Wrestling: Pirates Continue Strong Finish with Retro Night Wins and NICL Success

By Coach Haskovec 

The Pirates delivered a memorable stretch of wrestling over the past week, highlighted by a successful Retro Night at home, a strong JV performance Thursday night, and two individual NICL conference championships.  

Retro Night doubled as Senior Night and proved to be a celebration on and off the mat.  Wrestling in front of a lively home crowd, the Pirates defeated NICL rivals BCLUW-SH 54-23  and Wapsie Valley 63-12. It was a special evening honoring a tight-knit group of wrestlers,  cheerleaders, managers and parents. The two Senior Night/Retro Night wins brought the Pirate  dual mark to 10-3 after Christmas break.  

From a unique perspective as coach, teacher and fellow senior parent, watching this  group grow has been both rewarding and emotional. I cannot believe my youngest, who has  served three seasons as a manager and now cheerleader, will graduate this spring. While it is  hard to believe how fast the season has moved, the work is far from finished as postseason  competition approaches.  

Varsity wins on the night were earned by Justin Gavigan, Miguel Gomez, Gavin Fish,  Mason Fogt, Alston Loeb, Carter Ites, Ivan Martinez, Rylan Fogt, Carter Weide, Brady Greiman,  Cohen Warnell, Aaden Myhr, Camdyn Budde and Blake Taylor.  

While the varsity squad was defending the home mat, the JV Pirates were competing at  East Marshall, showing depth and determination throughout the lineup. Seniors Justin Gavigan  and Devin Lang captured championships in their brackets at 120 and 285, respectively. A big  thank you to coaches Shay Ingles and Cam Neuendorf for preparing the JV wrestlers, as every  Pirate stepped on the mat ready to compete.  

NICL JV Tournament Place Finishers  

120 – Justin Gavigan, Sr., Champ  

120 – Charlie Buskohl, So.,  

2nd  

144 – Cooper Hamer, Fr., 3rd  

165 – Ramon Flores, Fr., 4th  

190 – Francisco Martinez, Sr.,  

2nd  

285 – Miguel Gomez, Sr., 4th  

285 – Devin Lang, Sr., Champ  

Isaac Ubben, Landon Beardsley, Max Erisman, Eduardo Colindres, Hazen Kilpatrick and  Camdyn Budde narrowly missed the podium but contributed valuable effort and experience.  The Pirates carried that momentum into the NICL Conference varsity tournament,  returning home with two individual conference titles and several place finishes. Senior Blake  Taylor continued his dominant run at 175 pounds, winning the NICL title with a first-period fall  over DNH-GR’s Bryce Bass. Taylor has now captured three consecutive tournament titles while  reaching the milestone of his 100th career victory.  

At heavyweight, junior Alston Loeb claimed his second straight NICL conference  championship, earning an 8-0 major decision over Denver’s Kamden Teisinger. Loeb also  reached an impressive milestone with his 50th career fall.  

Junior Carter Ites highlighted the remainder of the Pirate squad with a third-place finish  at 215, pinning Wapsie Valley’s Hayden Hilsenbeck in the first period. The Pirates competed  without senior starters Mason Fogt and Gavin Fish, both sidelined due to injuries, and their  leadership was missed. Despite this, underclassmen stepped up in a big way, with eight total  place winners returning from the tournament, including three freshmen making their NICL  conference debut.  

Devin Lang, fresh off his JV NICL title earlier in the week, entered the varsity bracket  and secured seventh place with a win over DNH-GR’s Parker Schmitt.  

NICL Conference Tournament Place Finishers 

126 – Rylan Fogt, So., 6th  

138 – Brady Greiman, Fr., 8th  

150 – Aaden Myhr, So., 8th  

157 – Cohen Warnell, Jr., 8th  

165 – Ivan Martinez, Fr., 5th  

175 – Blake Taylor, Sr., NICL Champ  

215 – Carter Ites, Jr., 3rd  

285 – Devin Lang, Sr., 7th  

285 – Alston Loeb, Jr., NICL Champ  

Carter Weide once again bumped up to fill the lineup at 144, finishing just short of  placing but gaining valuable mat experience and continuing his development. The Pirates  continue to highlight a young squad, in which three freshmen and two sophomores are  approaching 20 varsity wins this season. Making the transition from junior high to high school  is a significant step, and our young wrestlers have gained valuable experience beyond their  years.  

The Pirates will travel to Edgewood for a quad on Tuesday before closing the regular  season with a NICL conference makeup meet at AGWSR.