Comets send four to boys state wrestling tourney

By Bob Fenske, editor@nhtrib.com

The day started almost perfectly for the Charles City wrestling team, but it ended in utter heartbreak.

In between at Saturday’s Class 2A district tournament in New Hampton, the Comets qualified four wrestlers for the state tournament that begins its three-day run on Thursday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

And Charles City fans won’t have to be right on time for that first session that begins at 1:30 p.m., for the Comets’ qualifiers all come from the heaviest four weights as junior Caden Collins (182), senior Jack Sindlinger (195) and sophomores Tino Tamayo (220) and Chase Crooks (285) all earned state berths with second-place finishes.

“Obviously, I’m really happy for those four,” said Charles City coach Dave Williams. “They’ve worked hard, they’ve been dedicated and they knew they had to take care of business in that first round and they did that.”

The veteran coach paused for a moment before continuing.

“But the way it ended, that’s tough,” he said.

Williams spoke moments after senior 170-pounder Elliott Sinnwell had lost an excruciating 6-5 decision to North Fayette’s Kale Rodgers in a true-second wrestle back.

Sinnwell had lived on the edge in his first round match but rallied from a 4-1 deficit to beat Iowa Falls-Alden’s Kyler Hadwiger 6-5. After dropping the title bout to Independence’s third-ranked Cole Davis 9-5, he had to face Rodgers, a wrestler he beat 9-2 a week earlier at the sectional tournament.

Rodgers took leads of 3-1 and 5-2, but Sinnwell came storming back. A takedown with about 45 seconds left knotted the score at five, and the Comet senior decided to give Rodgers an escape and go for a winning takedown.

It never came, and just like that, his high school wrestling career had come to an end.

“We thought we had enough time, and especially the way Elliott was attacking, we felt we could get another one,” Williams said. “We’d do it again, but sometimes, it’s not meant to be. But this is a kid who had done it the right way his whole life, and he deserved to end his career down in Des Moines.”

Charles City went 5-1 in the first round; the only loss suffered was at 138, where Alec Staudt lost a major decision to seventh-ranked Alberto Saleron of Iowa Falls-Alden.

Unfortunately that ended Staudt’s day as he was dinged up late in the match and had to medically forfeit his third-place match because he was undergoing the concussion protocol.

After Sinnwell’s victory, Collins scored a technical fall, Sindlinger beat Independence’s fifth-ranked Christian Kremer 5-3, Tamayo rolled to a relatively easy 11-5 win and Crooks won an 8-2 decision.

But the sophomore heavyweight’s win would be the last for Charles City on this day.

Collins was upset in the finals, Sindlinger gave second-ranked Evan Rosonke of New Hampton/Turkey Valley a battle for much of his match before falling, Tamayo hung tough with Crestwood’s sixth-ranked Treyton Burnikel and Crooks lost his title bout in overtime.

“We knew that first round was really critical,” Williams said. “Jack’s bracket was loaded, and Tino and Chase had to get district champs to give themselves a chance. Our guys fought, no doubt about it. But this team has done that all year.”

Asked about heading into the final week of a season that included a second place finish at the conference tournament and a trip to the regional dual finals, Williams said this year’s team has been special.

“They, in my mind, have a lot to be proud about,” he said. “They’ve represented our school and our community very well … it’s just, you always want one more, especially when it’s a senior, you know?”

TEAM SCORES

State – Pts
Crestwood – 5– 114.0
Independence– 4– 94.0
Iowa Falls-Alden– 5– 79.0
NH/TV– 4– 73.0
Charles City – 4– 58.5
Decorah– 1– 38.0
North Fayette Valley– 2– 35.0
Dike-New Hartford– 0– 19.0
Waterloo Columbus– 1– 18.0
A-Parkersburg/GC– 1– 14.0
Waukon– 1– 12.0
Oelwein– 0– 10.0

CHARLES CITY RESULTS

138: Alex Staudt placed fourth. Semifinal – Alberto Saleron (IFA) maj. dec. Staudt, 13-3. 3rd place match – Jace Peterson (DNH) won by medical forfeit over Staudt.

170: Elliott Sinnwell placed third. Semifinal – Sinnwelll dec. Kyle Hadwiger, 6-5. 1st place match – Cole Davis (I) dec. Sinnwell, 9-5. True second match – Kale Rodgers (NFV) dec. Sinnwell, 6-5.

182: Caden Collins placed second. Semifinal – Collins tech fall Marcus Beatty (I), 16-0. 1st place match – Jacob Reicks (NHTV) pinned Collins, 4:37.

195: Jack Sindlinger placed second. Semifinal – Sindlinger dec. Christian Kremer (I), 5-3. 1st place match – Evan Rosonke (NHTV) dec. Sindlinger, 9-2.

220: Tino Tamayo placed second. Semifinal – Tamayo dec. Cooper Smock (O), 11-5. 1st place match – Treyton Brunikel (C) dec. Tamayo, 3-1.

285: Chase Crooks placed second. Semifinal – Crooks dec. McKade Eisentrager (IFA), 9-2. 1st place match – Wyatt Scheidel (C) OT dec. Crooks, 5-3.

First-round state tournament match-ups

182: No. 7 Caden Collins 30-6 vs. Colby Wilmesherr (Bihe) 37-13.
195: Jack Sindlinger 28-9 vs. No. 7 Carter Maynes (Red Oak) 36-3.
220: Tino Tamayo 24-15 vs. No. 5 Crew Howard (Clarinda) 35-0.
285: Chase Crooks 26-12 vs. No. 1 Kaden Sutton (ADM) 36-1.