5
Individual results (championship matches, area placewinners)
106 – 1. Chase Watkinson (CRP) tech. fall Abe Heysinger (DH) 15-0; 5. Connor McGonegle (ICL); 6. Owen Smock (ICW); 7. Jack Litton (ICH)
113 – 1. Alexander Pierce (ICW) dec. Dylan Munson (CRP) 10-3; 5. Konstantinos Panos (ICL)
120 – 1. Kendall Kurtz (ICH) dec. Matthew Tran (ICW) 5-4; 4. Benjamin Rosen (ICL)
126 – 1. Malik DeBow (L-M) major dec. Evan Simpson (CF) 11-1; 7. Asher Eisenbach (ICL)
132 – 1. Mitchell Murphy (DH) dec. Jack Foster (CRX) 11-10; 4. Rex Edmonds (ICL); 6. Charles Barnhouse (ICW); 7. Chris Davis (ICH)
138 – 1. Cole Krutzfeldt (ICW) tech. fall Hud Turner (L-M) 15-0; 3. Donovan Gipson (ICH)
144 – 1. Will Casey (WD) medical forfeit Aidan Ehlinger (L-M); 5. Mason Karam (ICL); 8. Alex Holmes (ICH)
150 – 1. Justin Avila (ICW) major dec. Noah Howk-Erwin (L-M) 10-2; 5. Laith Alawneh (ICH)
157 – 1. Joe Hirsch (WD) dec. Brayden Fish (L-M) 4-1; 3. Campbell Janis (ICW); 7. Jude Seebeck (ICH)
165 – 1. Barrett Mieras (L-M) pinned Sterling Warren (ICW) :48; 4. Marshall Shelson (ICH)
175 – 1. Landon Bell (ICL) dec. Louden Bloxham (CRP) 5-0; 7. Mason Tilley (ICH)
190 – 1. Dusty Cook (CRX) dec. Wyatt Young (CRW) 11-8; 6. Ethan Barber (ICL)
215 – 1. Jean Ngoma (CRX) dec. Camden Smith 6-2; 3. Raphael Etuma (ICH)
285 – 1. Kane Willey (ICH) dec. Anthony Keys (CRK) 5-4; 3. Randale Kelly (ICW)
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