The late-night dual Thursday between West Branch and rival West Liberty turned into one of the most thrilling meets of the season, though three open weights gave the edge to the visiting Comets.


West Liberty beat West Branch 38-31 after the 119, 125 and 130 weight classes were forfeited by the Bears.

Even so, the score stayed close throughout the dual and each takedown, escape and pin seemed to get the fans all the more excited as the meet rolled well past 10 p.m.

“Last night is what wrestling is all about,” West Branch Head Coach Marc Juergens said Friday. “There were a lot of hard-fought matches that the crowd got into. We may not have won, but the team went out and fought hard. That is all the coaches could ask for.”

Wrestlers on both sides fought aggressively and, as it was their second dual of the night, exhaustion showed on many of their faces.

“To win the meet, we needed bonus points at several weights,” the coach said. “We set that goal for the wrestlers and that is what a majority of the team went for.”

Both teams also faced Durant that night, and both added up similar scores. West Branch beat Durant 54-25; West Liberty beat Durant 51-24.

Heavyweight wrestler Mitch Slocum went into overtime against West Liberty’s Ivan Sagastume. With the score tied 1-1, though both spent most of the last period and overtime on their feet and were clearly exhausted, Slocum managed an escape to pull ahead for a 2-1 win.

“Letting the match go into the tie-breaker is always tough,” Juergens said. “Mitch needed an escape in 30 seconds and it just didn’t happen this time. Hopefully we can work toward deciding the match during the first six minutes.”

After missing a few weeks of wrestling, Jake Rozinek returned Thursday and bumped up to 160 pounds in another one of the close matches of the night.

Rozinek had been ahead in the first two periods until opponent Kory Wiele tied the score at 3-3 in the third. Rozinek escaped Wiele’s grasp to take a 4-3 lead with only 19 seconds to go, but Wiele made a quick move and pinned Rozinek with only six seconds remaining.

“Jake, wrestling a weight class above, came out wrestling with a lot of heart, attacking all the way until the last takedown,” the coach said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t get it. A tough lesson, but Jake will just get tougher, no doubt in my mind.”

Rilen Carew had to pin West Liberty’s Nathan Smith twice. In the second period, with Carew up 5-2, Carew had Smith in a headlock, but wanted a better grip. The referee believed that Smith’s arm escaped the lock, creating a potentially dangerous hold, Juergens said. Carew was ahead 11-2 in the third period when he secured the second pin.

Eight Bear wrestlers stepped up one weight class against West Liberty.

“To put (what we coaches feel) the best team on the mat, we added Sid Thompson to the lineup, bumping everyone from 135 to 189 up a weight in order to cover the 215 weight class,” the coach said. “It gives our team the best chance to win. That is asking a lot from the team, but they continue to do it and our coaching staff could not be more proud.”

Only Matt Smith wrestled against a Comet who bumped up to a higher weight class — Luis Gallegos — whom Smith defeated 11-1.

Juergens said the win against Durant “is always good.”

“The team once again turned in a pretty impressive performance,” he said.



West Branch 31, West Liberty 38. Results, with West Branch wrestlers listed first: 103 — Will Seydel pinned Dakota Even; 112 — Max Kober fell to Nick Arensdorf; 119 — Bears forfeit to Sam Stecker; 125 — Bears forfeit to Derek Kline; 130 — Bears forfeit to Jehovany Coreas; 135 — Matt Smith beats Luis Gallegos 11-1; 140 — Sid Thompson pinned Dillon Christensen; 145 — Jake Slocum beat Alexis Sagastume 9-4; 152 — Rilen Carew pinned Nathan Smith; 160 — Jake Rozinek fell to Kory Wiele; 171 — Jayson Madsen pinned Erik McKillip; 189 — Cade Jones lost to Aaron Campbell 7-2; 215 — Derrick Miller lost to Jake Boehme 5-2; HWT — Mitch Slocum beat Ivan Sagastume 2-1.

West Branch 54, Durant 25. Results: 103 — Will Seydel pinned Aaron Bartenhagen; 112 — Max Kober fell to Chase Exline; 119 — Bears forfeited to Konner Krummel; 125 — Bears forfeited to Alex Wright; 130 — Bears and Comets forfeit; 135 — Sid Thompson wins by forfeit; 140 — Matt Smith wins by forfeit; 145 — Jake Slocum pins Kris Bland; 152 — Rilen Carew loses to Austin Kessler 11-2; 160 — Jake Rozinek wins by forfeit; 171 — Jayson Madsen pinned Alex Metcalf; 189 — Cade Jones wins by forfeit; 215 — Derrick Miller wins by default; HWT — Mitch Slocum loses to Wil Rathjen 6-4.



Jan. 21

West Branch 61, Regina 18. Results (Regina names unavailable): 103 — Will Seydel wins 12-3; 112 — Tyler Oswald wins by forfeit; 119 — Max Kober wins by forfeit; 125 — both teams forfeit; 130 — both teams forfeit; 135 --- Bears forfeit to Regina; 140 — Matt Smith wins by forfeit; 145 — Sid Thompson wins by forfeit; 152 — Jake Slocum wins by forfeit; 160 — Rilen Carew pins his opponent; 171 — Jake Rozinek pins his opponent; 189 — Cade Jones pins his opponent; 215 — Derrick Miller wins by forfeit; HWT — Mitch Slocum beats his opponent 8-2.

West Branch 51, Tipton 18: 103 — Will Seydel wins by forfeit; 112 — Tyler Oswald wins by forfeit; 119 — Max Kober loses to Kyle Miller 15-8; 125 — both teams forfeit; 130 — Bears forfeit to Jacob Urmie; 135 — Sid Thompson beats Drew Proctor 11-4; 140 — Jake Slocum wins by forfeit; 145 — Rilen Carew beats Matthew Cartwright 10-9; 152 — Jacob White wins by forfeit; 160 — Jake Rozinek falls to Scott Schlimmer; 171 Mitch Hesseltine wins by forfeit; 189 — Cade Jones wins by forfeit; 215 — Derrick Miller wins by forfeit; HWT — Mitch Slocum wins by forfeit.

In some junior varsity matches on Jan. 19: Jacob White pinned Danny Pacha and Michael Madsen lost to Cole Conn 13-12.



Jan. 23

At the East Marshall Tournament, West Branch went 1-3 and finished fourth.

The Bears beat Tri-County 45-28; the Bears lost to Independence 48-15; the Bears lost to East Marshall/GMG 48-19; and the Bears lost to MFL Mar Mac 36-32.

Jayson Madsen earned his 100th career victory, pinning Tri-County’s Andrew Windburn.