The Marshalltown boys’ wrestling team got a preview of one of its district opponents, and Johnston came away with the upper hand.

Bobcat head coach Lucas Cross can’t wait to cross paths with the Dragons again — nor will he have to.

Marshalltown finished 3-2 in its annual Allie Morrison Duals on Saturday in the Roundhouse, closing the tournament with a 54-21 loss to Johnston. The Dragons will visit MHS for the Class 3A District 7 tournament on Feb. 14, but the two teams will meet again before then.

Both squads are on the schedule for Bettendorf’s Midwest Shootout Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 17, where Cross hopes his Bobcats will find more success in an individual tournament format.

In Saturday’s final dual, the Dragons emerged as the aggressors.

“Honestly, I think we just were flat,” Cross said. “I think we used all our energy up, so we need to talk about nutrition throughout the day and making sure that we’re hydrated, have good fuel, and just simply put — no one’s better than us if we believe it. And I think we believed that Johnston is better than us.

“I think we wrestled differently against them.”

The Dragons, rated 17th in the Iowa High School Athletic Association’s initial dual meet rankings released in December, won nine of the 13 contested matches as Marshalltown (11-6) rounded out a 3-2 day on the mats.

The Bobcats opened the tournament with a victory over Cedar Falls, claiming the 36-36 dual via tiebreaker. Due to Criteria F, the Tigers’ forfeit at 113 pounds was the deciding factor.

MHS followed with wins over Sioux City East (55-20) and Webster City (56-19) before falling to Bondurant-Farrar (46-30) and Johnston.

“It was nice to have Sioux City East come as far as they did to compete, and same with Webster City,” Cross said. “They’ve been coming here for a long time, so it was good that they’re coming in here — and it was nice to beat them up a little bit — but I appreciate them, seeing teams from other sides of the state.”

Bondurant-Farrar, ranked 19th in 3A, claimed the battle with Johnston for the meet crown, 36-30.

Marshalltown was led on the day by second-ranked 144-pounder Nick Wise, who went 5-0 with two pins, two technical falls and a major decision. The Bobcats’ heavyweight spot, held down by seniors Jaxson Hinkle and Ignacio Macias, also went a combined 5-0. Hinkle had two pins and a technical fall while Macias picked up two pins.

Nicholas Million (113) went 4-1 with two pins and a technical fall, while Carson Wright (165) was 4-1 with two pins and a decision.

Yandel Manning (138) went 3-0 with two pins, while Colby Cross (150) was 3-1 with a pin and two technical falls.

“Colby, in his match against Webster City, was just absolutely destroying the kid,” said coach Cross, Colby’s father. “He was on the verge of pinning him and the kid did a weird roll-through and put Colby on his back and pinned him. So it was a super-bummer of a match and he was extremely upset but he rebounded well and took care of a Bondurant kid that was a solid wrestler.

“After we lose, there’s two ways we can view it. One is ‘we’re no good’ or two, ‘the next person better watch out because we’re going to kick their butts.’ Individually we have to have the mentality to no let the results determine your future results, and some kids responded well to that.”

Israel Garcia (126) went 3-2 as well, rallying from an early deficit to win his final match against Johnston’s Michael Dyatt by fall in 3:03.

“To use terms that kids use today, he’s got that dog in him,” coach Cross said, “and that’s what we’ve got to preach.”

The Bobcats got at least one match victory from every spot in the lineup during the day, representing a solid jumping-off point for another active week. Marshalltown hosts Mason City on Thursday night for an Iowa Alliance Conference dual before visiting Bettendorf on Saturday.

“I feel good if we keep the momentum that we had in our first four duals carrying into next week,” Cross said.