C-M's McGill soars to top of podium at Mustang Invitational

Jan. 8—MONROE — Colfax-Mingo senior John McGill has been waiting for his chance to avenge his lone loss of the season since that weekend day on Dec. 2.

McGill knew Earlham's Ryan Stiles and his team would be a part of the Mustang Invitational later in the year. And as expected, the two highly-ranked grapplers faced off again on Saturday.

This time, with the 165-pound tournament title on the line, McGill started fast and never trailed during his win by decision.

McGill's win in the No. 2 vs. No. 3 matchup highlighted the day for the Tigerhawks, who placed 13th in the 14-team standings.

"I came into the day knowing I was going to win," McGill said. "I could see it. I for sure believe in myself now. I felt ready for it today."

McGill, who came into the weekend ranked third at 165 pounds, improved to 31-1 on the season. He locked up his school-record 150th career win a few days earlier and registered his school-record 100th career pin on Saturday.

"I could feel a little better if I had a gold state medal right now. I feel good though," McGill said. "I'm not putting other wrestlers on pedestals in my head. I used to think guys were going to be tough and stuff like that before matches, but now I'm the one who's going to be tough for them."

Cason Fitch

The next best finishes for Colfax-Mingo were Cason Fitch and Teagan Dybevik, who were fifth at 120 and 285, respectively. Isaiah Baucom also was sixth at 175, Jermaine Cross placed eighth at 285 and Konner Bennett was eighth at 190.

Eleven Tigerhawks scored 69 points in 13th place. They were 18 points better than Nevada.

The Southeast Polk junior varsity won the tournament with 230.5 points. Earlham was next with 170.5 and the rest of the top five featured South Tama County (151), Indianola JV (150) and Pleasantville (147.5).

The remaining 14-team field included host PCM (139), Panorama (120), Chariton (108.5), Southeast Warren/Melcher-Dallas (103.5), Gilbert (94), Central Decatur (87) and Iowa Falls-Alden (73).

"I think our effort today was awesome," Colfax-Mingo head wrestling coach Stacey Rice said. "We need to make a few corrections and keep building as a team."

The tournament featured one state-ranked team in Class 1A No. 9 Earlham and plenty of state-ranked wrestlers.

The biggest matchup between ranked wrestlers was second-ranked Stiles against third-ranekd McGill.

Before McGill took down Stiles in their rematch, he registered three pins and two first-period falls in his other three matches. His 100th career pin came in the semifinals.

Stiles downed McGill 7-6 at the Woodward-Granger tournament on Dec. 2. He got ahead and basically used one move to grab a lead.

This time, McGill scored first, forced an early stalling call against Stiles and kept the pressure on. The lead grew to 9-3 before Stiles' first takedown came late in the match. McGill went on to win 9-5, but it wasn't that close.

"I took a lot of shots early and didn't allow the underhook this time," McGill said. "I learned from the first match. He's a lefty and he scored most of his points from one move in our other match.

"I think I had a better mindset than the first time we wrestled."

Jermaine Cross

There were a couple moments in the match where Stiles got in on McGill, but the veteran grappler wiggled his way out of trouble. He worked on similar situations in the practice room leading up to the match though.

"I just felt where his pressure was and where my pressure was. I stayed in good position," McGill said. "I drilled it a lot with Mason Miller. I practice with him a lot. He put me in a few positions I was getting caught in, and that really helped me."

Rice said a big key in the rematch was McGill not getting down early.

"The first time they wrestled, he was in on a shot and got out-scrambled and gave up two early," Rice said. "He was behind the eight ball after that. We worked on things that mattered in that one before and John came out with a gameplan today and worked it to perfection.

"He's been building all year. He puts the work in. He does everything he can do to improve and that shows in his confidence."

Fitch had a successful day despite finishing a disappointing fifth at 120. He's now 27-5 after going 2-2 with a major decision.

The success came against 1A No. 6 Dallas Conoyer of Earlham. Conoyer pinned Fitch at the Woodward-Granger tournament earlier this season, but Fitch fared much better in the rematch.

He led 4-1 after one period before Conoyer rallied for a 5-4 win. Fitch also lost his next match by a single point.

"Cason was beat badly by Conoyer at W-G. But he made a huge jump today," Rice said. "I think he really wanted that match. It's hard to come back emotionally for the next one when you lose a match you put so much into sometimes. That's what happened there. That match is something to build on though."

Dybevik was 2-2 for the day at 285 and his fifth-place finish featured two pins. Cross also competed at 285 and was eighth after a 1-3 day.

Baucom finished sixth at 175. He was 3-3 with two pins. Bennett's eighth-place day at 190 featured two wins by pin.

Tate Carlson was 1-2 at 175, while James Cherveny (132), Kyle Wood (144), Nate Endersbe (190) and Donnie Baucom (215) all finished 0-2.

Notes: There's a chance McGill faces Stiles again on Thursday during a quadrangular at HLV. "I want to wrestle him again," McGill said. "I would be down for that. He's good competition, and I think it's something we both need to get before state."

Isaiah Baucom

McGill hits another milestone in C-M's road quadrangular

COLFAX — McGill scored his 150th career win, but Colfax-Mingo picked up just one win during a home quadrangular on Thursday.

The Tigerhawks cruised past Montezuma 42-17 but lost 43-30 to BGM and 57-24 to Pleasantville.

Colfax-Mingo finished the night 9-11 in contested matches. The Tigerhawks had a 5-1 advantage in forfeits in the win over Montezuma but were given only two forfeits in the two losses.

In the victory over Montezuma, McGill (165) and Dybevik (285) both won by fall as the Tigerhawks were 2-2 in contested matches. Fitch (120), Cherveny (126), Wood (144), Asher Knutson (150) and Isaiah Baucom (175) all won by forfeit.

Colfax-Mingo was 4-4 in contested matches in the loss to BGM and Donnie Baucom (215) took the lone forfeit. Fitch, McGill, Isaiah Baucom and Dybevik all won by pin.

McGill, Isaiah Baucom and Donnie Baucom all won by fall against Pleasantville, but the Tigerhawks were 3-5 in contested matches. Fitch took the lone forfeit.

McGill was 3-0 with three pins and two first-period falls at 165, while Isaiah Baucom was 3-0 with two pins and Fitch was 3-0 with two forfeits. Dybevik won both of his matches by fall, while Donnie Baucom was 2-1 for the night.