PREP WRESTLING: Huskies claim conference title

JACKSON — Cameron Henning had been waiting all week to get his hands on Jared Willaby.

Henning sparked the Jackson County Central wrestling team to clinch its ninth Southwest Conference regular season dual team championship in the last 10 years after gaining a 4-2 overtime decision against Willaby at 126 pounds.

The Class 1A, No. 1-ranked Huskies used the momentum of Henning’s emotional victory en route to defeating the Windom/Mountain Lake Cobras 43-25 on Friday in a battle of the SWC’s top two teams at Jackson County Central High School.

JCC improved to 17-2 overall and 6-0 against the Southwest Conference. Windom/Mountain Lake is 7-8 overall and 5-1 in league action.

Henning said he had been preparing for Willaby.

“He likes to hold onto the hands and, then, go into front head positions,” Henning said of Willaby. “We had been working on this (in practice) all week because we knew he was going to do it.”

Willaby took a 1-0 second-period lead after escaping from Henning. Then a third-period reversal gave Henning a 2-1 edge before Willaby forced extra time with a late escape.

Henning, a senior, said he used the knowledge he had of Willaby and executed it aggressively.

The result was a bout-winning takedown in overtime for Henning, who handed Jackson County Central a three-point decision and, for the Huskies, their first lead (9-8) in the dual.

“We knew that was going to be a good match because they had close match that Henning won earlier this season,” JCC head coach Randy Baker said. “(Willaby) is a tough customer because he doesn’t give you much. I think we took a little momentum from them after that win.”

Cobras’ head coach Brad Scholmann

“It was a really good match between two really good wrestlers,” Schlomann said. “It was a great match to watch for the fans, the wrestlers and the coaches. After that, we ran into the horses JCC has in the middle of its lineup.”

Jackson County Central took control after that.

“Once we get going, it seems like our momentum doesn’t stop,” Henning said. “It’s like a train that keeps on chugging.”

The Huskies won four of the next five weight classes to increase their advantage to 31-12.

At 132, JCC’s Elliot Jurries pinned Danny Kneeland in 68 seconds. At 138, Dylan Riggle scored a 17-3 major decision against Jacob Suess. At 152, Paden Moore pinned Ben Matter in 4:49. At 160, Keegan Moore pinned Andrew Larson in 4:56.

The Cobras’ only victory during that span came at 145, where Clay Hockel produced a 10-2 major decision against Kyle Kapplinger.

At 170, Windom/Mountain Lake’s Gavin Mutz slowed JCC’s momentum momentarily by winning a 6-4 decision over Travis Beeck.

Two of the next three bouts resulted in pins for the Huskies.

At 182, Darick Vancura needed 19 seconds to pin the Cobras’ Jake Junker. At 220, JCC’s Jack Ziemer used 67 seconds to pin Aaron Flatgard as the Huskies went ahead 43-21.

In between, at 195, Windom/Mountain Lake’s Vince Johnson had pinned John Marker in 38 seconds.

The Cobras’ claimed the 285-pound clash as Neil Liftin shut out Nate Horn 8-0.

Baker said Jackson County Central and Windom/Mountain Lake have developed an intense, but friendly rivalry on the mat.

“The wrestle us hard and they have improved since the beginning of the year,” Baker said of the Cobras. “Their record might not show it, but they have lost some close matches and they have been in some tough ones, but they hang in there pretty well.”

The Cobras lost 33-32 to Class 2A, No. 7-ranked Adrian on Jan. 24. Windom-Mountain Lake won 31-30 against Pipestone Area (14-5, 4-2), which currently stands third in the SWC.

Windom/Mountain Lake took an 8-0 lead against JCC after Wyatt Stevens scored a 16-1 technical fall over Ryker VanderWoude at 106 and Joe Fischenich blanked Kyle Edlin 6-0 at 113.

Jackson County Central honored two of its own — former wrestler and current assistant coach Troy Schultz and longtime referee Bruce Bakalyar — by inducting them into the Jackson County Wrestling Hall of Fame with a ceremony before the varsity dual Friday.

JACKSON COUNTY CENTRAL 43,

WINDOM/MOUNTAIN LAKE 25

106: Stevens (W/ML) technical fall VanderWoude, 16-1, 4:00. 113: Fischenich (W/ML) decision Edlin, 6-0. 120: Biehn (JCC) pin Quiring, 1:24. 126: Henning (JCC) decision Willaby, 4-2, OT. 132: Jurries (JCC) pin Kneeland, 1:08. 138: Riggle (JCC) major decision Suess, 17-3. 145: Hockel (W/ML) major decision Kapplinger, 10-2. 152: P. Moore (JCC) pin Matter, 4:49. 160: K. Moore (JCC) pin Larson, 4:56. 170: Mutz (W/ML) decision Beeck, 6-4. 182: Vancura (JCC) pin Junker, 0:19. 195: Johnson (W/ML) pin Marker, 0:38. 220: Ziemer (JCC) pin Flatgard, 1:07. 285: Liftin (W/ML) decision Horn, 8-0.

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