Top finishes result in EVTC runner-up title

The EVTC wrestling team showed more progress as the season begins to wind down by finishing in second place at the Warrior Invitational on January 12 at Waco High. They were just five points behind Wayne (a team that only competed at the Invite due to their original tournament being cancelled) and held off Pekin by four points to wind up with second place.

The Bears were paced by Cooper Andreassen (152 lbs.) and John Fisher (195 pounds) who entered the day with a combined record of 51-6, with each adding another four wins to their record and finishing in first place. Andreassen came into the Invitational off a big win earlier in the week, earning his 100th win of his career against North Mahaska on January 10.

He barely broke a sweat until the final round at Waco, advancing into the second round with a pin in the first 30 seconds, followed by a pin in 34 seconds and made it to the Championship due to his opponent getting injured. Andreassen was matched up with Wilston Wuthrich (Davis County), by far his toughest opponent on the day, with hopes of winning the gold. He did just that but didn’t get the winning pin till the last 10 seconds of the third period.

Fisher didn’t face an opponent in the first round and then pinned his man midway through the second period to give himself a shot at no worse than third place. He wouldn’t be denied getting to the Championship, taking down his opponent midway through the third period. The top two seeds clashed in the finals as Fisher had to compete against Mason Juhl, successfully pinning him in the second period to win the gold.

“The team wrestled well at Waco and they’re making up ground on wrestlers we’ve seen earlier in the year,” Bears coach Steve Hester said. “Cooper and John both had an outstanding day and each wrestler continues to improve and they’re starting to focus on getting better, win or lose. Our runner-up finish is a testament to the team’s hard work.”

The Bears had a couple other hopefuls at winning golds, with one coming up just short and the other taking third place. Caleb Peach (170 lbs.) breezed through the first round with a 13-0 win, followed by a pin midway through the first period of the second round. Peach then dueled against Tanner Bainbridge (Pekin) for a chance at making it into the Championship. Their match went back and forth with the score tied 9-9 and forced into overtime. Peach picked up the decisive two points to advance but was then defeated by Gabe Carter (New London) 13-6, walking away with a silver.

Daniel Tapken (285 lbs.) had a similar day going with a bye in the first round and pinning his opponent midway through the second period. Tapken would then get pinned in the first period of his semifinal match but bounce back with a fall over Owen Reed (New London) as time expired in the first period, earning another 17 team points for EVTC.

Other Bears to pick up points included Keegan Cope (113 lbs.) who finished in fourth, Ty Moore (106 lbs.) who finished in sixth and Tanner Mihal (120 lbs.) also finished sixth.

EVTC will be back on the mats January 17 when they face Baxter, Centerville, Lynnville-Sully and Montezuma with LS hosting.