Grace under Pressure

Lasher’s sportsmanship honored at NEIC Wrestling Tourney

By John Burbridge sports@charlescitypress.com

WAUKON — It’s not much of a secret that wrestling is one of the toughest sports.

Among the challenging aspects of it is keeping one’s cool after enduring a contentious loss.

Charles City senior Nate Lasher knows the drill. That’s why during a break in the action amid the championship finals at the Northeast Iowa Conference Wrestling Tournament Saturday at Waukon, Lasher’s civility didn’t go unnoticed when he became the recipient of the meet’s annual Arlo Flege Award for outstanding sportsmanship.

“When they called me up to the (scorer’s table), I had no idea what it was for,” Lasher said. “I didn’t think I was in trouble or anything like that.”

The award is named after Waverly resident and Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame member Flege, who was a high school referee for more than three decades.

“I don’t really know much about him,” Lasher said of Flege, “but I know several Comets have won the award before, and they were guys you looked up to.”

Lasher is a two-time state qualifier. Several weeks ago, the 132-pounder picked up his 100th victory of his high school career.

But this final prep wrestling season has been a difficult one for Lasher. He was out of action for several weeks after sustaining a concussion. And though his record stands at 16-6 after a fourth-place showing at the NEIC Tournament, he recently fell out the Class 2A 132-pound Top 10 rankings compiled by The Predicament wrestling website.

“I’ve had some tough losses this year, but you can’t beat yourself up over them,” Lasher said. “I know with sectionals starting next week is when the real season begins.”