Garvey, Callahan, and Meader advance from sectional

By Molly Roberts
Posted 2/8/22

With Mid-Prairie’s Cael Garvey pinned his way to the sectional title at 195 pounds, he celebrated, flexing his arms and yelling. Then an announcement: “That was Cael Garvey’s 100th …

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Garvey, Callahan, and Meader advance from sectional

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With Mid-Prairie’s Cael Garvey pinned his way to the sectional title at 195 pounds, he celebrated, flexing his arms and yelling. Then an announcement: “That was Cael Garvey’s 100th career pin.” Many in the crowd got to their feet and joined the celebration.

   “I had honestly forgotten about it,” Cael said. “I knew that I was close, but I wasn’t thinking about it during [the match]. Then I heard the announcement, and it was really cool to stand up and know that I had gotten that 100th pin.”

Cael’s landmark pin came in a very fitting way for a wrestler who likes to throw, said head coach and Cael’s father, Justin Garvey. It took only 52 seconds, but at first Jack Geels of Williamsburg didn’t want to engage until Cael was able to pull Geels in tight and throw him to the mat, quickly recording the pin.

 “It’s a pretty proud moment to see him get 100 career pins,” Justin said. “I think only about 200 other kids in the state have done it, so [Cael] definitely makes his mark. 140 wins with 100 pins is a pretty dominant career.

With Cael’s win at sectionals, he moves on to the district meet next week, where he will compete for a bid in the state tournament. Two other Mid-Prairie wrestlers, Kaden Meader at 170 pounds and Gannon Callahan at heavyweight, will also compete at districts, hoping to earn a ticket to state.

Meader’s journey to Des Moines was almost cut short when he lost his semi-final match at sectionals, dropping an 8-2 decision to Koley Kelly of Benton Community. But Meader won his first wrestleback match over Gerado Orozco of Columbus Junction, pinning Orozco from a cradle in the second period. Because Kelly ended up winning the whole bracket, Meader had a chance to wrestle Ryder Bunch of Mount Vernon for the second-place finish and a trip to districts.

Meader scored an early takedown in his final match and ended the first period with 4-2 lead. Meader chose to start the second period neutral and took Bunch down three more times to end the period with an 11-4 lead. In the third period, Meader scored another takedown while limiting Bunch to one escape, extending his lead to 13-5 before turning Bunch and getting the pin in 5:43.

“In between those matches, Kaden stayed focused, then came out and wrestled one of the better matches he’s wrestled since Christmas break,” Justin said. “He was really solid on his feet. When he got out of position riding, he let [Bunch] up to his feet and then went back to takedowns. He had a real dominant match.”

Callahan also pinned both his opponents to win his weight bracket at 285 pounds. In his semi-final match, Callahan racked up five points after taking down Trystin Lashley and getting three near fall points in the first period. Callahan rode Lashley for the majority of the second period before getting the fall with one second remaining.

n his finals match, Callahan didn’t get out to as quick a start, ending the first period tied 0-0. But an early takedown in the second period, followed by a dominant ride. Callahan turned Columbus Junction’s Russel Coil twice before recording the fall in 2:55 to win the bracket.

Callahan’s win comes on the heels of a disappointing loss in the semifinals of the conference championships last week.

“He stayed the course,” Justin said. “The message to him all week long has been score points and wrestle his match. He did that. He did a good job of controlling every situation. He just went back to what got us here.”

Looking forward to the district championships, Justin said his team will have five days of practice to condition and polish technique.

“For my philosophy and the way I coach, it’s not worrying about who we’re wrestling or what they do, but just polishing what we do and wrestling our match,” he said.