Valenzuela hits 100, takes first at Fort Madison

By Giovanni Coronel
Posted 12/20/22

A wrestling boys Varsity Triangular between the Panthers, Lions, and Huskies took place at the Pekin High School on December 15. During the event Highland’s Carlos Valenzuela picked up his …

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Valenzuela hits 100, takes first at Fort Madison

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A wrestling boys Varsity Triangular between the Panthers, Lions, and Huskies took place at the Pekin High School on December 15. During the event Highland’s Carlos Valenzuela picked up his 100th win by the way of forfeit. 

“That’s a testament to the work he’s put in,” Highland coach Nick Cole said about Valenzuela reaching 100 wins. “100 wins is a lot of wins. I wish he would have got a match tonight, but some things are out of your control. 

“I’m proud of him, for sure, but the train don’t stop here. We got bigger goals, But it’s a heck of an accomplishment and he’s definitely earned it. And that’s because of the time he’s put into this program. So, we’re super proud of him.”

At the triangular Lone Tree was defeated by Pekin, with a final score of 30-4. Entering this triangular with a roster consisting of four wrestlers, Lone Tree had to forfeit many times against Pekin. 

At the 106-weight class Lone Tree did start off with a victory over Pekin courtesy of Carter Schott. Schott put the Lions ahead by securing four points with a 12-3 win over Panthers’ Reed Lauderman. 

The only other match between these two schools that wasn’t a forfeit or double forfeit came from the 126-weight class. Pekin’s Gannon Greiner was able to pin Lone Tree’s Clemens Swaink in 35 seconds. 

Against Highland Lone Tree was defeated with a final score of 46-0. The Lions forfeited six times against the Huskies. 

In the 126-weight class Highland’s Brock Thomann pinned Swaink in 21 seconds. 

The only other match that took place between these two schools was from the 106-weight class. Highland’s Landon Bell claimed victory over Schott with a final score of 9-1 and procured four points for his team. 

Highland was defeated by Pekin in a close matchup that ended with a final score of 30-24.

“I thought we came ready to wrestle and we didn’t,” Cole said after the matches, “I was just telling the team we gave up 18 points in falls and we lose the match by six. If they can do the math, they can figure out real easy how we could have come away and won that duel. You want to win the duals just because of the team aspect of it. But more importantly, you want to compete well and win the head-to-head matches. And we did not do that tonight against Pekin.”

While Cole may have wished for better results against Pekin he couldn’t have asked for better results from Valenzuela at a tournament in Fort Madison on December 17. Valenzuela placed first in a tournament that had 17 wrestlers in his 132-pound bracket. This was a two-day tourney, and it had a lot of competitors. Valenzuela, after picking up his 100th victory, made sure that number increased during the tourney. Receiving a bye in the fourth round Valenzuela won four matches in Pool A to make it to the championship bracket. He then won the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals to win the championship over Liberty’s Aidan Kelly. Five of those seven victories were courtesy of pinfall.