Four Sailor Finalists at Hudson Invitational

Sailor Mat Club

Jan 15, 20233 min read

An abbreviated Sailor lineup was in action on Saturday at the Hudson Invitational. The JV squad had their own tournament taking place in Independence, so only 5 wrestlers were in the field at Hudson. What they lacked in numbers they made up for in performance as 4 Sailors navigated the tournament to reach the finals.

At 132 pounds, Gavin Reed is rounding back into form. He would square off with 2A #7 ranked Nick Koch from North Fayette Valley. The first period began with an extended feeling out process with neither wrestler willing to commit too much. With about a minute to go in the first period Gavin was in deep on a low single, taking it up to waterfall position. Koch defended well and was able to fight off the position and prevent the takedown. The second period finished scoreless as well with Koch riding tough and Gavin unable to get to his switch or escape. In the third period Koch chose to start down and was quickly up to his feet. Gavin was unable to return him and dropped to an ankle. The battle was on from here as Koch prevented Gavin from working back up from the ankle resulting in a stall call for the Columbus wrestler. This exchange repeated itself two more times resulting in 3 third period stalling calls with two points going to Koch. Those were the only points scored in the match and Gavin would drop this match 2-0 finishing in second place.

At 170 pounds Max Magayna cruised into his finals matchup with #3 ranked Jack Clarahan of Sigourney. To start the first, Max was in deep on his shot, but Clarahan defended well using his hips effectively to fend off the attack. Max was relentless on the shot however eventually securing the takedown after a brief skirmish. Once the takedown was secured, Max put the legs in and went to work on top. He was able to expose Clarahan’s shoulders, and as Max has done so many times before, he adjusted and secured the fall. With the pin fall victory, Max tallied his 100th career high school pin.

At 182 pounds, Carson Hartz was wrestling in his first tournament after dropping a weight class at mid-week. He dispatched #10 ranked Landon Fernandez of Don Bosco in the semifinals with a 2nd period pin. In the finals he would meet up with #6 ranked Kayden Blunt from Charles City. Carson took a cautious approach in the first period, defending a couple of shot attempts from Blunt. As the clock was winding down in the first, Carson exploded for a takedown to take a 2-0 lead into the second period. Carson took down to start the second and proved once again that he’s tough to ride, getting the escape in just 10 seconds. Not satisfied with the escape, Carson would turn and fire off a shot of his own getting the takedown and expanding his lead. He would get a turn and tack on some back points in the third period to comfortably see out the 12-2 major decision and take 1st place.

At 285 pounds, Connor Knudtson is starting to return to the form he captured last year. He was able to pin his way through the heavyweight field to set up a showdown with #3 ranked Mack Ortner from Don Bosco. Starting the first period off, both wrestlers were heavy with the hand fighting. They spent the majority of the period jostling and pummeling for position. As the first period clock was winding down, Ortner gained an advantage on a snap down allowing him to go behind and take a 2-0 lead into the second. The second period started neutral and Connor was unable to fight off a takedown from Ortner, and was ultimately turned and pinned, finishing his day in second place.

Sailors will be back in action on January 19th with duals against Oelwein and North Fayette Valley.