Ram wrestlers impress despite limited roster at Carroll Invite

Staff Report

Four of Greene County’s seven wrestlers in action Dec. 17 placed in the top 3 at the annual Carroll Invitational.

The usual suspects secured yet another title, with top-ranked McKinley Robbins (19-0) snatching victory at 138 pounds while fellow No. 1 and defending state champion Kale Petersen (18-0) romped his way to a championship at 132 pounds.

Brent Dennhardt (13-2) continued his strong start, finishing runner-up at 145 pounds while Gavyn Winters (18-3) punctuated his own impressive early season run with a bronze medal at 106 pounds.
Rounding out the lineup was Marcus Ball, who placed fifth at 220 pounds. Jackson Turner (152 pounds) and Crew Conner (126 pounds) did not place.
Robbins was absolutely dominant in his title run, securing a pin of Brayden Chester (CAM) in the quarterfinals, a 22-5 tech fall in the semifinals of Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln’s Evan Lang before securing victory with pin of Pocahontas’ Dominic Aljets just 31 seconds into the match.

Petersen was electric as well in his journey to the title, snatching a 20-5 tech fall of Westwood’s Thomas Gamboa before pinning Class 1A’s No. 6 Riley Parkis of Kuemper in the first period of the title bout. The senior has won 31 straight matches dating back to last winter.

Dennhardt pinned his semifinal opponent, Frank Lewis of Westwood and slid past Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln’s Parker Herzog, 3-0 in the semifinals before losing to Carroll’s Cooper Ludwig, 11-6 in the championship match.
Winters was impressive in a bounce-back romp through the consolation bracket, pinning Kuemper Catholic’s Caleb Hoffman in the third period of the consolation semifinals before eventually securing a 12-6 decision over Westwood’s Jesse Burton in the third place match.

HOME DOMINANCE

Greene County followed up last weekend’s solid showing with a quadrangular sweep Tuesday night in Jefferson, easily defeating CAM (42-12), Nevada (48-21), Saydel (54-18) before closing out the night with a convincing victory over Van Meter, 45-12.

Petersen snatched a trio of pins as did Dennhardt.