Burlington High School wrestling says goodbye to late public address announcer, hello to head coach
It was goodbye and hello Saturday at Burlington High School.
The Grayhounds said goodbye to longtime public address announcer Dick Mellinger, who died last month at the age of 90.
And the Grayhounds said hello to new varsity wrestling coach Pat Pickford, whose first event as head coach was the 25th annual Dick Mellinger Invitational on the Don Gibbs Court at Johannsen Gymnasium.
BHS had a pair of wrestlers pick up their first wins and senior heavyweight Julius Harris walked away with the Outstanding Wrestler Award.
As a team, the Grayhounds went 2-1 in duals, beating Davenport Central and Keokuk before falling to Ottumwa in the final dual.
On a day when the Grayhounds said goodbye and hello, they came away with plenty of positives, and numerous things to work on.
“I think it went pretty well. I feel like we’ve improve a lot from last year. Two of our guys got their first wins and their first pins. That was a big deal," said BHS junior Caleb Zaugg, who went 3-0 with three pins at 182 pounds. “We learn more technique. The way he teaches it, it’s really easy to understand. It’s not complicated. It makes it a lot easier to do those moves. I feel like he focused more on the basics instead of the fancy moves. Just basic stuff that helps a lot.”
“I like him a lot. He likes to get things down to every little movement. That helps us out a lot. He pushes us and makes us do better," said Harris, who went 3-0 with two pins and a forfeit. “It felt great. First meet of the season. I feel like I did pretty well. A lot of people on our team did pretty well. We’ve still got a lot of stuff to improve on, so we’ll go back to practice and work on all of that.”
“I try to tell the kids early season is when we learn what we need to work on," Pickford said. "I thought it was a great example of that. We went out and competed, got a couple wins, which is always nice. But now we have an idea of what we need to work on and that’s what we’re going to use it as.”
BHS opened the day with a 70-10 victory against Keokuk, which went 0-3 on the day. The Grayhounds then thumped Central, 69-18, before falling to Ottumwa, 63-18.
During a break between the second and third duals, BHS assistant coach Ross Patton gave a speech to honor Mellinger, who spent more than 40 years announcing BHS sporting events, including wrestling.
Mellinger's daughter, Becky Koehler, and son, Rick Mellinger, were on hand for the ceremony, along with Dick Mellinger's granddaughter, Olivia Mellinger.
“I remember Dick Mellinger when I was a kid. I got to know him through his son, Rick. Rick was a few years older than me, but I remember meeting him in the mid-70s," Pickford said. "I got to know him through all the years. He was at a lot of events that I happened to be at. He was always friendly, always wanted to talk and say hello. He was a great person and a great Grayhound. We’re going to miss him. I think it’s a great honor to name a tournament after him. He really deserves it.”
“It feels great. I feel like I’ve kind of earned it. I’m going to go home and hang that up," Harris said of winning the OW Award at the Dick Mellinger Invitational.
Zaugg ended the day with a pin for the Grayhounds, an exclamation point on the beginning of the Pat Pickford era at BHS.
“I knew we were behind, so I felt like I needed to go out there for my team and get a pin and put some points on the board," Zaugg said. “It was pretty big. Even with the score being what it was it was still nice to finish off with a win.”
BHS' Braxton Hutchinson (106), Blaze Dochterman (126) and Titus Counterman (132) came up with pins against Davenport Central.
Pickford is looking forward to plenty more wins in the near future.
“We have a lot of growing to do, but we showed a lot of potential and promise. I think it was a pretty good day, all in all," Pickford said. “We have good numbers. We want to keep all those kids involved. We want to grow and improve. I think we can. If we can do that, I think we’re going to have some good results at the end of the year. I think we have some tough individuals, but as a team we need to grow. I think we will. I see us being really competitive, especially in southeast Iowa. I’m looking forward to it. It’s a challenge. I think the kids are up for it.”
Team records
1. Ottumwa, 3-0; 2. Burlington, 2-1; 3. Davenport Central, 1-2; 4. Keokuk, 0-3.
Burlington 69, Davenport Central 18
182 — Caleb Zaugg (B) pinned Taran Pant, 3:57. 195 — Alonzo Duarte (DC) pinned Salomon Cordero, 1:29. 220 — Julian Perez-Hall (B) pinned Connor Jones, 0:32. 285 — Julius Harris (B) pinned Reyes Lira, 1:03. 106 — Braxton Hutchinson (B) pinned Joshua Hernandez, 1:34. 113 — Buston Carlson (B) won by forfeit. 120 — Ashton Westerfield (DC) pinned Jacob Widmer, 3:41. 126 — Blaze Dochterman (B) pinned Courben Session, 0:46. 132 — Titus Counterman (B) pinned Collin Frost, 2:36. 138 — Brian Velazquez (B) pinned Avone Skinner, 1:50. 145 — Micah Zaugg (B) pinned Dylan Bowles, 1:55. 152 — Tanner Burchett (B) dec. Jake Jantzi 7-3. 160 — Owen Baker (B) won by forfeit. 170 — Landon Whiting (B) pinned Tristen Kren, 1:00.
Burlington 70, Keokuk 10
170 — Kolbe Barnes (K) pinned Whiting, 1:16. 182 — Zaugg (B) pinned Dakota Haage, 1:44. 195 — Cordero (B) won by forfeit. 220 — Perez-Hall (B) won by forfeit. 285 — Harris (B) pinned Jordan Salyers, 1:12. 106 — Rylee Moore (K) maj. dec. Hutchinson, 11-3. 113 — Carlson (B) won by fofeit. 120 — Widmer (B) won by forfeit. 126 — Dochterman (B) won by forfeit. 132 — Counterman (B) won by forfeit. 138 — Velazquez (B) pinned Elijah Gibbs, 0:59. 145 — Zaugg (B) maj. dec. Conrad Kirtchner, 13-2. 152 — Burchett (B) pinned Xavier Johnson, 5:26. 160 — Baker (B) pinned Hunter Haage, 3:04.
Ottumwa 63, Burlington 18
195 — Daniel Robert (O) dec. Cordero, 10-7. 220 — Perez-Hall (B) pinned Neo Guida, 1:11. 285 — Harris (B) won by forfeit. 106 — Ashton Grace (O) pinned Hutchinson, 3:54. 113 — Jasmine Luedtke (O) pinned Crlson, 1:37. 120 — Corbin Grace (O) pinned Widmer, 4:21. 126 — Dawson Goodwin (O) pinned Dochterman, 0:51. 132 — Daltin Doud (O) pinned Counterman, 1:55. 138 — Koby Chanthalavanh (O) pinned Velazquez, 3:41. 145 — Brayton Griffiths (O) pinned Zaugg, 4:56. 152 — Zachariah Shoemaker (O) pinned Burchett, 0:51. 160 — Kaden Hubbell (O) pinned Baker, 4:48. 170 — Trevor Summers (O) pinned Whiting, 1:49. 182 — Zaugg (B) pinned Amin Villasenor, 1:20.
Ottumwa 78, Keokuk 6
182 — Villasenor (O) pinned Haage, 5:56. 195 — Robert (O) won by forfeit. 220 — Guida (O) won by forfeit. 285 — Salyers (K) pinned Demytrius Renteria, 0:31. 106 — Grace (O) pinned Moore, 3:39. 113 — Luedtke (O) won by foefeit. 120 — .Grace (O) won by forfeit 126 — Goodwin (O) won by forfeit. 132 — Doud (O) won by forfeit. 138 — Chanthalavanh (O) pinned Gibbs, 0:14. 145 — Griffiths (O) pinned Kirchner, 0:32. 152 — Shoemaker (O) pinned Johnson, 2:33. 160 — Hubbell (O) pinned Haage, 0:39. 170 — Summers (O) pinned Barnes, 2:15.
Davenport Central 57, Keokuk 18
195 — Duarte (DC) won by forfeit. 220 — Jones (DC) won by forfeit. 285 — Lira (DC) dec. Salyers, 7-0. 106 — Moore (K) pinned Hernandez, 1:49. 113 — Double forfeit. 120 — Westerfield (DC) won by forfeit. 126 — Session (DC) won by forfeit. 132 — Frost (DC) won by forfeit. 138 — Skinner (DC) pinned Gibbs, 1:44. 145 — Bowles (DC) pinned Kirchner, 2:08. 152 — Jantzi (DC) pinned Kevun Joy, 0:43. 160 — Haage (K) won by forfeit. 170 — Barnes (K) pinned Charlie Ebeling, 3:28. 182 — Pant (DC) pinned Haage, 2:55.
This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: Burlington High School wrestling go 2-1 at Dick Mellinger Invitational
