The Clarion-Goldfield-Dows and Roland-Story Norsemen wrestling teams made voyage to eastern Iowa on Saturday, to compete in the annual Cliff Keen Invitational at Independence High School in Independence. The Cowboys and Norsemen were joined by the host Mustangs as well as Alburnett, Algona, Carlisle, Cedar Rapids Prairie, Cedar Rapids Xavier, Clear Creek-Amana, Crestwood, Denver, Fennimore (WI), Fort Madison, Greene County, Harrisburg (SD), Interstate 35, Lisbon, Maquoketa, Milton (WI), New Hampton/Turkey Valley, Osage, Pleasant Valley, Smithville (MO), Solon, South Tama County, Tinley Park (IL), Union Community, Waterloo East, West Burlington/Notre Dame and West Liberty.
The lone champion between the 2 teams was Roland-Story senior Kade Blume, who was the 132 lbs champion. Blume won by fall in all 3 Friday matches against Algona’s Caden Kuecker, Lisbon’s Ben Kelly and Dubuque Senior’s Zion Deah. Blume then won his quarterfinal match by tech fall (16-0) over Waterloo East’s Isaac Lomas, then beating (1A) #1 Tayten Coufal of Alburnett in an 8-4 decision in the semifinals, before capping off the tournament with a 9-2 decision over (2A) #2 Kaiden Dietzenbach of West Burlington/Notre Dame.
Hesston Johnson of Roland-Story would place 2nd at 175 lbs, winning his 3 Friday matches with falls over South Tama’s Kyle Youngbear and Greene County’s Degan Miller, with a tech fall (18-2) over Osage’s Heath Voigt. Johnson would tech fall (17-2) Union’s Brock Ruzicka in the quarterfinals, before pinning Cedar Rapids Xavier’s Ronan Thomas in the semifinals, before losing a 6-3 decision to (3A) #1 Maximus Magayna of Waterloo East.
Clarion-Goldfield-Dows top placer was Caleb Seaba at 165 lbs. Seaba won his three Day 1 matches, with a tech fall (16-0) over West Burlington/Notre Dame’s Bridge Anderson, before pinning Milton (WI) Max Matthews, finishing with a 3-2 decision over Algona’s Colby Jennings. Seaba would lose his quarterfinal matchup via pin against Harrisburg (SD) Logan O’Connor, before defeating Alburnett’s Shayden Washburn in the consolation 2nd round. Seaba would lose via major decision (10-2) to NH/TV’s Karson Kolbet, before winning his 5th place match over Clear Creek-Amana’s Benjamin Haughey with a pin.
Other notable placers included Roland-Story’s Ian Tripp, who placed 7th at 190 lbs, as well as Roland-Story’s Aaron Peyton, who placed 9th at 285 lbs. Clarion-Goldfield-Dows’s Ashtin Willms would place 6th at 215 lbs, while Ryan Hartwig placed 10th at 126 lbs, and freshman Charlie Campbell placed 12th at 157 lbs.
Roland-Story returns to action on Thursday, when they travel to State Center to compete in a Heart of Iowa Conference tri-dual with West Marshall and Greene County at 6 PM. Clarion-Goldfield-Dows returns to action on Thursday, when they travel to Hampton to compete in a North Central Conference tri-dual with Hampton-Dumont-CAL and Webster City at 6 PM.