CLARINDA — Clarinda senior Jalon Olson earned her 100th career fall Thursday, Jan. 22, as the Clarinda girls wrestling team earned a pair of home wins over Glenwood and Atlantic.
The Cardinals beat Glenwood 48-36 and Atlantic 60-18 to improve to 14-2 on the dual season.
Olson’s milestone came just 41 seconds into her match against Glenwood’s Alara May.
“It’s big,” Olson said. “I went into the match and knew it was there. I was injured a little earlier this season when I could have gotten it so that makes it even bigger because I could finish this season.”
Olson is one of two seniors in the Clarinda lineup, along with Kambry Gordon, who have been part of the Cardinal lineup since the program’s inception when they were freshmen and she said to hit this milestone after reaching 100 career wins earlier this season is amazing, and to do it at home, makes it even better.
“I met two of the biggest milestones you probably have in your wrestling career,” Olson said. “There are some matches that I could have probably won and especially some against some girls I’ll meet at regionals next week.”
Clarinda head coach Jason Gordon said watching Olson reach that milestone at home was quite impressive.
“It’s great for her,” Gordon said on Olson’s milestone, “mainly because this is basically the first year we have had dual meets. Dual meets bring forfeits, and we haven’t had any for her first three years. 90% of the time she gets a fall for a win. She’s getting these pins in tournaments. It was great.”
Olson’s win was one of five on the mat for the Cardinals during their first dual of the night against Glenwood.
Kylar Downey, Randi Welchans and Jaiden Olson joined Jalon Olson with a first period fall. The other win belonged to Lily Weinreich, who looked to be in control in the third period against Maya Rivas, when Rivas was able to get a turn and put Weinreich on her back. After a few seconds, Weinreich was able to not only get out but reverse Rivas and earn a fall in a pin time of five minutes.
“Lily got caught there at the end,” Gordon said. “It’s good to see her get out of that because it doesn’t happen very often.”
Taking forfeits for the Cardinals in the Glenwood dual were Kenly Nuttelmann, Abi Lighty and Aliyah Payne.
After a long break, waiting for the Glenwood/Atlantic boys and girls matches to be contested, the Cardinal girls beat the Trojans.
Welchans and Jaiden Olson completed 2-0 days on the mat in dramatic fashion during the dual over Atlantic. Welchans trailed 11-1 in the second period to Alivia Knuth at 140 before a turn and a pin gave Welchans the win by fall. Jaiden Olson’s deficit wasn’t quite that large but she was trailing when she got a turn and fall early in the second period against Josephine Miller at 190.
“That’s good that they had a challenge,” Gordon said on Welchans and Jaiden Olson. “Both got out of position, and they were able to work out of it, so that was good to see. Those are some of the mistakes, though, that we need to correct.”
Downey and Charlotte Gerdts also won contested matches, both by fall, for the Cardinals.
Nuttelmann, Lighty, Kambry Gordon, Weinreich and Bella Johnston took forfeits for Clarinda.
The Cardinals finish the dual season with a 14-2 record.
Clarinda at Atlantic Tournament
Clarinda’s Lily Weinreich continued her undefeated season with a championship Saturday, Jan. 24, at the Atlantic Tournament.
The Cardinals tied for sixth in the team race with 86 points, matching Kuemper’s total. They were just one point better than Atlantic and 3.5 ahead of Albia.
Raccoon River-Northwest scored 296.5 points, beating runner-up SWAT by a staggering 169 points.
Weinreich pinned all three of her opponents to win the 135-pound title and improve to 48-0 on the season. She pinned Bethann Templeton of Raccoon River-Northwest in the third period of the semifinals before a 29 second fall over Jada Hansen of Des Moines Public in the final.
Aliyah Payne also competed in the finals for Clarinda, taking second at 235. She received a bye into the semifinals where she pinned Red Oak’s Janae Schwery in the third period. Payne lost by fall in 20 seconds to Atlantic’s Haley Armstrong in the final.
Clarinda’s Jalon Olson and Jaiden Olson both finished fourth as Clarinda’s next best finishers.
Jalon Olson opened with two pins at 155 before losing by first period fall to Marlee Pittet of Western Iowa in the semifinals. Jalon Olson earned a quick fall in consolation over Kuemper’s Lucy Potthoff before losing by second period fall to Kora Lohoff of Creston in the third-place match.
Jaiden Olson also opened with two falls before losing by third period fall to Megan Gerlock of SWAT in the semifinals at 190. Jaiden Olson won by fall just before the final buzzer over Gracen Plagge of Denison in a consolation semifinal before losing 5-0 to Kadyn Tierney of Raccoon River-Northwest in the third-place match.
Randi Welchans won one match by fall at 130 while Abi Lighty finished 0-2 at 100 for Clarinda.
Clarinda at Central Decatur
The Clarinda girls wrestling team won all four of its duals to take the team title Tuesday, Jan. 20, at the Central Decatur Dual Tournament.
The Cardinals breezed through their first three opponents, beating Wayne 71-6, Clarke 70-6 and Southeast Warren 63-6. They then beat the tournament’s runner-up Central Decatur 47-30.
The Cardinals won three of five contested matches in the dual against the host Cardinals, which gave them the team championship.
Randi Welchans earned a first period fall at 135 pounds and Jalon Olson won by fall in the second period at 155. Kylar Downey rolled to a 17-2 technical fall over Josie Hill at 125.
Kenly Nuttelmann, Abi Lighty, Kambry Gordon, Lily Weinreich and Jaiden Olson all took forfeits for Clarinda.
Clarinda earned four wins on the mat in the dual against Clarke compared to just a combined two in the other two duals.
In the Clarke dual, Downey, Welchans and Jaiden Olson were all winners by first period fall while Aliyah Payne earned a 12-3 major decision over Mallory Tidman at 235.
Nuttelmann, Lighty, Gordon, Charlotte Gerdts, Charlie Mertes, Weinreich, Bella Johnston and Jalon Olson all took forfeits in the Clarke dual.
Weinreich was Clarinda’s only contested winner in the Southeast Warren dual, earning a 5-0 decision over Glorious Fridley of Southeast Warren.
Nuttelmann, Lighty, Gordon, Gerdts, Downey, Mertes, Welchans, Jalon Olson, Jaiden Olson and Payne all took forfeits.
Weinreich won the only contested match in the dual against Wayne and had no trouble with an 18-0 technical fall over Emersen Gunzenhauser at 135.
Nuttelmann, Lighty, Gordon, Downey, Mertes, Welchans, Ashlyn Creveling, Johnston, Jalon Olson, Jaiden Olson and Payne all took forfeits.
