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Comets, Chickasaws pay tribute to former wrestler and longtime fan Mike Reams

Comets, Chickasaws pay tribute to former wrestler and longtime fan Mike Reams
Press photo by John Burbridge
Captains from Charles City and New Hampton/Turkey Valley meet in the center of the mat before their dual as part of Thursday’s wrestling triangular hosted by NHTV. They are wearing cowboys hats in memory of former Comet wrestler and longtime wrestling supporter Mike Reams, who died earlier this week.

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

NEW HAMPTON — There were no Urban Cowboy sightings during Thursday’s wrestling triangular at New Hampton, but quite a few Rural Cowboys.

Members of the Charles City and New Hampton-Turkey Valley wrestling teams wore cowboy hats during the pre-match captains’ meeting in memory of former Comet wrestler and longtime wrestling supporter Mike Reams, who died on Tuesday at the age of 73.

Reams was involved in a prominent part of wrestling history when he lost in the final seconds to Dan Gable in the state finals — it was the first state title for the renowned legend.

As for Reams … he went on to serve his country in Vietnam two years after graduating from Charles City in 1966.

When he came home, he was a fixture at Comet wrestling matches, easily identified by his cowboy hat.

The Comet-Chickasaw dual was the third and final match of the evening after both teams defeated North Fayette Valley.

NHTV won all but two bouts while rolling to a 63-11 team victory.

Charles City did end the night on a high note when senior Colton Crooks pinned Kael Meyers 2:08 into their 152-pound bout.

For Crooks, that was his second win of the night in as many bouts as he previously earned a 20-3 technical fall right at the 5-minute mark of his 152-pound match against Kenny Kerr during the dual against North Fayette Valley.

Earlier in the dual — it started at 160 — Charles City senior Tino Tamayo got his team on the board with a technical fall victory over Zach Utley in the 220-pound bout. Tamayo, ranked No. 3 in the state among Class 2A 220-pounders, would have had a good night if was playing basketball as he compiled 23 points in the 23-8 final stopped less than a minute into the third period.

Charles City almost got another victory in the 126-pound match.

Dylan LaPolice was holding on to a 7-6 lead over NHTV’s Tristin Willadsen as short-time approached in the third period. That was before Willadsen scored a reversal in the final seconds to win an 8-7 thriller.

In the earlier dual against the Tigerhawks, the Comets were awarded eight forfeit victories on their way to winning 62-12. But Charles City did win four out of the six matches wrestled.

In addition to Crooks’s win, Carter Haberkorn recorded a fall at the 1:01 mark in his 106-pound bout against NFV’s Cade Meyer; Nathan Lopez pinned Tigerhawk Logan Boehm 1:09 into their 132-pound match; and Jacob Sindlinger, who almost got a cradle-fall over Dillon Sparrgrove late in the first period of their 138-pound match, held on to earn a 7-5 decision to cap the dual victory for the Comets.

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