North Mahaska's Trace Goemaat Wins Sectional Tournament

North Mahaska's Trace Goemaat Wins Sectional Tournament 

by Clint Dye

Correspondent

Cutline: North  Mahaska sophomore Trace Goemaat won the 285-pound Iowa Class 1A Sectional Tournament this past Saturday. He will now wrestle at Districts this Saturday.

With the Warhawk faithful in attendance cheering him on this past Saturday, Feb. 7, Trace Goemaat pinned Chad Kent of WACO in 51 seconds. 

The victory for the North Mahaska sophomore, one he celebrated with an emotional flex to the crowd, earned him the 285-pound championship of the Iowa Class 1A Sectional 10 tournament and cemented his spot in the Iowa Class 1A District 5 tournament this coming Saturday in Pleasantville. 

It was his second pin of the day, having defeated Isaac Cox of Cardinal in the semifinals. 

“Trace is doing everything right inside and outside the room. He has done such a great job of staying positive and it shows,” said North Mahaska head coach Ryan Groom. “This is step one for him, he’s onto the next step and laser-focused on his next match.”

Joining Goemaat in Pleasantville this Saturday will be sophomore Paul DeJong. A state qualifier as a freshman, DeJong finished second in the 120-pound tournament. 

DeJong’s day started with a hard fought 18-5 major decision victory over DJ Hammes of Sigourney Keota. 

In the finals he lost a 25-10 technical fall to undefeated Marcel Lopez of New London. 

Despite not placing first, Coach Groom was happy with DeJong’s performance and the fact he now has a chance to possibly return to state. 

“Paul has to do the things that have made him successful. He is also focused on his next step,” Groom said. “He has done such a good job of evolving and changing what he has struggled with in the past and he is such a good silent leader for us.”

Also scheduled to compete at Districts this weekend is fellow sophomore Matt German who placed second in the 106-pound tournament. 

In the semifinals German earned a 21-8 major decision victory over Mavy Pope of New London before falling to Dalton Ervin of Moravia in the finals. 

“We had a talk with Matt at the beginning of the year. He is at the right weight and he has started to use his offense successfully.  He adjusted and made changes on the fly,” Groom said. 

North Mahaska’s lone senior Noah Jedlicka didn’t qualify for the District tournament but he did go out on a high note, winning his fifth place. Jedlicka pinned Braden Ballard of Cardinal in 17 seconds to end his career with a victory. 

“Noah has been the glue for our room. He is such a special kid that makes difficult situations in the room a bit more tolerable. He has been such a treat to coach. I wish we had more time with him,” Groom said. 

Also competing at the sectional tournament were Jaylana Shipley, Lauren Basicilio, Michael DeJong, Wyatt VanWheelden, Austin McMahan, Libby Groom, Hayden Jones and Jakob Clark.