Mat Milestones

AJ Maloy records 50th pin; Nate Lasher gets 100th victory during Comets’ double dual wrestling meet in Decorah

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

DECORAH — Setting goals is AJ Maloy’s mode of operation. So is knocking them down.

One accomplishment the Charles City senior can cross off the list is reaching 50 pins for his high school wrestling career.

“I have plenty of other things I want to achieve this year,” said Maloy shortly after recording his 50th fall when stopping Crestwood junior Jared Knutson 1:51 into their 220-pound bout Thursday during a double dual hosted by Decorah.

“I’m four wins away from getting my 100th win, so I guess that’s next on the list,” said Maloy, who is the fifth-ranked Class 2A 220-pounder in the state according to The Predicament wrestling website.

“Then, of course, I want to win conference, return to state and hopefully win state.”

A co-MVP for the most recent Comet football team, Maloy is still weighing his options about continuing either his football or wrestling careers — or both.

“I still haven’t made up my mind,” he said. “Right now, I’m concentrating on this wrestling season.”

Maloy wasn’t the only Comet wrestler who reached a milestone. Two-time state-qualifier Nate Lasher picked up his 100th career win with a 15-0 technical over Decorah’s Brendan Lovstuen in the 132-pound bout during the first dual of the evening.

However, Lasher was unable to get his 101st win in a subsequent match against Crestwood’s Ryan Steffen, who earned a 13-5 major decision victory.

“It wasn’t one of my best matches,” Lasher said of his loss against Steffen. “We split last year … we kind of go back and forth.”

The loss still didn’t take away from accomplishment.

“It took a lot of work to get 100 wins,” said Lasher, who was a state-qualifier as a freshman. “It basically takes four years of varsity wrestling to get there, and I’m just happy I’ve had the opportunity to wrestle four years varsity.”

With that thought in mind, it’s easy to imagine Comet freshman Carter Proffitt reaching some mat milestones in the near future. He earned two 126-pound victories Thursday, first recording a fall over Decorah’s  Corbon Rowley 2:52 into their bout, and then earning a 16-0 technical fall over Crestwood’s Cale Jackson with 14 seconds remaining in regulation.

Such aforementioned milestones may not be in order for Comet heavyweight Luke Hillegas, who’s amidst his first year of varsity wrestling. But now ranked in the Top 10 of his weight class according to The Predicament, Hillegas will likely exceed 30 wins this season.

He pinned Daniel Swartzhoff in 1:51 during the Decorah dual, and nearly recorded a match-winning reversal in the final seconds of his 1-0 decision loss to Jacob Knutson.

Other wrestlers recording wins for the Comets — who lost 48-27 to Decorah and 47-26 to Crestwood — were freshmen Bronson Forsyth (113) and Jack Sindlinger (170); senior Alex Koehler (182); and sophomore Dylan Koresh, who made a 13-5 deficit disappear when he caught and cradled Crestwood’s Chris Guest for a fall 5:12 in their 145-pound bout, which — aside from the milestone victories — was the highlight of the night for Charles City.

CRESTWOOD 47, CHARLES CITY 26

106: Matthew Slifka (CRES) over (CHCI) (For.) 113: Kaden Anderlik (CRES) over Bronson Forsyth (CHCI) (Fall 0:29) 120: Hunter Fousek (CRES) over (CHCI) (For.) 126: Carter Proffitt (CHCI) over Cale Jackson (CRES) (TF 16-0 5:46) 132: Ryan Steffen (CRES) over Nate Lasher (CHCI) (MD 13-5) 138: Colter Bye (CRES) over Shau Landt (CHCI) (Fall 5:17) 145: Dylan Koresh (CHCI) over Chris Guest (CRES) (Fall 5:12) 152: Isaac Ellis (CRES) over (CHCI) (For.) 160: Trae Pecinovsky (CRES) over Ciana Sonberg (CHCI) (Fall 0:53) 170: Jack Sindlinger (CHCI) over Wyatt Scheidel (CRES) (Dec 6-1) 182: Alex Koehler (CHCI) over Stone Peckham (CRES) (Fall 2:46) 195: Trevor Trende (CRES) over Sam Niichel (CHCI) (MD 10-0) 220: Aaron Maloy (CHCI) over Jared Knutson (CRES) (Fall 1:51) 285: Jacob Knutson (CRES) over Luke Hillegas (CHCI) (Dec 1-0)

DECORAH 48, CHARLES CITY 27

106: Kyzer Engen (DECO) over (CHCI) (For.) 113: Bronson Forsyth (CHCI) over Luke Dieschbourg (DECO) (MD 16-5) 120: Nils Holkesvik (DECO) over (CHCI) (For.) 126: Carter Proffitt (CHCI) over Corban Rowley (DECO) (Fall 2:52) 132: Nate Lasher (CHCI) over Brendan Lovstuen (DECO) (TF 15-0 2:26) 138: Elijah Mitchell (DECO) over Shau Landt (CHCI) (Fall 0:54) 145: Tanner Knutson (DECO) over Dylan Koresh (CHCI) (Dec 9-4) 152: Dawson Holkesvik (DECO) over (CHCI) (For.) 160: Isaiah Mitchell (DECO) over Ciana Sonberg (CHCI) (Fall 5:31) 170: Adam Hovden (DECO) over Jack Sindlinger (CHCI) (Fall 0:50) 182: Daniel Ott (DECO) over Alex Koehler (CHCI) (Fall 4:33) 195: Andy Lillegraven (DECO) over Sam Niichel (CHCI) (Dec 4-1) 220: Aaron Maloy (CHCI) over (DECO) (For.) 285: Luke Hillegas (CHCI) over Daniel Schwartzhoff (DECO) (Fall 1:51)