Troxel Ends 40-Plus Year Drought, Ornelas Is Three-Time Champion

History made in more ways than one in what was an eventful week of boys state wrestling. Of the 21 athletes at state within the coverage area, seven of them found their way on the podium by the end of the tournament and in doing so made history for their school and program. Troxel Gives Raiders A TitleThe Southern Raiders ran wild at state wrestling with four qualifying and as a team found their place among the top ten. Those competing at state were Carsen Goes, Koltan Ideus, Wyatt Forney and Drake Troxel. The Raiders as a team were able to score a total of 58 points giving them sixth place. That would be the highest team finish since 1981.Carsen Goes was able to qualify for the first time in the 190-pound division. Goes would go 2-2, one win coming by pin-fall and one by a 9-6 decision. With his season coming to an end Goes would finish with a record of 34-13. Ideus was able to qualify for the first time at state wrestling competing in the 157-pound division. Ideus was able to go 1-2, his one victory being a pin-fall victory in the opening round. With his season coming to an end, Ideus would have a record of 28-11.Forney was able to qualify for state wrestling for the second time in a row, this time in the 113-pound division. Forney was able to have a great tournament as he finished as the Class D-113-pound division runner-up, the first time in 25 years for Southern. Forney was able to win his first two matches by pin-fall victory, a major 19-10 decision in the semi-final, but would come up short in the final losing by tech-fall. Forney ending his year as runner-up and a great record of 37-3 has the wrestler plenty to build on for the next two years. It had been 43 years, since the last state champion for Southern in 1981. Drake Troxel competed in the 144-pound division and dominated his way on to becoming the Class D-144-pound division champion. An opening round pin-fall victory just under the one minute mark, a 6-3 decision victory in the quarterfinal, another pin-fall victory in the semi-final, and then a hard fought 9-7 decision victory ended a long drought. A freshman with a lot of hype that built off early season upsets and culminating to a state championship, a weight has been lifted and the fire is still burning as Troxel talked about the experience, “It’s a great feeling to know I got this win for the program. It’s been 43 years since we last had a champion and I’m happy to bring it back. It’s been a long hard season, worked hard through changing weight classes, I felt that going from 150 pounds to 144 pounds was a huge help. I think that it felt like a more natural weight that gave me the strength and speed to get the job done.” Troxel continued, “I’m ready to get back to work and start wrestling in the summer, but the first thing I’m going to probably do is eat a lot of food because I am hungry. As soon as I take care of that, I’ll be ready to get back to work, we didn’t graduate anyone this year from the team and I know my coaches and teammates will be ready to get back to work as soon as we can.”Taking a moment to speak on the accomplishment from his state champion was coach Preston Jurgens, “He’s a great wrestler, the work he puts in the off-season and during the season speaks for itself as he’s standing on top of the podium. It’s an accomplishment that isn’t earned easily, knowing it’s been 43 years since the program has had a champion and we’re happy to get that done. We’re even more excited to have a young core that will continue to grow because we don’t have any graduates this year, I’m confident these same four can make it back and more will join them. Can’t wait to get back to work with them to see what else we can do with the coming seasons.” Ornelas PerfectThe Wilber-Clatonia Wolverines sent six to state wrestling and have history made. That group consisted of Ty Roesler, Logan Zimmerman, Ryan Marsh, Grant Eschiti, Iverson Mejia and Zaiyahn Ornelas. Ty Roesler would qualify in the 157-pound division for the first time at state wrestling, but unfortunately would go 0-2. Roesler would end his season with a record of 33-13. Zimmerman was able to qualify in the 144-pound division for his first time at state wrestling. Zimmerman was able to go 1-2, his two losses going by decision and his one win being an 8-3 decision. With his season coming to an end, Zimmerman would have a record of 39-8.Grant Eschiti was able to qualify for the third consecutive time at state wrestling as he was competing in the 132-pound division. Eschiti was able to find his place on the podium this year as he rounded out the top five taking fifth place. Grant would lose the opening round, win three straight, two by pin-fall and one major decision of 12-0, lost by decision in consolation semi-final and then grabbed a pin-fall victory in the fifth place match. Eschiti would end his season with a record of 39-11.Mejia made it four straight years as a qualifier for state wrestling, this time competing in the 150-pound division. Mejia would have two straight tech-fall victories, but lost a decision 0-1 in the semi-final. Iverson was able to comeback with a major decision victory (13-5) and then took third place by getting the victory in a hard fought 4-2 decision. In what was quite a career, Iverson ended his year with a record of 51-2. Making history is no stranger to Zaiyahn Ornelas as he was among a group of three Wolverines to ever be back-to-back champions. Staying undefeated on the season once again was another impressive feat, qualifying for the third straight time as he competed in the 120-pound division at state.Not only did Ornelas make history by becoming the first, and only three-time state champion at Wilber-Clatonia, he did not allow a single point to be scored against him in the entirety of the tournament. Four matches with four straight tech-falls done so in quick work without so much of a sweat broken. With that effort, now a three-time state champion, ending the year undefeated with a record of 49-0. Not one to dwell too much on success, Zaiyahn spoke on the achievement, and the work ahead, “It’s an honor to bring this win to the program. On the mat and off it, you want to be the right kind of role model for the future wrestlers. Showing them that all the time I spend on the mat, the dedication to my dieting, and just putting in the work will find success. Feels great to be a three-time champion, can’t thank my coaches enough, my parents and teammates for pushing me to be the best I can be. I’ll take a bit to enjoy the win, but as soon as I can get back on the mat, start competing for the summer. Next year, plan is to be a four-time state champion and I’m ready to get back to work.” If fans were to ever observe coach James Bates and Paul Havel of W-C, there’s never a look of doubt when watching Zaiyahn wrestle, and as Bates and Havel have seen first hand, there’s good reason for it, as Bates spoke first, “It’s not without credit due to coach Havel being a two-time state champion whose been pushing Z like he has for the past few years. We look as confident as we do because we’ve seen firsthand how hard Z works, and there’s no situation he won’t be prepared for as he wrestles as much as he does. He’s got an engine that won’t quit, he’s a standard for our program and we’ll be ready to get to work as soon as we can.”Coach Havel would echo those sentiments on the work ethic, “His situational awareness is next level, if you don’t allow a single point to be scored, he’s firing on all cylinders and that’s a tough battle. He’s a model of consistency in every facet of what it takes to be a champion, and we’re looking forward to enjoying the last year of work we get with him and our program.”

Shari Lee Schwisow

Fairbury Approves $15 Million Finance Agreement For Electric Line Upgrades

Related Articles

Griffins Fall At State

Sobotka Signs With CCC

Griffins Heading To State

NSAA State Wrestling