The Mid-Prairie wrestling team arrived in Albia expecting to take care of business at the heavier weights in Saturday’s sectional meet. 

They did just that. 

From 160 up, the Golden Hawks went five for five in first-place matches with five pins, advancing a school-record six wrestlers to the district meet for a second straight season.

“You come into a tournament like this and every type of emotion kind of goes through your mind,” Mid-Prairie coach Justin Garvey said. “You know, we’ve got to wrestle smart, we’ve got to stay aggressive. And in that first semifinal round we were kind of rusty. We hadn’t competed in nine days. 

“But then it came around to the finals round, those guys just went to work and they got it done. I’m just really happy.”

Mose Yoder became the sixth Mid-Prairie qualifier with a 63-second pin of Davis County’s Brogan West in a wrestleback for second place at 113. 

“I knew off the bat, I had to be on my offense and run my match,” Yoder said. “And that’s what’s helped me a lot through the season, being on my offense and attacking. I had a couple sticky situations, but in the end, I was able to settle him down on the mat and pull it off. 

“Last season, I got fourth place here. So this season, I was waiting to punch my ticket to districts and hopefully I can move on from there maybe to state.”

Josh Wallington looked a little sluggish in his semifinal match, he led just 3-1 late in the third period, but added another late takedown to secure the win. When the final match began he sprang into action, like a wild animal unleashed. 

 “Well, with my first match, I felt pretty sick before going out there,” Wallington said. “Luckily I felt way better in the finals match. I was a bit nervous because I didn’t want to lose, but I just wanted to take it to him.”

Facing a talented 29-4 freshman from Albia, Wallington immediately took a shot, got a takedown, released his opponent, and then scored a takedown again. He finished with a pin in 1:22. It was the third straight pin for Mid-Prairie on the championship mat. 

“Winning breeds winning and these guys get started rolling like that, and then they just want to be part of it, and everybody gets excited. So Josh came out and got a couple of really nice takedowns and put the kid on his back and was like, I’m getting mine too.”

In addition to Yoder and Wallington, junior Gannon Callahan became a first-time district qualifier with his second-period pin in the heavyweight final. 

Callahan took a couple shots, but couldn’t finish and ended up on his back midway through the second period. He quickly got an escape to tie the match, and then became the aggressor. Callahan tackled Skyler Young near the edge of the mat and won by fall.  

“I just wanted to come out on top,” Callahan said. “I knew the top two moved on, so I wanted to be the top two and the chance came so I ended up with fall there. 

“I’m happy. I’ve been wanting to qualify for the state tournament since my freshman year.”

Now Callahan is two or three wins away. 

When Vinnie Bowlin and Ben Meader were freshmen, Mid-Prairie did not have a district qualifier for the first time in over 10 years as Bowlin fell 2-1 in a wrestleback for second. 

Now the seniors Bowlin and Meader, along with junior Cael Garvey, have been a part of the two most successful sectional meets in Mid-Prairie history over the last two seasons. 

Bowlin, who has overcome multiple injuries this season, advanced to the final at 160 with a 25-second pin. In the final with EBF’s Kyler Ricard, he had a 4-2 lead when he began the second period on bottom. Bowlin scored his second reversal of the match 11 seconds in, and claimed first place with a pin 17 seconds later. 

Meader also advanced to the 182-pound final by fall, and built a 8-0 lead in the championship match before getting into a little trouble, giving up a late reversal. But 10 seconds later, Meader regained the upper hand and ended the match with a pin. 

Cael Garvey spent over three hours traveling to the Albia sectional and back home again, but he spent just over two minutes in action on the mat all day. He had two takedowns and a 61-second pin in the semifinal round. The final at 195 didn’t last much longer as Garvey claimed first place after 1:06. 

Owen Trimpe lost his quarterfinal match, but came back with a 53-second pin to take fifth at 152. Malachi Sexton lost his opening match in the semifinal at 106 and did not get a wrestleback opportunity. 

District Preview

At the Mount Pleasant district on Saturday, Yoder probably faces the toughest path to a state, facing second-ranked Lane Scorpil (35-1) in the opening match. On the other side of the bracket is Conner (30-6), who defeated Yoder in the first-place match in Albia. 

“A couple things we clean up there, and maybe we’re in that match,” Garvey said. 

“But coming off that loss, you’ve got to come right back and wrestle a person that’s just coming off a win. So he went out set the tone in that match right away, and got the fall so that was great for him.”

Twelve schools are respresented at the 2A district 5 meet. Only Davenport Assumption (12), Albia (7), and Burlington ND/WB/Danville (7) bring more wrestlers than Mid-Prairie. 

“We’ve got some good draws, and we got some matches that we’ve got to win,” Garvey said.  

There are four wrestlers in each bracket at the district meet, with the top two advancing to state. The loser of the semifinal match has a chance to wrestle back for second place if his opponent goes on to win the final.  

Bowlin (12-0) opens against Notre Dame’s River Belger (23-9), with a potential final match against No. 5 Allen Catour (17-3) of Assumption.  Meader (33-9) opens against Washington’s lone qualifier Ayden Frazer (18-6). Assumption’s ninth-ranked John Argo (27-5) is on the other side of the bracket. 

Cael Garvey (32-3) will see Columbus sophomore Ethan Palmer (3-3) in the opening match. Assumption’s No. 6 Aiden Morgan (19-2) is in the other semifinal at 195. 

Wallington (36-3) draws Assumption’s Chase Diaz (7-4) in the opening round. He could see Sam Carrasco (22-12) from host Mount Pleasant, or have a rematch with Albia’s Paul Ballard (30-5). 

Callahan (32-4) faces Keokuk’s Jordan Salyers (10-13) in the semi. Ninth-ranked Chance Malone (34-3) of Columbus Community is also in the heavyweight bracket. 

“It’s one of those things where, every round is going to get tougher, every match is going to get a little bit tougher,” Garvey said. “And even if we take a loss in that finals, we’ve got to be able to refocus and bounce back and win in that wrestleback if we have the opportunity.”