DEWITT — Tod Bowman was happy with the way his Maquoketa Cardinals wrestled in Saturday's Central DeWitt Saber Invitational, but he couldn't completely resist thinking about what if.

"Marcus Breeden broke his hand and Dakota Snyder was ill. Our (10)3-pounder will be back down there after Christmas and another kid is coming out of ineligibility, so we'll be an even stronger team after Christmas," Bowman said. "Our 189 didn't make it here, but all in all we wrestled well. We're going to be a better tournament team than we showed today."

If that's the case, then Cardinals opponents may have a lot to worry about in January and February, as Maquoketa's short-handed side finished fourth in the eight-team tournament, with four individual champions, scoring 137 points. North Scott and Western Dubuque — the teams most likely, along with possibly Pleasant Valley, to get in front of the Cardinals come district time in February — were first and second, respectively.

Locally, the host Sabers were fifth, a half-point behind Maquoketa, with Northeast sixth (107.5 points) and Camanche eighth (33). But among local teams, the day largely belonged to Maquoketa and its star power in the middle weights. Shiloh Snyder got things started with a third-period fall over Western Dubuque's Josh Koerperich in the 130-pound final.

"We both have our stuff coming together," Snyder said of himself and brother Dakota, who would have been a solid bet to at least reach the finals at 140 pounds. "I just prepare for every match like it's the biggest one of the year. The kid (Koerperich) is a goer; he never quits. I've wrestled him ever since we were little."

In the next weight class, 135-pound Tim O'Connell kept his unbeaten season going, but wasn't happy with his 7-1 decision over Dawson Nemmers, also of Western Dubuque, despite controlling the match from the outset.

"He (Nemmers) was a good kid, but I've been to the state tournament twice and it's my senior year. I wanted to dominate; I didn't want the match to come down to a call. That's what messed me over," O'Connell said. "I don't want to hold back, just go out hard every time."

The Cardinals put together back-to-back titles at 152 and 160, with Ryan Flagel defeating the Sabers' Dakotah Doolittle, 5-2. Despite the geographic proximiity and the fact that both were seniors, it was their first meeting, and Flagel was still remembering being pinned by Monticello's Logan Felton in the finals of the Zimmerman Invitational, hosted by Maquoketa on December 11.

"That just motivates me even more to work harder, because I know I'm going to see him again down the road," Flagel said. "I wrestled about as good as I could have."

Thomas Mayberry completed the Cardinal run of titles with a 37-second pin of Western Dubuque's Cody Schmitt at 160. Mayberry, like O'Connell, stayed undefeated with the victory, pinning his way through the weight class for the tournament victory.

"I'm just trying to pick up where I left off (last year), win matches any way I can," Mayberry said. "He's a good kid, I've wrestled him a lot, but I didn't think it would be a first-period pin."

Central DeWitt and Northeast both had two finalists, with Jordan Murray (119) joining Doolittle in the final round. Murray was overwhelmed, though, by North Scott's Brett McKinney. Sabers coach Ed Vance praised the effort that Doolittle showed.

"He showed a lot more guts than some of the other kids did," Vance said of Doolittle. "I was really disappointed with the last two rounds, the semifinals and place rounds. We gave up nine falls in place matches. So for (Doolittle) to go out and battle, I give him a lot of credit. Some of these guys have got to learn to wrestle the full six minutes."

Northeast's finalists both lost tight matches in the finals, as Connor Soenksen (103) fell to Western Dubuque's Jake Gotto, 5-0, and Spencer Lueders (189) gave up a second-period takedown in sustaining his first loss of the year, 3-1, to North Scott's Bryce Sellers, a state-ranked wrestler in 3A.

Jake Lancaster was third for Central DeWitt at 125 pounds, while Northeast's Mitch Bielenberg was third at 171. Camanche was led by a fourth-place finish from Dann Kooi (152).



SABER INVITATIONAL

Team scores — 1. North Scott 238.5. 2. Western Dubuque 217. 3. Solon 157. 4. Maquoketa 137. 5. Central DeWitt 136.5. 6. Northeast 107.5. 7. Dubuque Senior 54. 8. Camanche 33.

103 pounds — Championship: Jake Gotto (WD) dec. Connor Soenksen (NE), 5-0. 3rd: Jimmy Marten (NS) pinned Brice Bowen (CD), 5:33. 5th: Michael Fisch (DS) pinned Tanner Fuhrmeister (S), 3:23.

112 — Championship: Connor Ryan (NS) dec. Bryce Lynn, 9-6. 3rd: Nick Steger (WD) pinned Greyson Doolittle (CD), 3:24. 5th: Aaron Shulista (S) pinned Haven Miller (M), 1:25.

119 — Championship: Brett McKinney (NS) pinned Jordan Murray (CD), 2:55. 3rd: Adam Dudley (WD) pinned Marty Buss (DS), 1:51. 5th: Andy Nigg (S) rec. bye.

125 — Championship: Jim Gotto (WD) dec. Adam Perrin, 5-2. 3rd: Jacob Lancaster (CD) pinned Evan Gibbs (NE), 2:25. 5th: Tim Lance (S) pinned Chris Dahlman (DS), 1:00.

130 — Championship: Shiloh Snyder (M) pinned Josh Koerperich (WD), 4:18. 3rd: Tanner Everding (NS) pinned Chris Campbell (CD), 1:56. 5th: Cody Mensinger (C) dec. Austin Allen (NE), 6-4.

135 — Championship: Tim O'Connell (M) dec. Dawson Nemmers (WD), 7-1. 3rd: Jarrett Paulson (S) pinned Nate Ramey (NS), 2:40. 5th: Lance Bormann (NE) pinned Jake Peterson (C), :34.

140 — Championship: JJ Hanus (S) pinned Drake Epkes (NS), 1:07. 3rd: Drew Danner (WD) pinned Kody Moehr (NE), 2:36. 5th: Joe Aronson (C) pinned Grant Housman (CD), 5:44.

145 — Championship: Cody Fritz (S) by fft. over Austin Fleetwood (NS). 3rd: Cody Lawler (WD) pinned Greg Schneckloth (CD), 1:45. 5th: Nate Croschere (DS) pinned Josh Kennedy (NE), 5:15.

152 — Championship: Ryan Flagel (M) dec. Dakotah Doolittle (CD), 5-2. 3rd: Derek Hosch (WD) dec. Dann Kooi (C), 14-8. 5th: Ben Nigg (S) pinned Shawn Swanton (NE), 5:03.

160 — Championship: Thomas Mayberry (M) pinned Cody Schmitt (WD), :37. 3rd: Zach Reeve (S) pinned Bryar Bloomer (CD), 3:54. 5th: Cameron Christoff (NS) dec. TJ Weidemann (DS), 4-2.

171 — Championship: Walt Gillmor (NS) pinned Michael Kluesner (WD), 2:45. 3rd: Mitch Bielenberg (NE) major dec. Josh Holtz (M), 13-1. 5th: Mitch Mohr (CD) dec. Alex Dean (C), 7-6.

189 — Championship: Bryce Sellers (NS) dec. Spencer Lueders (NE), 3-1. 3rd: David Demmer (WD) pinned Wes Maass (CD), 3:44. 5th: Evan Constant (S) pinned Chad Ramser (C), 1:00.

215 — Championship: James Morris (S) pinned Ben Nagle (NS), :48. 3rd: Mattias Delagardelle (M) pinned Mitch Ramler (WD), 2:48. 5th: Forrest Marx (NE) dec. Tom McClimon (CD), 7-3.

285 — Championship: Jake Arthur (NS) pinned Jacob Brown (S), 5:25. 3rd: Colton Feller (M) pinned Creighton Fox (CD), 2:35. 5th: Kyle Hoffman (NE) pinned Dakoda Elledge (WD), 1:40.