By Drew Herron - AJ Sports Editor / Feb. 5, 2014
AUDUBON – The Wheelers have a pretty good Wrestling team, and that’s no secret.
And what makes this group such a tough dual team is their layers of depth. Individuals like Brad Kerkhoff (126) and Trevor Smith (145) might get most of the ink and rankings accolades, but a roster of other talented wrestlers share their moments in the spotlight as well.
One would be amiss if you didn’t mention Wheelers’ junior 182-pounder Jordan Hansen’s pivotal win last Thursday during his match against Logan-Magnolia’s Drake Johnson. Hansen pinned Johnson at 5:53 that turned a nail-biter in the Wheelers’ favor and put the team on the road to a most important victory.
“Jordan turns the tables and gets a pin, and that was huge for us,” Audubon coach Blane Kerkhoff says. “We end up winning by five points because of that.”
Audubon defeated West Monona 51-27 Logan-Magnolia before finishing off Riverside 50-20 in the nightcap.
Audubon ended up winning the dual 36-31 to complete the clean sweep of the night, and push the team’s dual record to 19-1.
In the opening dual against West Monona, the Wheelers were able to secure a 51-27 victory based largely on the forfeitures from the Spartans and four pins from a group that included Brad Kerkhoff (126), Andrew Malloy (138), Trevor Smith (145) and Matt Fett (285).
The Riverside dual began at 138, and Malloy kicked off the first of four straight pins for Audubon as they quickly raced out 24-0. Against the Bulldogs, Audubon collected seven total wins by fall while allowing to be pinned at just one weight class.
The final dual against Lo-Ma proved a tightly contested match with Hansen providing just the spark the Wheelers needed at a swing weight class.
Thursday night was the start of three straight home competitions for the Wheelers, who hosted their annual tournament Saturday, and then hold the Class 1A Sectional Tournament next Saturday (Feb. 8).
“Hopefully the momentum builds from Thursday to Saturday to next Saturday,” coach Kerkhoff says. “We talk about defending our home ground, and so far the guys have done a great job of doing that.”
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