It took Carlos Valenzuela less than thirty seconds to pick up his second win of the season during Highland wrestling’s home quad on Tuesday. 

He pumped his fist after the quick pin before walking back to the center of the mat for the handshake, excited about executing his plan for the match. 

Earlier, assistant coach Jeff Wieland said to him, “we’ve got to start getting halves in,” Valenzuela explained. “I pinned that kid in a half, and I felt great. I was like, ‘holy crap, it’s opening up something,’ you know. I felt excited because I did what he told me to do.” 

He went 3-0 on Tuesday with a pair of first period pins, but he had to work a little longer in his first victory, — an 18-2 tech fall in a matchup with Iowa Valley.

He was close to a pin in the first period after a pair of takedowns, but ran out of time. He got an escape early in the second and was in position for a pin again after a third takedown. 

“I had a chicken wing about the whole entire second period and I didn’t get a pin there, but I ended up with a tech fall, and it felt pretty good,” Valenzuela said. “I felt accomplished after that. It was just pure excitement getting back on the mat.”

The Huskies fell 66-17 to Iowa Valley in the opening dual on Tuesday, bounced back for a 42-24 win over HLV, and fell 60-24 to Washington to end the night. 

“It’s always good anytime you can wrestle in front of your home crowd for sure,” Highland coach Nick Cole said. “You know, the outcomes probably weren’t what we wanted, but it’s the first competition of the year and we’re still climbing to get to February.”

As expected, Valenzuela and Easton Schlabaugh led the Huskies on opening night, each finishing the day 3-0. 

“They were definitely workmanlike,” Cole said. “They did their job and, and went out and put points on the board. Easton, obviously, with two falls, attacking right away. Carlos looked really great on his feet. We’ve got to fix some things, just positionally.”

Schlabaugh’s first pin of the season took just 38 seconds, and he built a 13-2 lead over Washington’s Bryer Billingsly before getting the pin with 20 seconds remaining in the first period. Schlabaugh and Valenzuela wrestled at 106 and 126 last year, but started the season up at 120 and 138 in the opening duals. 

Jack Peiffer took a 9-2 first period lead in his first match of the season against Iowa Valley’s Karter Thiessen. Peiffer started the second period on top and finished with a pin. 

“I was really proud of Jack Peiffer in his first match against the Iowa Valley kid, and, you know, then just kind of had a, you know, we’re not really sure what happened there that last match. But you know, there’s good things to take away.”

The Huskies went 6-9 in matches wrestled on Tuesday, with five of those victories coming from Valenzuela and Schlabaugh.

“We sent out a lot of freshmen and sophomores that have not had a lot of mat time,” Cole said. “And we were getting beat in positions that are pretty basic that we’ve got to get better at. 

“All in all, we’re just happy to compete, and it was great to gauge where our team is at right now. 

We’ve just got to keep working with these guys and building a positive mentality. 

“The thing is, they’re out for the sport, and the things that are fixable are technical. And that’s the easy part. If they can come out and fight and they’re confident, that’s the first step. We’ll fix the wrestling part of it.”

Highland senior Jacob Hill picked up a couple pins in the JV matches and Mackenzie McFarland pinned Washington’s Jillian Langstraat with just four seconds left on the first period clock. Cole said that it was the best match he had ever seen from McFarland. 

“That was probably one of the best shots I’ve seen taken in a long time,” he said. 

Cole told McFarland, “just go out and compete hard. 

“I said, ‘I want to see you come out of the gate sprinting,’ and man, she was impressive tonight. She did everything right and got the fall. I’m really excited. There’s big things ahead for her for sure.”

Wapello Tournament

Carlos Valenzuela (6-1) finished third at 132 in the 57th annual Willard Howell Invitational on Saturday. He bounced back from an opening loss to pin his next two opponents and took third place by injury default. 

Jacob Hill took first place in his bracket in the JV tournament with three pins. Mackenzie McFarland and Jaydee Macareno each finished first in their divisions as well. Angelina Roling was 2-1 on the day and Maddie Peiffer went 1-1, both finishing second. Ayden Havel was 2-1 with a pair of pins for the day and finished second as well.

Iowa Valley 66, Highland 17

160: Nathaniel Miller (IOVA) over (HIGH) (For.)

170: Colton Hudepohl (IOVA) over (HIGH) (For.)

182: Brody Hoyt (IOVA) over (HIGH) (For.)

195: Ronan Peach (IOVA) over Isaac Kleese (HIGH) (Fall 0:44)

220: Taite Peach (IOVA) over (HIGH) (For.)

285: Garrett Hoyt (IOVA) over (HIGH) (For.)

106: Joshua Hocamp (IOVA) over Landon Bell (HIGH) (Fall 5:07)

113: Danny Rios (IOVA) over (HIGH) (For.)

120: Easton Schlabaugh (HIGH) over Jack Marshall (IOVA) (Fall 0:38)

126: Zane Keim (IOVA) over Remington Fields (HIGH) (Fall 0:54)

132: Jack Peiffer (HIGH) over Karter Thiessen (IOVA) (Fall 3:12)

138: Carlos Valenzuela (HIGH) over Khain Thiessen (IOVA) (TF 18-2 4:00)

145: Emma Peach (IOVA) over Spencer Grout (HIGH) (Fall 2:32)

152: Ian Smith (IOVA) over (HIGH) (Fall 1:54)

Highland 42, HLV 24

106: Landon Bell (HIGH) over (HLV) (For.) 113:

120: Easton Schlabaugh (HIGH) over (HLV) (For.)

126: Remington Fields (HIGH) over (HLV) (For.)

132: Jack Peiffer (HIGH) over (HLV) (For.)

138: Carlos Valenzuela (HIGH) over Hunter Bayzen (HLV) (Fall 0:29)

145: Brody Sternhagen (HLV) over Spencer Grout (HIGH) (Fall 0:40)

152: Ayden Havel (HIGH) over (HLV) (For.)

160: Max Henstorf (HLV) over (HIGH) (For.)

170: Tyler Ballard (HLV) over (HIGH) (For.)

182: Isaac Kleese (HIGH) over (HLV) (For.) 

220: Cole Fontinel (HLV) over (HIGH) (For.)

Washington 60, Highland 24

182: Teegan Sulentich (WASH) over (HIGH) (For.)

195: Logan Frazer (WASH) over Isaac Kleese (HIGH) (Fall 0:30)

220: Colley Billingsly (WASH) over (HIGH) (For.)

285: Brayden Hartman (WASH) over (HIGH) (For.)

106: Eddy Rodriguez (WASH) over Landon Bell (HIGH) (Fall 1:25)

113: Aaron Boone (WASH) over (HIGH) (For.)

120: Easton Schlabaugh (HIGH) over Bryer Billingsly (WASH) (Fall 1:39)

126: Jack Kleese (WASH) over Remington Fields (HIGH) (Fall 1:08)

132: Jude Carter (WASH) over Jack Peiffer (HIGH) (Fall 1:39)

138: Carlos Valenzuela (HIGH) over Lane Schrock (WASH) (Fall 1:05)

145: Spencer Grout (HIGH) over (WASH) (For.)

152: Ayden Havel (HIGH) over (WASH) (For.)

160: Chase Greiner (WASH) over (HIGH) (For.)

170: Lukus Rickey (WASH) over (HIGH) (For.)