The first day, Trausch was the only wrestler not moving on. Friday, Feb. 19th, Miller and Cummings got knocked off the running for a medal, but Roland secured his spot on the podium. Roland ended up earning seventh place, and everyone is hungry for more next season.
“I was pleased to take four wrestlers to the tournament. They all earned it,” Waddell said.
In round one, Roland was up first. He faced Conner Ascherl of Moc-Floyd Valley and fell short, losing 6-2. This knocked Roland out of the running for the championship, and he had to wrestle again later in consolation. A win would secure his place to move on to the next round. A loss would knock him out of the running to step on the podium. In his consolation round matchup, Roland won in a decision 11-4 over Austin Hazelett of Washington. Miller, being only one weight class above Roland, ended up wrestling at the same time as Roland. Miller was the only Mustang to win his first-round match. He won in a sudden victory over Mitchel Swank of Creston Orient-Macksburg, 9-7. Miller moved on to the second day at State.
Next was Cummings in his first-round match against senior Tommy Bradshaw of Greene County. Bradshaw was ranked no. 2 according to thepredicament.com, and Bradshaw claimed two of Cummings’ three losses this season. Bradshaw then claimed a fourth, as he won in a major decision 11-3. Despite begin ranked no. 2, Bradshaw shockingly lost twice the next day, knocking him off the podium. Because of this loss, Cummings had to wrestle in consolations again that night, as well. He won in a decision 9-3 over Neil Clement of Crestwood, signifying his ability to wrestle the next day in hopes of stepping on to the podium.
Finally, Trausch wrestled Michael Kent of Iowa Falls-Alden. It was a back-and-fourth match, but Kent sealed the win with a decision 11-6. In Trausch’s consolation match, things didn’t go as planned when he lost to Dillon Diltz of Solon in a decision 6-2.
Day two was bittersweet. Miller wrested first in the quarter finals, but, he lost in an extremely close match to Trae Pecinovsky of Crestwood, 4-3. Miller then had to wrestle with Roland and Cummings in the consolations round two. Miller was defeated by Pierce Gelhaus of Forest City in another nail-biter, 4-3. This took Miller’s chances of a medal away and ended his 2015-16 wrestling season for the Mustangs.
On a brighter note, Roland defeated Caleb Wilson of Denver-Tripoli in a decision, 9-2, in his second-round consolations. This means Roland had a spot on the podium and would wrestle later that night to see how high up on the podium he could step.
“After I won my match to place, I felt like I had a big weight taken off my shoulders. I was able to relax and have fun while contuining to climb the stand,” Roland said.
Cummings was last to wrestle in the consolation round. With a sad end to his season, Cummings was defeated by Trey Van Weelden of Washington in a decision, 5-2, and he was out of the running for a medal.Later that night, Roland wrestled in the third round of consolations. If he won, he would wrestle the next day for either third or fifth place. If he lost, he would wrestle in the seventh-place match. Roland lost to Austin Staudt of Charles City in a decision with a score of 7-1. Roland would wrestle for seventh place the next day. The final day of State, placing day, meant a world of difference for Roland. It meant three wins at State instead of two, and it meant one step higher on the podium for the PCM freshman. He succeeded in his goals that day, when he earned seventh place in a match over Kirk Mommsen of Assumption in sudden victory, 4-2.
“Next year, I plan on wrestling on TV in the final session,” Roland said. “This year I had some fun, and I took home a medal. I’ve had a taste of Wells Fargo, and I’m addicted for life.”
