The Highland Huskies faced great competition over the weekend in the Fort Madison Invitational. Carlos Valenzuela reached the final at 132 pounds with a tech fall win over Ottumwa’s Daltin Doud, ranked No. 11 in 3A. 

Valenzuela (16-6) had three pins on his way to the final, where he fell to 2A No. 1 Blaine Frazier (20-0) of Notre Dame. 

Valenzuela dominated the semifinal match. Starting with a takedown with four back points in the first, followed by another takedown and four more nearfall points in the second, his takedown in the third period ended the match 15-0. 

“Physically in that match, the key was that he stayed in very good position and was suffocating on top,” Highland coach Nick Cole explained. “He was really good on top this weekend with his pressure and getting to where he is good. He was attacking in all positions and going forward and that is what you want to see. He should feel good about where he’s at heading into the break. The key will be to maintain that level of focus coming back from the break,”

Spencer Grout won his first two matches in pool play, and won his quarterfinal match by medical forfeit, eventually finishing sixth out of 15 wrestlers in the 138-pound bracket. 

Jack Peiffer went 4-3 on the day and won his last two matches by a 14-4 major decision and pin to finish 11th at 126. 

“Overall, I felt like our team moved in the right direction,” Cole said. “We learned a little bit about our ability to fight and how that translates into success.  We aren’t the most talented team so we are going to have to keep ourselves in matches by just being fighters and learning how to stay in good position and get tough in tough situations.”

Remington Fields, Ayden Havel, Isaac Kleese and Landon Ball each won one match, with Ball’s coming in the final match of the weekend to take 15th place at 106. 

“It was a long two days and the key to success is staying engaged until the end,” Cole said. “We had some that were able to do that and we had some that weren’t as engaged in the tournament towards the end. That’s just part of the process.  

“All in all, I was proud of the effort and am looking forward to the month of January. The season goes really fast from here on out. I think our team will be a lot different coming out of the break and I’m excited to see some other guys ready to compete!”