Rematch win good for third-place state finish for Staudt; Forsyth and Jacobs place fourth CC

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

DES MOINES — Revenge is sweet.

For Charles City 138-pound senior Austin Staudt, it also was good enough for third place in the Class 2A Iowa Wrestling State Championships.

After advancing in the opening round Thursday at Well Fargo Arena, Staudt faced Kyler Rieck of Spirit Lake Park in the quarterfinals on Friday.

“I thought he wrestled too conservatively,” Charles City head coach Kevin Wedeking said of Staudt’s 9-4 loss to Rieck which sent the Comet senior to the consolation bracket.

Once there, Staudt defeated Drew Davis of Independence (4-2), Lucas Roland of PCM-Monroe (7-1) and Tanner Abbas of Clarion-Goldfield-Dows (1-0) in order to get a rematch with Rieck in the consolation finals on Saturday.

“After I lost, I just let my nerves leave my body,” said Staudt, who defeated Rieck 6-2 to finish third in the state. “I decided from that point, I was going to go out and have some fun.”

Staudt finished the season with a 32-7 record, and he’s not sure if he’ll wrestle again.

“I may not wrestle in college, so that might have been my last match,” he said. “I would have loved to have that (first bout against Rieck) back, but it feels good to go out on a high note.”

Staudt was one of three Comets to reach the consolation finals

One of whom was senior 145-pound Max Forsyth, who was granted a rematch of his own in the form of Mason Buster of Mediapolis.

In Friday’s quarterfinal round, Buster frustrated Forsyth’s efforts to record a takedown in the final seconds while holding onto a 5-4 decision win.

Forsyth responded by pinning his next three consolation opponents in order — Mitchel Swank of Creston, Nick Hyland of Vinton-Shellsburg and familiar opponent Trae Pecinovsky of Crestwood-Cresco — to get another shot a Buster.

Again, Buster held off desperate takedown attempts from Forsyth in final seconds and got the 3-2 decision for third place. Forsyth, who pinned four state finals opponents, finished the season at 39-5 and a fourth-place showing at state after going 0-2 after qualifying for last year’s state finals.

Comet 195-pounder Nick Jacobs also placed fourth, an improvement from his sixth-place showing last year.

After winning the opener against Ethan Timmerman of Mediapolis (7-4), then being dropped to the consolation bracket by Seth Maitlen of Creston (3-1) in the quarterfinals, Jacobs pinned Zach Pogge of Clarion-Goldfield-Dow (3:26) and decisioned Zach Haggstrom of Glenwood (4-3) for an opportunity to face Bryce Esmoil of West Liberty in the consolation finals.

Only a sophomore, Esmoil came into the tournament with a 45-0 record. He proved to be a little too strong for Jacobs, who got pinned 4:54 into the bout.

“There’s a lot of history in Charles City, and with our open weights I can’t say that we didn’t have better years in the past,” Wedeking said, “but we had a good group of seniors, and I’m proud of the way they led by example and learned from their mistakes … just the way Austin did.”

The Comets sent six wrestlers to the state finals, including junior 126-pounder Nate Lasher, senior 220-pounder AJ Maloy and senior heavyweight Brody Tupy.

Lasher and Maloy both recorded wins in the consolation rounds.

“Getting six guys down here set the whole thing rolling,” Wedeking said. “One of our goals is to finish in the Top 10 as a team, and we just might end up there.”

Going into the consolation finals, Charles City was ranked 12th among the Class 2A teams.

“This is the best high school wrestling tournament in the country,” Wedeking said. “Come here during the Grand March, and you’ll see what I mean.”

Staudt, Forsyth and Jacobs — as well as all top-eight finishers — were to be honored on the award stand after the completion of the championships.

“Getting to the top of that podium is the greatest feeling in the world,” Wedeking said. “That’s where you want to be. Unfortunately, everyone else wants to be there, too.”