BACK-TO-BACK
ALGONA — Sam Myer secured his fourth North Central Conference wrestling medal here Saturday, as St. Edmond walked away with three Top-5 finishes in all.
Host Algona earned back-to-back NCC honors, as all 14 individuals placed led by championships from Brooks Morgan, Ashton Moreno, Tate Slagle, Carter McGregor and Gavin Goche. Hampton-Dumont/CAL was second followed by Clarion-Goldfield/Dows, Humboldt, Clear Lake, Iowa Falls-Alden, Webster City and the Gaels.
Freshman Matthew Crimmins had the highest finish for St. Edmond, as he was third at 132 pounds. Myer placed fourth at 138 and heavyweight Adam Walker was fifth.
Crimmins scored two falls and a technical fall around a tough decision loss to Charlie Showalter from Hampton-Dumont/CAL in the semis. He had pins in matching times of 1:16 before scoring his technical fall in the third period for bronze.
Myer, who lost to eventual champion Tyce Clarken of Humboldt in the semifinals, earned a fall in 93 seconds to begin his day before claiming a technical fall in the consolation semis. He fell to Elijah Wilhite of Algona for third.
Walker ended his final NCC meet with a win, pinning Emmitt Elling of Hampton-Dumont/CAL in 66 seconds.
Owen Rutherford and Grant Anderson both competed for St. Edmond during the tournament but were unable to secure a win.
Along with the five champions, Isaac Wilson, Barrett Morgan, Brody Shipler and Iowa State University football signee Jack Limbaugh all placed second. Slagle, who committed to playing baseball at the University of Iowa, secured his third NCC title and fourth finals appearance at the meet.
Clarken was joined atop the podium by fellow Wildcat Broedy Hendricks, who picked up his second NCC gold in as many attempts. It was a memorable day for Clarken, who had placed second twice and third once, as the title came 40 years to the day that his uncle, Tom Clarken, won at 138 pounds.
Sam Knight, Cyler Cirks and Jaxson Kirchhoff were each second for Humboldt, as Landon Halverson added a third.
Adrian Phetxoumphone, Colin Sesker and JT Kelso collected championships from Clarion-Goldfield/Dows, with Charlie Campbell finishing second. Webster City’s Eli Estlund and Cody Elliott both placed third.