Sports 15 February 2020

Chickasaws qualify four for state wrestling tournament

Home cooking was dang nice for New Hampton/Turkey Valley Saturday as four Chickasaws claimed Class 2A district individual titles to earn trip to next week’s state tournament.
Sectional champions Hunter Pesek (152), Carson Babcock (160) and Evan Rosonke (195) advanced, as did junior Jacob Reicks, who beat seventh-ranked Caden Collins of Charles City to win the 182-pound title.
The banner day had its moments of redemption as Babcock, who was upset in a true-second wrestleback at the 2019 district tournament, returned to the state tournament after a one-year absence while Pesek, who battled injuries for much of the season, earned his first-ever individual trip to Des Moines. Rosonke, meanwhile, qualified for his third straight state tournament.
The surprise to everyone but maybe NH/TV coach Matt Paulus and his staff was Reicks. He finished third behind Decorah’s Elijah Mitchell and Charles City’s Caden Collins at the conference tournament. But he beat Mitchell last week in the sectional tournament and on Saturday, he pinned Collins in the title bout.
“We’re peaking at the right time,” Paulus said. “What you want is to be wrestling your best in February, and those guys are doing that right now.”
The four Chickasaws will take to the mat at Wells Fargo Arena on Thursday afternoon.

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