PEKIN

Keeping it in the conference, the Huskies tested their skill in the annual Southeast Iowa Super Conference Tournament that took place this past weekend with Pekin serving as the host.

Showing they have what it takes to hold their own with the best the conference has to offer despite being a young team, Highland scored 135 team points to capture third place at the SEISC tourney.

“I am very proud of the effort and attitudes from the conference tournament,” Highland head coach Nick Cole said. “Third place is great but we are pushing this program to believe in championships and wrestling to the best of our ability on a consistent basis.”

It was a great all-around team performance for Highland as they ended the day with six wrestlers earning a medal with three finishing as the runner-up and three capturing third place finishes.

“We knew coming in that we had some great opportunities to have some high finishers,” coach Cole said. “We always preach that if each guy goes out and executes the plan and does their individual jobs then the team scores will take care of themselves.” 

The trio of Huskies to advance to the first place match but ended with a runner-up finish were Cash Cole (113 lbs), Brock Thomann (126 lbs), and Isaac Kleese (215 lbs. All three went 2-1 on the day.

“We are a team that will continue to learn and grow through adverse situations and will work to improve,” coach Cole said. “I am super proud of how these kids are responding right now and I think our best wrestling is still ahead of us.”

Battling back to place third in their respective brackets were the Highland trio of Landon Bell (106 lbs), Tyler Pierson (132 lbs), and Rocky Hamilton (138 lbs).   Both Pierson and Hamilton went 3-1 at Pekin while Bell went 2-1.

“We had a great round in the consolation side of the bracket with three 3rds and we were right there to be wrestling a few more medal matches,” coach Cole said. “We let some matches slip away that we were winning but sometimes that is life.”

It was an impressive outing for Highland at the SEISC tourney as a whole and this performance bodes well and serves as a great confidence booster with state qualifiers on the horizon. 

“The conference tournament is an important tournament for us and really helps us set the tone of how the postseason will go,” coach Cole said. “We see some quality competition and it was very important to see how we responded and I thought we responded very well.” 

Lone Tree results

The Lions ended the conference tournament with a 41.5 team score to place 11th in the final standings.

Trenton McKean gave Lone Tree its top finish by placing 4th in the 106 lbs bracket. Advancing to the third place match after receiving a bye in the consolation semifinals, McKean was defeated by fall in 18 seconds against Highland’s Landon Bell.

The trio of Cole Walmsley (113 lbs), Brock Nebergall (120 lbs), and Brody Magruder (157 lbs) all ended the day with a fifth place finish. Walmsley won his fifth place match by 18-3 tech fall while Nebergall and Magruder won by fall in 3:29 and 2:59 respectively.