Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – It wasn’t much more than a few hours after suffering his first loss of the season that Ryan Schott heard his phone.

It was a text from long-time friend and workout partner Nick Milder who had been handed his first loss of the year just minutes after Schott in the finals of the Gary Curtis Invitational.

The message from Milder was a simple question. Are you ready to get back to work?

“He text me on Saturday right after the tournament and asked if I wanted to ride together to practice on Sunday,” Schott said. “That’s when it clicked for both of us that if we want to get to where we want to be we have to worker harder than the people that are ahead of us.”

Milder and Schott haven’t stopped working or winning since.

Both Schott and Milder continued their strong seasons on Thursday posting perfect 3-0 performances at a River Valley Conference quadrangular at Regina.

Schott improved to 33-1 on the season with three wins on Thursday and has now won 10 straight matches since falling to Class 2A third-ranked Tristin Westphal-Edwards of Washington 4-2 back on January 6.

“It made me work way harder in the room,” Schott said of his lone loss. “After we both had

those losses we just realized we must not be working hard enough because we know our technique is there. We just needed to work harder in the room and that’s what really challenged since that weekend.”

Included in his current 10-match winning streak is a 3-1 sudden victory win over 2A’s then top-ranked 160-pounder Luke Hageman of Dyersville Beckman in the finals of the Cascade Invite last Saturday.

Schott is ranked third at 160 pounds in Class 1A in the latest rankings released by The Predicament on Thursday.

“Taking down the Beckman kid that is ranked number one really solidifies where he is at he just can’t be satisfied and he still knows he’s not done,” Regina coach Adam Martensen said. “The first thing he did that next practice is say that I need to work on this and I need to work on this. That’s what we need because he knows that he is still not where he needs to be to end up on the top of the podium and that’s where he wants to end up.”

Schott was impressive again on Thursday in his final matches at Regina.

The lone full-time starter in the Regina lineup, Schott had a pair of pins on senior night Thursday.

He needed 3:08 to pinned Austin Beaver of West Liberty and dispatched of Bellevue’s Luke Giesmann in 38 seconds.

“It was really special tonight,” Schott said. “I’ve been wrestling here since kindergarten and knowing that you aren’t going to wrestle again in this gym is tough knowing how much I have been through here since my dad was taking me to tournaments here.”

Milder matched his workout partner with three wins at 170 pounds including a first-period pin of AJ Lenz of West Liberty in his finale.

An injury in football caused Milder to get a late start to his junior season but he is working to return to the form that helped make him a state qualifier a year ago.

“My first week back I was really frustrated,” Milder said. “I just want to try to improve every week. I know this isn’t what I wanted but I can get to where I want to be by sectionals and districts.”

Milder won eight straight matches to open the season before his own 2-point setback on January 6 at Highland.

Since that loss Milder has gone 9-1, his lone setback a 7-1 decision to 2A top-ranked Kolton Bartow of Dubuque Wahlert in the Cascade Invitational finals last week.

“It definitely helps you refocus,” Milder said of his first loss. “The first thing my dad told me when I lost my match is you need to learn from it. If I would have won I don’t know if I would have focused as much on fixing things.”

Milder is ranked seventh in 1A at 170 pounds and brought his season record to 16-2 with three wins on Thursday.

“He is definitely getting there,” Martensen said. “He still has room to improve for sure and it just comes down to getting to his offense sooner and more often. The important thing is we are seeing progression from week to week so we will look to continue to have that progression and continue to push his offense.”

Regina went 1-2 on Thursday falling to West Liberty 70-12 and Bellevue 46-27 while knocking off Durant 60-12.

Bellevue 46, Regina 27

106 – Ryan Kilburg (BEL) pinned Seth Lenz 4:34

113 – Zach Roeder (BEL) won by forfeit

120 – Austin Michels (BEL) pinned Henry May 4:28

126 – Dustyn Talbot (BEL) won by forfeit

132 – Gentry Owen (BEL) pinned Levi Quinlan 3:40

138 – Theo Kolie (ICR) pinned Brandon Bowman 1:06

145 – Ethan Nemmers (BEL) major dec. Will Bobst 10-2

152 – Cade Smith (BEL) pinned Sean Nugent 1:47

160 – Ryan Schott (ICR) pinned Luke Giesmann :38

170 – Nick Milder (ICR) dec. Hunter Clasen 6-1

182 – Lucas Knief (BEL) pinned Drew Demory 1:23

195 – Rowan Udell (ICR) pinned Shayne Fite 1:26

220 – Isaac Vollstedt (ICR) won by forfeit

285 – Double forfeit

West Liberty 70, Regina 12

106 – Sam Gingerich (WL) won by forfeit

113 – Brian Collins (WL) won by forfeit

120 – Talen Dengler (WL) pinned Henry May :50

126 – Montana Herrold (WL) won by forfeit

132 – Will Esmoil (WL) pinned Levi Quinlan 1:53

138 – Coy Ruess (WL) pinned Theo Kolie 1:58

145 – Justis Bengler (WL) pinned Will Bobst 1:25

152 – Joe Kelly (WL) won by forfeit

160 – Ryan Schott (ICR) pinned Austin Beaver 3:09

170 – Nick Milder (ICR) pinned AJ Lenz 1:08

182 – Jackson Gingerich (WL) won by forfeit

195 – Bryce Esmoil (WL) major dec. Rowan Udell 10-2

220 – Kobe Simon (WL) pinned Isaac Vollstedt 2:32

285 – Andy Lopez (WL) won by forfeit

Regina 60, Durant 12

106 – Seth Lenz (ICR) won by forfeit

113 – Double forfeit

120 – Henry May (ICR) won by forfeit

126 – Double forfeit

132 – Levi Quinlan (ICR) won by forfeit

138 – Theo Kolie (ICR) won by forfeit

145 – Will Bobst (ICR) won by forfeit

152 – Cameron Ragurrio (DUR) pinned Sean Nugent 1:47

160 – Ryan Schott (ICR) won by forfeit

170 – Nick Milder (ICR) won by forfeit

182 – Drew Demory (ICR) won by forfeit

195 – Rowan Udell (ICR) won by forfeit

220 – Isaac Vollstedt (ICR) won by forfeit

285 – Mason Bird (DUR) won by forfeit