The dual had long since been decided, but the Bobcats weren’t done fighting.

Jaxson Hinkle still had time left on the clock.

Down 10-0 with 42 seconds remaining, Marshalltown’s senior heavyweight got the headlock and hip throw for the pin to punctuate the Bobcats’ 73-6 victory over Des Moines East and a Senior Night sweep on Thursday at the Roundhouse.

It was a nothing-to-lose moment you can only mimic in practice, but Hinkle heard his teammates and coaches calling for him to go for it. So he did, and it worked.

Hinkle hip-tossed East’s Lance Williams and held him to the mat to get the referee’s slap, sending the hometown crowd into celebration.

“I felt like I would have let my team down if I would have lost,” said Hinkle, a senior. “I was getting by butt kicked a little bit and then I just felt it. I just threw it.”

It was a high-risk, high-reward move that Hinkle knew could go bad, but even its worst possible outcome it was better than the 10-0 deficit he faced in the moment.

“I’ve done that before in previous matches and thrown myself on my back, but I just needed to keep my hip in and just throw it with all I had,” he said. “As soon as I felt that pressure I just went. If I would have thrown myself on my back, it would have been ‘oh well,’ I was losing anyway, but if I hit that, they were going to go wild and they did.”

Hinkle’s was the last of nine pins for the Marshalltown boys’ wrestling team (8-4, 4-0 Iowa Alliance) against Des Moines East — a team that defeated the Bobcats in head-to-head action almost a year ago to the day. The Scarlets topped the Bobcats 42-39 in a quadrangular at Des Moines East on Jan. 9, 2025, and MHS head coach Lucas Cross hadn’t forgotten about that.

“It was so many things,” he said of Thursday’s win. “You saw the energy on our bench and it wasn’t just that match. Every single match we had good energy, we were supporting each other, and that’s what it’s all about — building the right culture in the room and it carries on into competitions and that was fun.

“I think we needed it for several reasons — like past events. Last year they beat us. Like I told the guys in the circle at the end, that scoreboard makes me so happy because last year we fell short, and there’s no question about tonight. Honestly that was the lowest point in my season last year.”

A pin by Williams at heavyweight provided the deciding points in last year’s dual, so Hinkle’s reversal of fortune was big moment for the Bobcats.

“We didn’t need it, but we needed it,” Cross said.

It was an exclamation point for a pair of Bobcat victories on the night. Marshalltown opened with a 77-0 romp over Des Moines North, recording six pins and a technical fall to go along with six forfeits by the Polar Bears.

Marshalltown finished with nine pins, two technical falls, a minor decision and a forfeit against East. The Scarlets scored just one match win.

The Bobcats got two pins from a handful of wrestlers: Nicholas Million (113 pounds), Derek Rivera Acosta (132), Nicholas Wise (144) and John Schoenfelder (215). Jamis Piscitelli (106) went 2-0 with a pin and a technical fall, while Israel Garcia (126) got a pin and a decision despite some challenging moments in his win against Des Moines East.

Garcia got a finger in the eye not long before having his pinky finger dislocated in an eventual 10-6 decision over Emperor Lewis.

Rivera Acosta followed Garcia’s gritty win with one of his own, taking down Gabriel Flores with a third-period pin.

“We wrestled lights-out,” Cross said. “I was most impressed with Israel Garcia and Derek. Those are two of East’s best wrestlers. Israel and Derek just work so hard in the room and it’s showing, it’s finally paying off, and that’s just cool.”

Wise, ranked second by IAwrestle, got his two pins in a combined 1 minute, 4 seconds, while Million’s two pins required just 1:47.

In all, it was a strong step toward Saturday’s Allie Morrison Duals, where the Bobcat boys welcome Bondurant-Farrar, Cedar Falls, Johnston, Webster City and Sioux City East to the Roundhouse. The MHS girls entertain BGM, Knoxville, Sioux City East, South Hardin-BCLUW, Waterloo Columbus and West Fork.

Marshalltown 77, Des Moines North 0

106–Jamis Piscitelli (MHS) pinned Aidric Taber, 2:55; 113–Nicholas Million (MHS) pinned Kalani Hongphao, :41; 120–Jose Corral Coronado (MHS) won by forfeit; 126–Israel Garcia (MHS) pinned Jian Estrada, 3:09; 132–Derek Rivera Acosta (MHS) pinned Orlando Valadez, 3:28; 138–Yandel Manning (MHS) tech. falled Eli Merrill, 15-0; 144–Nicholas Wise (MHS) pinned Abdulahi Abdi, :32; 150–Colby Cross (MHS) won by forfeit; 157–Anthony Chavez (MHS) won by forfeit; 165–Carson Wright (MHS) won by forfeit; 175–Jordan Haynes (MHS) won by forfeit; 190–Tyler Johnson (MHS) won by forfeit; 215–John Schoenfelder (MHS) pinned Kyle Pierce, 1:51; 285–no match

Des Moines East 72, Des Moines North 0

Marshalltown 73, Des Moines East 6

106–Jamis Piscitelli (MHS) tech. falled Alejandro Olvera, 19-2; 113–Nicholas Million (MHS) pinned Collin Audsley, 1:07; 120–Julian Davila (DME) pinned Yordani Mena Suarez, 3:25; 126–Israel Garcia (MHS) dec. Emperor Lewis, 10-6; 132–Derek Rivera Acosta (MHS) pinned Gabriel Flores, 4:53; 138–Terry Wyant (MHS) pinned Bronx Adams, 2:49; 144–Nicholas Wise (MHS) pinned Paul Zeoh, :32; 150–Colby Cross (MHS) pinned Ricky Enos, 1:21; 157–Cooper McLeod (MHS) won by forfeit; 165–Anthony Chavez (MHS) pinned Rodrigo Torres De La Cruz, 1:52; 175–Carson Wright (MHS) tech. falled Trevor McKean, 19-4; 190–Kieron Sharp (MHS) pinned Levi Sickels, 2:55; 215–John Schoenfelder (MHS) over Wesley Jordan, 2:45; 285–Jaxson Hinkle (MHS) pinned Lance Williams, 5:18.