It took the Marshalltown boys’ wrestling team a little more than 6 minutes to make sure Ottumwa was walking out of the Roundhouse without a win.

Rather than a single match that extended just beyond the standard time limit, Marshalltown’s final five match victories totaled just 6:05 as the Bobcats blasted past the Bulldogs for a 60-15 triumph in Thursday night’s Iowa Alliance Conference dual.

Marshalltown (5-2, 2-0) led 30-15 before amassing pins in each of the last five bouts in a combined time of just longer than a full 6-minute match, punctuated by John Schoenfelder’s 10-second decking of Ethan Roberts at 215 pounds.

Carson Wright (165), Jordan Haynes (175), Dalton Zednichek (190), Schoenfelder and Jaxson Hinkle (285) helped the Bobcats finish off a convincing victory in their home opener.

It was Marshalltown’s first competition since the Williamsburg Duals on Dec. 6, but the Bobcats showed no signs of rust.

“I was a little bit worried that we were going to be a little sluggish, but that wasn’t the case,” said MHS head coach Luke Cross. “I would say the JV started us off right.”

Marshalltown won 24 of 35 junior varsity matches before the varsity action as the Bobcats celebrated their depth throughout their home opener.

“That’s phenomenal, especially considering we’ve got some kids that are pretty much new to the sport,” Cross added. “They started us off.”

Marshalltown took 11 of 14 matches with Ottumwa for the dual meet win. Eight of the Bobcat victories came by pinfall, including the final five matches.

Nicholas Million (113), Israel Garcia (126), Colby Cross (150) and the last five MHS matmen scored six points apiece with their pins, and freshman Jonny Hernandez (132) tallied a technical fall for his first varsity win. He outscored Alex Rodriguez-Andrade 15-0 in just 4:04 to give Marshalltown a 20-5 lead five matches into the dual.

“Jonny came up with a big one,” coach Cross said. “I believe in his ability to go out there. He goes hard. He doesn’t know a lot about technique, but he will absolutely do his best, no matter what, and that’s what I care about.”

Nicholas Wise, ranked third at 144 by IAwrestle, marched to a 12-1 major decision over Ottumwa’s CJ Vance, while Jose Corral Coronado (120) scored an 11-5 decision over Hayden Franke to round out the Bobcats’ 11 match wins.

All three Bulldog victories came with bonus points, but not nearly as many as Marshalltown got. The Bobcats’ closing five pins were delivered by Wright in 1:05, Haynes in 57 seconds, sixth-ranked Zednichek in 1:08, Schoenfelder in 10 seconds, and Hinkle in 2:43.

Hernandez and Yandel Manning (138) filled into spots otherwise spoken for, Cross said, but were awarded due to various team rules-related reasons this week. Even Hinkle’s win was his first varsity match of the season, but the original starter Ignacio Macias (5-1) was sidelined with an injury.

“We’ve got good kids in the lineup, and somebody’s going to be sitting on the bench in a lot of weight classes, so we’ve got a good problem,” Cross said. “We’re not rebuilding this year, we’re just kind of reloading. Hopefully we’re proving that this year.”

The Bobcats will close out the first half of the schedule on Saturday, sending wrestlers to the Dike-New Hartford Duals as well as Pella’s Bill Van Horn Invitational.

MHS girls fall to Ottumwa

The Marshalltown girls’ wrestling team got to experience its future firsthand on Thursday night inside the Roundhouse.

The Bobcats fell 51-27 to a senior-laden Ottumwa team that was previously coached by Marshalltown’s second-year head coach Isaiah Cox.

“It was a tough loss, but kudos to those guys,” Cox told KFJB-TV. “They have some firepower, but the good thing about that is a lot of that is graduating.

“Like I told the girls: ‘you see where they are? That was the start of what I built, now just imagine what we’re going to do.'”

Ottumwa tallied eight wins by pin and another by decision to claim nine of 14 matches on the mats. Of Marshalltown’s five wins, three of them came by fall, another by forfeit, and one by decision.

The most suspenseful match of the night came at 140 pounds, where Marshalltown’s Charlotte Reyes claimed a victory by fall in the second overtime round. Reyes rode out Ottumwa’s Maiya Barnes in the first overtime period and pinned her in the next, ending a string of five-straight Bulldog pins.

Ottumwa had won seven of the first eight matches by pinfall to take a 42-3 lead on the host Bobcats.

Addyson Lovelace (155), one of three MHS seniors honored in a ceremony before the dual, pinned Gihanna Exprime in 1:48, and Olivia Wise (190) flattened Lauren Archer in 1:54.

Lovelace was nearly pinned along the edge of the mat but fought to her feet and eventually scored six points for her own team.

“She’s just been awesome,” Cox said of Lovelace. “This offseason she put in work. We knew that other girl was strong so we told her to weather the storm, she did that and she came back and she pinned that girl.”

Ella DeMonte received a forfeit at 170, while Audriana Walker (110) got Marshalltown’s first win of the night, scoring a late takedown to topple Allison Godoy Quintana 9-6.

“It might not have showed with the scoreboard, but I’m happy with the way we’re starting to compete a little bit more,” Cox said. “In the first tournament we were really timid, but tonight I saw a lot more fight. I’m excited to see this team improve.”

The Bobcats head into the holiday break with one more competition coming Saturday with the Boone Tournament.

GIRLS

Ottumwa 51, Marshalltown 27

100–Gracey Pumphrey (O) pinned Natalie Nickey, 3:26; 105–Haydn Francis (O) pinned Maelee Corona, 1:47; 110–Audriana Walker (MHS) dec. Allison Godoy Quintana, 9-6; 115–Jordin Mayson (O) pinned Shailynn Sadie, 1:13; 120–Maravilha Vedina (O) pinned Patricia Mateo Merida, 0:47; 125–Paislee Kern (O) pinned Faith Sommerlot, 0:49; 130–Breanna Griffiths (O) pinned Autumn Miller, 1:37; 135–Lydia Witt (O) pinned Leah Graves, 4:57; 140–Charlotte Reyes (MHS) pinned Maiya Barnes, 7:25; 145–Harper Jaeger (O) dec. Madylin McDonald, 7-4; 155–Addyson Lovelace (MHS) pinned Gihanna Exprime, 1:48; 170–Ella DeMonte (MHS) won by forfeit; 190–Olivia Wise (MHS) pinned Lauren Archer, 1:54; 235–Delilah Subsin (O) pinned Nevaeh Gonzalez, 1:18.

BOYS

Marshalltown 60, Ottumwa 15

106–Colby Baxter (O) tech. falled Jamis Piscitelli, 16-0; 113–Nicholas Million (MHS) pinned Jomagne Mancol, 2:34; 120–Jose Corral Coronado (MHS) dec. Hayden Franke, 11-5; 126–Israel Garcia (MHS) pinned Asa Early-Francis, 4:37; 132–Jonny Hernandez (MHS) tech. falled Alex Rodriguez-Andrade, 15-0; 138–Brock Garcia (O) pinned Yandel Manning, 2:28; 144–Nicholas Wise (MHS) major dec. Tayton Frueh, 12-1; 150–Colby Cross (MHS) pinned CJ Vance, 1:58; 157–Efren Huerta (O) major dec. Anthony Chavez, 15-7; 165–Carson Wright (MHS) pinned Madden Rouw, 1:07; 175–Jordan Haynes (MHS) pinned Lawson Bennett, 0:57; 190–Dalton Zednichek (MHS) pinned Tyler Schaus, 1:08; 215–John Schoenfelder (MHS) pinned Ethan Roberts, 0:10; 285–Jaxson Hinkle (MHS) pinned Jedediah Suta, 2:43.