RICHLAND CENTER — The short-handed and banged up Iowa–Grant/Highland wrestling team had its share of ups and downs at Saturday’s SWC/SWAL Clash conference tournament.

Senior Kyle Soderstrom turned in a stellar day on the mats to win the 220-pound title, while fellow senior Luke Nowak (170 pounds), and freshmen Max Maylor (120) and Brady Peat (160) all reached the finals, before finishing second.

However, the Panthers also had three empty slots in their lineup and four wrestlers that failed to place in the top eight.

The I–G co-op finished seventh with 169.5 points behind Fennimore (317.5), Mineral Point (234), River Valley (208), Riverdale (194.5), Darlington/Black Hawk (175) and Dodgeville (172).

“We didn’t wrestle our best, but I think we can get there by Saturday,” said “We need everyone to be healthy and peaking at the right time, in order to make some noise at our regionals, as it will be a tough one.”

Iowa–Grant/Highland will travel to Lancaster for a loaded WIAA Division 3 regional that includes the host Arrows, Fennimore, Mineral Point, Darlington/Black Hawk, Pec/Argyle and River Ridge/Cassville.

Soderstrom advanced to the 220-pound finals with a bye, a 52-second pin of Fennimore’s Cody McCollough and a 9–2 semifinal victory over Darlington/Black Hawk’s Taylor Evenstad. Soderstrom then gutted out a 3–2 decision over Mineral Point’s Nate Cody in the finals.

“Kyle Soderstrom wrestled extremely well and I was very proud of him,” said Allen. “I have never seen him wrestle this well and it’s very exciting to watch him.  He will be ready for regionals as well.”

Soderstrom was a state qualifier and Clash runner-up at 195 pounds a year ago as a junior.

Nowak, who won the 160-pound D3 state title as well as the 160-pound conference title, lost the 170-pound championship match to Riverdale senior Jared Roen, 3–1. Roen is a three-time conference champion.

“Luke little a little sluggish in the finals against Roen, but I expect him to be ready to go at regionals,” said Allen.

Nowak advanced to the finals with a bye, a pin of Boscobel’s Preston Baker and a 19–3 tech fall of Fennimore’s Brandon Ashmore.

Maylor reached the 120-pound finals with a bye, a tech fall and a 12–4 major decision over River Valley’s Nate Jennings. Maylor then lost an 8–6 decision to fellow freshman Alston Nutter or Fennimore.

“Max did a nice job today in getting second,” said Allen. “He looked pretty solid even in the loss to Nutter in the finals. The faster Max realizes he is good enough to beat good wrestlers without using high-risk moves, the faster he will reach his goals. He just needs to keep it basic.”

Peat used a bye, a 15–0 tech fall and a first-period semifinal pin of Prairie du Chien/Wauzeka’s Stephen Ronnfeldt to reach the 160-pound championship. Peat then lost a narrow 4–2 decision to Mineral Point’s Scott Pittz.

“Brady seems to improve with every match and should make some noise at regionals and sectionals,” said Allen.

@font-face { font-family: " "; }@font-face { font-family: "Cambria Math"; }@font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }@font-face { font-family: "NewCenturySchlbk-Roman"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Cambria; }p.BODYTEXTUSE, li.BODYTEXTUSE, div.BODYTEXTUSE { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 9pt; line-height: 10.5pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: NewCenturySchlbk-Roman; color: black; }.MsoChpDefault { font-size: 10pt; font-family: Cambria; }div.WordSection1 { page: WordSection1; } Sophomore Sawyer Sarbacker went 2–2 and finished fourth at 106 pounds. Senior Brent Rider also went 2–2 and finished fourth at 285. Sophomore Ronny Allen went 1–2 and placed sixth at 113.

SWC/SWAL Clash
(from Saturday, Feb. 7 @ Rich. Center)
Team scores — 1.Fennimore 317.5, 2.Mineral Point 234, 3.River Valley 208, 4.Riverdale 194.5, 5.Darlington/Black Hawk 175, 6.Dodgeville 172, 7.Iowa–Grant/Highland 169.5, 8.Richland Center 147, 9.Prairie du Chien/Wauzeka–Steuben 139, 10.Lancaster 109.5, 11.Cuba City/Southwestern 87, 12.Boscobel 53, 13.Belmont/Platteville 30.
Iowa–Grant individual results
106 — Sawyer Sarbacker (7-3) placed 4th and scored 20.00 team points.
Quarterfinal - Sawyer Sarbacker (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 7-3 won by fall over Blake Garcia (Prairie du Chien/Wauzeka-Stueben) 5-4 (Fall 4:17)
Semifinal - Zach Licht (River Valley) 9-0 won by decision over Sawyer Sarbacker (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 7-3 (Dec 7-4)
3rd Place Match - Isaac Wiegel (Belmont/Platteville) 7-2 won by decision over Sawyer Sarbacker (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 7-3 (Dec 3-2)
113 — Ron Allen (6-3) placed 6th and scored 12.00 team points.
Quarterfinal - Kolten Achenbach (Richland Center) 4-5 won by fall over Ron Allen (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 6-3 (Fall 1:37)
Cons. Semi - Ron Allen (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 6-3 won by decision over Paul King (Darlington/Blackhawk) 4-5 (Dec 11-10)
5th Place Match - Brandon Mindham (Boscobel) 3-1 won by fall over Ron Allen (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 6-3 (Fall 0:45)
120 — Max Maylor (8-2) placed 2nd and scored 26.50 team points.
Quarterfinal - Max Maylor (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 8-2 won by tech fall over Tylor Miller (Richland Center) 4-4 (TF-1.5 4:00 (15-0))
Semifinal - Max Maylor (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 8-2 won by major decision over Nate Jennings (River Valley) 8-1 (MD 12-4)
1st Place Match - Alston Nutter (Fennimore) 10-0 won by decision over Max Maylor (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 8-2 (Dec 8-6)
132 — Clayton Kite (1-7) place is unknown and scored 0.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Mason Wipperfurth (River Valley) 7-2 won by fall over Clayton Kite (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 1-7 (Fall 4:00)
Cons. Round 2 - Hunter Wardell (Fennimore) 7-3 won by fall over Clayton Kite (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 1-7 (Fall 1:43)
138 — Trenton Arndt (2-6) place is unknown and scored 0.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Noah Durst (Dodgeville) 7-2 won by major decision over Trenton Arndt (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 2-6 (MD 11-0)
Cons. Round 2 - Logan Lomen (Prairie du Chien/Wauzeka-Stueben) 4-5 won by fall over Trenton Arndt (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 2-6 (Fall 4:45)
145 — McClain Marshall (2-5) place is unknown and scored 4.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - McClain Marshall (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 2-5 won by fall over David Kaiser (Belmont/Platteville) 1-5 (Fall 1:31)
Quarterfinal - Boone Schmitz (Mineral Point) 9-1 won by fall over McClain Marshall (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 2-5 (Fall 3:01)
Cons. Round 2 - Reese Dressler (Prairie du Chien/Wauzeka-Stueben) 4-3 won by decision over McClain Marshall (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 2-5 (Dec 10-6)
160 — Brady Peat (9-1) placed 2nd and scored 27.50 team points.
Quarterfinal - Brady Peat (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 9-1 won by tech fall over Grey Genzoli (Belmont/Platteville) 1-7 (TF-1.5 2:42 (15-0))
Semifinal - Brady Peat (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 9-1 won by fall over Stephen Ronnfeldt (Prairie du Chien/Wauzeka-Stueben) 6-3 (Fall 1:51)
1st Place Match - Scott Pittz (Mineral Point) 10-0 won by decision over Brady Peat (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 9-1 (Dec 4-2)
170 — Luke Nowak (9-1) placed 2nd and scored 27.50 team points.
Quarterfinal - Luke Nowak (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 9-1 won by fall over Preston Baker (Boscobel) 5-5 (Fall 2:28)
Semifinal - Luke Nowak (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 9-1 won by tech fall over Brandon Ashmore (Fennimore) 6-2 (TF-1.5 3:27 (19-3))
1st Place Match - Jared Roen (Riverdale) 9-1 won by decision over Luke Nowak (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 9-1 (Dec 3-1)
182 — Clint Havlik (2-6) place is unknown and scored 0.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Tye Schafer (Prairie du Chien/Wauzeka-Stueben) 6-4 won by fall over Clint Havlik (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 2-6 (Fall 3:56)
Cons. Round 2 - Andrew Evenson (Dodgeville) 4-5 won by fall over Clint Havlik (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 2-6 (Fall 0:29)
220 — Kyle Soderstrom (9-0) placed 1st and scored 30.00 team points.
Quarterfinal - Kyle Soderstrom (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 9-0 won by fall over Cody McCollough (Fennimore) 6-5 (Fall 0:52)
Semifinal - Kyle Soderstrom (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 9-0 won by decision over Taylor Evenstad (Darlington/Blackhawk) 8-2 (Dec 9-2)
1st Place Match - Kyle Soderstrom (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 9-0 won by decision over Nate Cody (Mineral Point) 8-2 (Dec 3-2)
285 — Brent Rider (5-5) placed 4th and scored 18.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Brent Rider (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 5-5 received a bye () (Bye)
Quarterfinal - Brent Rider (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 5-5 won by decision over Shelby Jones (Dodgeville) 7-1 (Dec 8-4)
Semifinal - Zach Wolf (Darlington/Blackhawk) 9-1 won by fall over Brent Rider (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 5-5 (Fall 1:31)
3rd Place Match - Deven O`Brien (Fennimore) 8-2 won by fall over Brent Rider (Iowa-Grant/Highland) 5-5 (Fall 3:41) (Dec 8-4)