State Tournament

by Coach Clint Jones
Jake wrestled at the annual Iowa State Wrestling Tournament last week held at the Wells Fargo Arena. This marks the 4th year that Wells Fargo has hosted the event. It sure was a roller coaster ride, but one marked with many memorable moments. Jake opened the tournament against Joe Sievert, the eventual State Champion. Sievert was an amazingly tough opponent. He controlled all of his opponents en route to his state championship. Jake had a hard time stopping Sievert.
In Jake’s first wrestleback match, Sommerlot took Jake down late in the first period off of Jake’s attempt at a foot sweep. Jake lost his balance and Sommerlot took advantage of it. Sommerlot escaped at the start of the second period, to extend his lead 3-0 over Jake. However, opportunity struck when Jake stepped in and hip-tossed Sommerlot to his back for a five point move. Jake
totally caught Sommerlot off guard with that hip-toss, and changed the complexion of that match. Jake secured two more takedowns in the third period to win 10-6. It was good for Jake to get the sails right back on course.
Against Schmelzer of South Winneshiek, Jake took command of the match early. Jake’s most impressive move was once again demonstrated, as he hit a powerful double leg shot that blasted Schmelzer off the mat and into the air. As a coach and spectator, I never tire of seeing Jake hit that move. Thankfully he was able to utilize it in that match. Jake continued his pressure and it really opened things up in the third period. Schmelzer trailed in the third period,
where he didn’t make some very good shots, and Jake capitalized on Schmelzer’s mistakes by scoring off of Schmelzer’s shots.
In Jake’s next match, he met an all too familiar opponent in Dylan Schrader (Wapello). Jake was 1-2 against Schrader heading into Friday’s wrestleback match. The first period looked a bit gruesome for Jake, as Schrader hit two single leg sweeps and also managed a tilt to build a 6-1 advantage at the end of the first period. Schrader escaped to start the 2nd period to make it 7-1
in Schrader’s favor. Jake then hit a nice single leg shot and finished it to cut the deficit 7-3. Jake let Schrader up and took him down again three more times in the period. Jake trailed 8-9 heading into the third period. Jake escaped, and took Schrader down with 32 seconds left in the match. Jake rode Schrader tough, but then things became hairy. Schrader escaped with 7 seconds left in the match, hit a single leg against us, and finished it with 3 seconds left on the clock to beat Jake 12-11. That was a real heartbreaker, as Jake wrestled his tail off in that match. You have to give Dylan credit for not giving up and finishing that last shot. It was an exciting match, just unfortunate that we were on the L side of it after wrestling so well through the second and third periods.
In his last match, Main caught Jake early with a headlock. Jake fought for a long time, as that headlock was tight. Unfortunately, Jake didn’t make it past the first period. It was tough for Jake, however, he wrestled very well in this tournament, and conducted himself with a lot of class and dignity. He definitely opened some eyes of other coaches, and proved why he belonged at this
tournament. I’m pleased that Jake had the opportunity to wrestle at the state tournament, as the coaches believed he had this kind of ability for a while. This year he put it all together and wrestled the best we had seen him throughout his high school career. He definitely deserved to be on that platform Saturday night, and he can feel positive about how he wrestled and finished his senior season.
Stats: Wednesday, February 18 – Joe Sievert, Akron-Westfield major decision over Jake Walton (Highland) 11-0; Jake Walton (Highland) dec Kendall Sommerlot (SR), Pocahontas Area/Pom-Palm, 10-6. Thursday, February 19 – Jake Walton Dec Matt Schmelzer (SO), South Winneshiek Calmar, 11-7. Friday, February 20 – Dylan Schrader (Wapello) dec Jake Walton 12-11. Saturday, February 21 – Jacob Main, East Buchanan Winthrop Fall Jake Walton, Highland Riverside, 1:14. Jake Walton placed 8th at the State Tournament.