Easton Schlabaugh entered Saturday’s sectional tournament with just 15 matches and 12 wins under his belt this season, looking for eight more. 

He’ll get at least two more matches at the district tournament in Wapello on Saturday, February 12 after claiming the 113-pound sectional title at English Valley’s with a second-period pin of Louisa-Muscatine sophomore Skyler Beck. 

Highland coach Nick Cole said that his returning state placewinner looks close to 100 percent after not wrestling a match for seven weeks prior to January 20. 

“Physically, we’re still knocking some rust off, but he looked pretty dominant today, kind of what we expected,” Cole said. 

“We've just got to keep working with him mentally and getting him back and sharpening that edge. He's a returning fifth-place state finisher that he's got to carry himself like that.”

Carlos Valenzuela bounced back from a disappointing finals match to win a wrestleback with WACO senior Larz Smith by a 5-2 decision. Valenzuela took a 2-0 with a late takedown in the first, but gave up the tying points in the third. An escape and a takedown in the final minute secured the win. 

“I definitely think he wrestled smarter,” Cole said. “That is a tough opponent and I knew it would be a close match. I was happy with the way he rebounded. That's not easy to do when your back is against the wall.”

Earlier in the final, Valenzuela had put himself in good position with a 6-0 lead a minute in, but Lisbon freshman Tiernan Boots came back to take an 8-7 lead with a takedown early in the third period. Valenzuela got an escape, but a penalty point for misconduct put him in a position where he needed another takedown, which he was unable to do. 

“Looking back, we maybe gave the match away a little bit with a  locked hands call, which was not a big deal, but then we had an unsportsmanlike, where we’ve just got to be smarter and control emotion in those situations, Cole said. "There's two points that you don’t give away and at worst you go to overtime.”

Valenzuela (32-11) will meet North Mahaska junior Paul De Jong (30-6), who bumped up to 132 after wrestling all season at 126, where he is ranked 12th by IAWrestle. Boots (31-12) will face Sigourney-Keota junior DJ Hammes (33-13) on the other side of the bracket. 

Schlabaugh faces S-K junior Austin Gorsh (26-14) at 113, while Beck (22-18) meets sectional champ Gage Burden (33-16) in the other semifinal. Schlabaugh defeated Burden in the third-place match of the SEISC tournament last week. 

“I told the kids, crazy things happened this weekend and crazy things will happen next weekend,” Cole said. “You win matches that maybe on paper you weren't supposed to and you lose matches that you feel really good about going into them. It’s  definitely emotional when you have guys staying home, and then you’re obviously happy about the guys moving on too.”

Remington Fields was one match away from advancing to the district meet after winning a quarterfinal and a third-place match. Remington (12-29) fell to Wapello’s Zach Harbison (34-13) in the wrestleback at 120. 

Jack Peiffer (20-13) also won his quarterfinal and third-place match, but did not get a wrestleback opportunity after giving up a quick pin to Wapello’s Garret Dickey (23-16) in the semifinal.

“We got into a position in a cradle situation where we didn't need to force things and just wrestle basic,” Cole said. “I knew if we could take the kid into deep water, he would get tired. But we got in a bad position, and you’ve got to deal with the results.”

Ethan Paisley (6-7) had a 4-0 lead in his fifth-place match, but gave up a takedown and pin with just five seconds seconds left. Ayden Havel won his quarterfinal match 5-4 in extra time, but Highland’s three freshmen combined for a 1-6 record on the day. 

“We were freshmen the first day of practice, but by the end of the season, you're not really a freshman anymore,” Cole said. “You’ve got to go out and fight. I don't mean it in a bad way, but if you put on a Highland singlet, the expectation is to go out and score points and fight. And those are things we’ve got to continue to work on. "

Senior Spencer Grout (14-23) pinned his quarterfinal opponent Gavin Mills (15-17) of L-M and finished fourth. 

“Spencer progressively got better throughout the season, especially these last two or three weeks,” Cole said. “He really competed hard and his work ethic in the room was never a question. 

“I can't be more thankful for what he brought to our program in a short amount of time. I've got his back for life. It's always emotional when you have a senior end their season, but I think Spencer can definitely hold his head high and be proud of what he did.”