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Hageman hanging around

Bobcat junior stays in the mix at 120, freshman Close eliminated at 182

T-R PHOTO BY THORN COMPTON - Marshalltown junior Bennett Hageman, below, gets underneath North Scott’s Cael Bredar during the third period of their Class 3A consolation match at 120 pounds in the Iowa High School State Wrestling Tournament on Thursday at Wells Fargo Arena. Hageman won the match by a 5-3 decision and advanced to the second day of competition.

DES MOINES — Marshalltown state wrestling qualifiers Bennett Hageman and Austin Close were in action bright and early on Thursday with the Class 3A first round matches of the Iowa High School State Wrestling Tournament kicking off at 9 a.m in Wells Fargo Arena.

Hageman was up first at 120 pounds and after falling down 8-0 to Waukee’s Nick Miller (32-8), Hageman closed the gap a bit with two takedowns in the third period before getting caught on a third takedown attempt, which led to a Miller 5 minutes, 42 seconds into the match.

Close made his debut later at 182 and also reached the third period against Brett Bower (44-2) from Glenwood, but The Predicament’s Class 3A No. 3 wrestler at 182 eventually overcame Close for a 21-5 technical fall in the third period.

Hageman was the first to start the consolation round and he learned from his earlier mistakes, as he started off the match quickly with a 4-1 lead and eventually beat Cael Bredar (23-25) from North Scott by a 5-3 decision.

Close wasn’t able to join Hageman as a Friday qualifier, however, as the Bobcat freshman fell to Logan Andeway (25-13) from Cedar Rapids Prairie by pin at the 3:25 mark, eliminating him from the bracket.

T-R PHOTO BY THORN COMPTON - Marshalltown freshman Austin Close, left, battles with Glenwood’s Brett Mower during their opening-round Class 3A match at 182 pounds in the Iowa High School State Wrestling Tournament. Close would finish 0-2 on the day, eliminating him from medal contention.

After winning his consolation match and moving on to the next round, Hageman said he’s absorbing as much as he can in his first state meet.

“I am trying to take it one match at a time and let it play out,” Hageman said. “It feels good to get a first win.”

As for his slow start, Hageman (21-13) said it wasn’t nerves or anything that led to him being down 8-0 to Miller, just a failure in his early-match execution.

“I got in deep on a shot early in the match and didn’t finish it when I needed to finish it,” he said. “Then I got taken to my back for a five count, I just tried to regroup myself from that point.”

Hageman did regroup well in the third period, however, as he got his first takedown in two matches against Miller this season, then after allowing an escape he recorded another takedown before eventually shooting for a third and getting caught and pinned.

Hageman said getting some points on Miller before eventually losing set him up for success against Bredar.

“It helped with my confidence on my feet, knowing that I can take down some of those guys and carry it into my next match,” he said.

Marshalltown head wrestling coach Mike Mann said Hageman did a great job learning from his earlier mistakes and bringing that into the next match.

“We worked on some things with technique from the Waukee kid and he definitely improved on what we were trying to accomplish on finishing single legs,” Mann said. “He had never taken that kid down before, so that was a positive, but he just had too much for us and controlled us on top so we came out on the short end.”

That momentum carried over in the form of two takedowns in the first period against Bredar, which ultimately proved to be enough points to win the match.

“Once he got ahead in the match, then you can turn cautious a little bit and let that guy come after you,” Mann said. “He kept bringing it, kind of controlled us on top, but Bennett was holding his own and knew the guy either had to turn him or cut him. Still a close win, but you’ve just got to have one more point than the other guy so it was a good win.”

After a scoreless second period, Hageman started on top in the third but Bredar managed a reversal to make it a 4-3 match. Try as he might, Bredar couldn’t flip Hageman onto his back for any more points, and by the time he cut Hageman to give the Bobcat junior a 5-3 lead, it was too late for any other shots that Hageman couldn’t fend off with relative ease.

“I was up by one so the kid was going to have to cut me so I’d go up by two or he was going to try and turn me, so I kept a good base and didn’t let him turn me,” Hageman said of his mindset during the third period.

After securing his first state victory and moving on to the second day, Mann said Hageman accomplished one of the hardest things to do in your first state meet.

“When you come down here, you don’t have to say it, nobody wants to go two-and-out, so it’s awesome to win a match and get you into Friday,” Mann said. “It’s cool, you’re still on your path on the goals that you set for yourself to be a state placewinner, you’ve got to win a match to find the podium.”

Hageman has also been following in the footsteps of his brother, Reese, who was a two-time state qualifier for the Bobcats. In Reese’s first state meet he went 0-2 and didn’t make the second day, and when Bennett was reminded of that fact his usually stoic face broke into a wide grin.

“It feels good, yeah,” Hageman said of outdoing his older brother.

Close (19-16) wasn’t able to taste that first state-meet victory, but considering he is one of only two freshmen who qualified at 182 pounds, regardless of class, he said this was a great experience so early in his career.

“It was interesting being under the big lights like that,” Close said after his second loss. “This is definitely the biggest tournament I’ve ever been in, it was fun to participate in.”

Heading into your first state meet, obviously you want your body at peak competitive form, but Mann said coming in a couple of nagging issues popped up for Close.

“He is young and still learning. It’s been a long season and he’s beat up a little bit, he doesn’t feel 100 percent and that’s not an excuse, it is what it is,” Mann said. “That’s partly why he struggled a little bit strength-wise, he just wasn’t on his ‘A’ game. At this point for him, all the mental aspect and the atmosphere, this was his first big stage and it doesn’t seem too big for him. He will be mentally ready to go next year.”

In his second match against Andeway, Close seemed to be physically dominated, as he just couldn’t gain any footing and was constantly on the defensive. He said in general this was a learning experience for him, and he saw some of what his coaches have been preaching play out in his matches.

“I need to work on my reaction time, coaches have told me multiple times that I just like catch the shot,” Close said. “This was tougher than I expected, hopefully next year I can come back and place a little bit higher.”

Considering he’s already got one state meet appearance to his name, Mann said Close could become a regular on the state tournament stage.

“A lot of us coaches can’t imagine wrestling varsity as a freshman, so he is evidently strong physically enough to handle that,” Mann said. “He’s a hard worker, I know he’ll be in the weight room and he will be ready for football season, I know that. He’s a great football player and wrestler, as a coach you’ve got to love that combination.”

When asked if this experience made him hungrier for more next year, Close had a one-word answer.

“Definitely,” he said.

Hageman now waits to find out who his next consolation opponent will be, as he will face the loser of the matchup between No. 4 Aiden Evans from Bettendorf and No. 5 Carson Taylor from Fort Dodge tomorrow morning.

Hageman lost to Taylor by a 13-2 major decision earlier this season and he hasn’t faced Evans, but Mann said no matter who he faces at this time in the meet it’s going to be a tough fight.

“We will see what the rest of the coaches looked at for the guys coming up and come up with a strategy and just try to wrestle your style,” Mann said. “A lot of it still comes down to things that you’re doing or not doing, finishing moves and getting in certain situations or not letting certain situations occur that you can control. Basically you’re trying to wrestle your style and your match, and that’s what Bennett needs to do.”

As for his mentality heading into this morning, Hageman said he’s got the same focus as he did heading into his first consolation match.

“It’s just one match at a time still,” he said.

The Class 3A and 1A quarterfinals and second-round consolation matches at the Iowa High School State Wrestling Tournament start at 9 a.m. this morning in Wells Fargo Arena.

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