The Fairfield boys wrestling team secured a share of the Southeast Conference championship alongside Fort Madison following a hard-fought dual meet victory over Washington on Thursday, February 5th.
The dual, originally scheduled for January 27th, served as the final conference competition before the state qualifying meet set for Saturday, February 14th at Centerville.
A Battle Down to the Wire
In what Coach Dane Kool described as a “dogfight,” Fairfield found themselves trailing late in the dual before mounting a dramatic comeback. The Trojans won the dual on total points after the team score ended in a tie.
“We knew it was going to be a dogfight tonight in Washington and we had a couple matches in the first half that we considered we would have to win in order to win the dual,” Kool said. “Unfortunately at least two of them did not go our way and it put us in a hole that would be hard to climb out of.”
The Match Unfolds
The dual began at 106 pounds when Noah Patel gave Fairfield an early advantage with a forfeit victory. However, at 113 pounds, Quinn Settles suffered a setback, losing by fall to Washington’s Joseph Schreiber at 2:28 of the second period.
Fairfield bounced back strongly at 120 pounds as Kohda Higdon delivered a dominant performance, winning by major decision with a commanding 13-0 score over Washington’s Johan Recendez. This decisive victory would later prove crucial in determining the dual’s outcome. The momentum continued at 126 pounds where Cael McCabe made quick work of Washington’s Xavi Recendez, pinning him in just 32 seconds of the first period.
The tide began to turn against Fairfield in the middle weights. At 132 pounds, Jasper Carpenter engaged in a close, hard-fought battle with Washington’s Clayton Bartholomew. Despite the competitive nature of the match, Bartholomew held an 8-7 lead before securing a pin at 3:12 of the second period. The struggles continued at 138 pounds where Aaron Wellnitz was caught quickly, losing by fall to Washington’s Caden Greiner at just 47 seconds of the first period. At 144 pounds, Ezekiel Moore also fell to Washington’s Junior Valdez by pin at 1:43 of the first period.
Fairfield desperately needed to stop the bleeding, and Dusty Haynes delivered at 150 pounds. He built an impressive 8-1 lead over Washington’s Cash Vargas before finishing the match with a pin at 1:54 of the first period. The comeback continued at 157 pounds where Aiden Holthus showed tremendous heart, rallying from a 3-2 deficit to pin Washington’s Caden Heisner at 1:34 of the first period.
The see-saw battle continued as Kenneth Houston dropped a match at 165 pounds, losing by fall to Washington’s Jace Kinzenbaw at 1:48 of the first period. But Fairfield answered again at 175 pounds where Dain Burkhart built a 6-1 lead before pinning Washington’s Mark Chenoweth at 1:34 of the first period.
Washington received a forfeit victory at 190 pounds when Blaine Rees went uncontested, putting pressure on Fairfield heading into the final two weight classes.
The Championship Decided
Down two points with two matches remaining, the Fairfield coaching staff made a strategic decision to bump Calvin McClain up to 215 pounds, when he usually wrestles at 190 pounds, believing it gave the Trojans the best chance for crucial team points. “He wrestled a really gritty match and fought off his back once and fought out of bad position several times,” Kool praised. “He wrestled with a huge heart tonight and he wore his opponent out.”
McClain built a dominant 12-3 lead over Washington’s Brayden Vermillion before securing a pin at 2:45 of the second period. The victory put Fairfield up by four points heading into the heavyweight match, but the dual was far from decided.
At 285 pounds, Sebastian Ftwi faced the most daunting challenge of the night against Washington’s Rudy Wolfe. “Washington’s heavyweight is a seasoned vet and outweighs Sebastian by 50 pounds,” Kool explained. “Sebastian worked his butt off this week to get off his back when he gets into bad situations. That happened three times tonight in his match. He got into a pinning combo and got flipped to his back, but he fought like hell and got off his back each time.”
Despite his valiant effort and successfully avoiding the pin on three separate occasions, Ftwi lost by major decision with a final score of 9-0. The four team points awarded to Washington for the major decision created a tied team score, sending the dual to tiebreaker criteria.
Tiebreaker Delivers Championship
With the team score deadlocked, the dual was decided by total match points or first period points. Kohda Higdon’s dominant 13-0 major decision at 120 pounds provided the crucial margin that pushed Fairfield past Washington in the tiebreaker, securing both the dual victory and a share of the Southeast Conference championship. “It was the best team effort of the year and we are really proud of the guys,” Kool said.
Looking Ahead
The Trojans now turn their attention to the state qualifying meet on February 14th in Centerville, where they’ll look to send wrestlers to the state tournament while carrying the momentum of their conference championship. The shared title with Fort Madison caps off a successful regular season for a Fairfield team that showed resilience and determination when it mattered most.
Photography courtesy of Jeff Courtright.
