Comets open season by hosting wrestling triangular against No. 6-ranked Hawks, Wildcats

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — Wrestling is the latest sport to tweak its rules in efforts to increase offensive scoring.

With 3-point takedowns and 4-point near-falls, match scores are more likely to resemble football shootouts before the third period.

Several of the bouts during Thursday’s boys triangular hosted by Charles City in the old high school gym and featuring visiting West Delaware and Janesville were afflicted by the accelerated scoring.

West Delaware, ranked No. 6 among Class 2A boys teams according to the first set of rankings released by IAwrestle, won both of its duals handily;

Janesville defeated Charles City 27-21 in the final of the three duals, though in matches wrestled the two teams were even (15-15).

Comet junior heavyweight Jackson Warnke went 2-0 to start the season.

Against WD’s Owen Pettion in the first dual, Warnke pinned his opponent with 19 seconds left in the second period for the Comets’ lone varsity victory during the Hawks’ 67-6 win.

Warnke later defeated Janesville’s Blake Porter with a 7-2 decision.

Charles City freshman Micah Thompson picked up his first varsity wrestling win when he pinned Parker Opperman 50 seconds into their 175-pound bout.

Comet senior Carter Haberkorn, a state-qualifier as a sophomore who has returned to wrestling after a season-long hiatus, pinning Janesville’s Tayler Kibbee 51 seconds into their 120-pound bout.

Senior Trevor Carolan, Charles City’s resident All-District Football First Team defensive lineman who is out for wrestling for the first time during his high school athletic career, earned a 13-1 major decision over West Delaware’s Jakob Jones in their junior varsity heavyweight bout.

Charles City will be back in action on Saturday for a tournament hosted by Cedar Falls High School.