Gerbracht reacts to IHSAA decision

ACKLEY – AGWSR head wrestling coach Chad Gerbracht knows that things were going to change this year in regards to the state wrestling tournament; that was a given.

He had heard about the Iowa High School Athletic Association’s decision to keep the format the same despite some leaked information about changing it the week previous.

“I’m glad that we’re still wrestling three days and not rushing everything into one day,” coach Gerbracht said. “Five matches in one day is pretty hard on a high school kid.”

The one caveat to that is that there will only be 4,000 spectators allowed per session in a 16,000-seat arena, causing a bump in ticket prices - $15 per session and $20 for the state finals – for the lucky ones who will get to attend.

“I don’t agree with jacking up prices, passing it off to everyone else to pay that,” coach Gerbracht said. “It’s not about that – it’s about the opportunities for these kids and that’s not what’s happening. I can’t say I agree with it, but I also can’t complain, they are going to get the opportunity to go compete. At least they’ll have some fans there.”

His opinion came on a night in which his team lost twice on Parents’ Night, the final home dual and overall season dual for the Cougars.

AGWSR lost in the opener to Sumner-Fredericksburg, 42-39, in which it came down to the very last match. Ben Puente needed a pin to send the dual to criteria. Puente won by 9-5 decision in a back-and-forth match to seal it.

However, there were a couple of key matches early in which a pair of young Cougar wrestlers were leading, only to get pinned in a precarious situation.

“We saw that kid a couple weeks ago and took him down, three-four times off the kids shot,” coach Gerbracht said of freshman Aiden Heitland’s match at 195 pounds. “If we stuck to that plan here, we would have been in a better position. He was going for the big move or the position he wasn’t winning on top to begin with, so he’s got to recognize that. He’s young, he’s going to learn from those things.

“Coltan (Richtsmeier) was another one in there I’m not sure would have gone our way…”

The other dual, Union, was a swift 64-18 win for the Knights over the Cougars with two of the three wins by AGWSR coming via forfeit.

“Obviously, Union has a lot of veterans in there,” coach Gerbracht said. “Not a lot of rookies, a couple of freshmen in the lineup at ’20 and ’26, solid kids. We had some matches in that first dual that definitely was sloppy. Didn’t come out and execute, had a little pow-wow after and said, ‘okay, now it gets tough.’ Union is going to be tough at every weight. They ran us into the mat, we knew that would happen this year. It’s just a matter of time before we saw that, a grinder of a team and that’s what they are.”

Coach Gerbracht also threw in Kylie Willems into a match against S-F in order to prepare for the next day in which she and teammates Trinity Rotgers and Rory Siems would be competing in the girls’ state wrestling tournament in Coralville.

“Kylie got out there tonight, threw her out there, we want to get some mat time before we go down there,” coach Gerbracht said. “We’ll see what happens.”

The Cougars were without three-time state qualifier Trey Lashbrook, who was out with neck soreness and kept out of the lineup as a precautionary measure. He should be back in time for the NICL wrestling meet.

“Our kids are in the conference tournament. Sumner is hosting it, but not putting any kids in it,” coach Gerbracht said. “Their own choice, whatever. We plan to put our kids in there. Then, it’s sectionals, the girls are going to wrestle tomorrow, so we’re excited about that.”

Sumner-Fredericksburg 42

AGWSR 39

170– Treyce Ensign (S-F) pinned Jacob Haley 0:18; 182– Grant Henderson (S-F) pinned Kylie Willems 0:41; 195– Kyle Kuhlman (S-F) pinned Aiden Heitland 3:09; 220– Jared Granzow (AGWSR) won by forfeit; 285– Tate Miller (AGWSR) won by forfeit; 106– Trace Meyer (S-F) pinned Jaedrek Bowles 1:52; 113– Danny Dillon (S-F) pinned Coltan Richtsmeier 3:46; 120– Kaden Abbas (AGWSR) pinned Davis VanSickle 2:35; 126– Noah Clikeman (AGWSR) pinned Isaac Boehmler 3:31; 132– Nate Egan (S-F) pinned Bo Gerbracht 3:31; 138– Zach Johnson (AGWSR) pinned Hunter Jurgensen 5:17; 145– Jayden Bowles (AGWSR) pinned Jesse Jones 3:40; 152– Jaxon Williams (S-F) won by forfeit; 160– Ben Puente (AGWSR) dec. Spencer Matt 9-5.

Union 64

AGWSR 18

195– Dacoda Marvets (U) pinned Aiden Heitland 1:28; 220– Jared Granzow (AGWSR) won by forfeit; 285– Gabe Hanson (U) pinned Tate Miller 0:44; 106– Jaedrek Bowles (AGWSR) won by forfeit; 113– Coltan Richtsmeier (AGWSR) pinned Ava Mehlert 0:14; 120– Caleb Olson (U) won by tech fall over Kaden Abbas, 15-0 (6:00); 126– Keegan Ellsworth (U) pinned Noah Clikeman 0:56; 132– Kolten Crawford (U) pinned Bo Gerbracht 1:06; 138– Brady Hillmer (U) pinned Zach Johnson 3:00; 145– Lincoln Mehlert (U) pinned Jayden Bowles 2:57; 152– Stone Schmitz (U) won by forfeit; 160– Brock Ruzicka (U) pinned Ben Puente 1:01; 170– Hunter Worthen (U) won by tech fall over Jacob Haley, 21-6 (5:45); 182– Adam Ahrendsen (U) won by forfeit.