The Greene County wrestling team hosted the Ram dual meet tournament on Saturday in the middle school gym and although head coach Mark Sawhill saw his wrestlers individually win 18 matches to just 12 losses, one thing continues to bother him; forfeits. Greene County lost all three meets and forfeits were a contributing factor. The Rams began the day with a 39-34 loss to Estherville-Lincoln Central, then fell to Norwalk 46-20, before ending the day with a 39-31 loss to South Central Calhoun (Lake City). Greene County had just 10 of the 14 weight classes filled and they forfeited three times to both the Midgets and Titans, with four forfeits to the Warriors. There was no match at 220 vs. E-LC and none at 113 vs. SCC because those teams were open at those weights. The Rams did not receive a single forfeit in any of the three dual meets.
Five Rams went 3-0 on the day and two wrestlers for Greene County improved to 7-0 on the season. Sophomore Tommy Bradshaw (145) and senior Jeremy Scheuermann (152) both cruised to a trio of victories on Saturday and are 7-0. Seniors Jacob Challen (120) and Dylan Forkner (126) also sailed through three opponents and both are 6-1 on the season. Junior Abe Yoder (138) was 3-0 on Saturday including an overtime victory over Rylee Smith of Norwalk and he is also 6-1 this season. Junior Jordan Challen, ranked eighth in 2A, met wrestlers rated ahead of him in his first two matches of the day at 132 lbs. Challen lost 9-4 to 2A second ranked Oscar Ramirez of E-LC, then in his next match he won 7-4 over Zach Johnston of Norwalk, who is rated tenth in 3A. Challen also recorded a first period fall vs. SCC and is 6-1 on the season. The other four Rams in Saturday’s lineup were a combined 1-11.
Norwalk won the event with a 3-0 record, followed by E-LC at 2-1 and SCC at 1-2. The Outstanding wrestler award went to Oscar Ramirez and Zach Johnston of Norwalk received the fastest fall award for a 24 second pin.
Greene County enters Heart of Iowa Activities Conference dual meet action on Thursday, Dec. 12 in the middle school gym in Jefferson vs. Roland-Story (Story City).