East Marshall/GMG assistant coach Bob Widmer said after the match he was proud of Ridout’s fight — but that one mistake changed the match.

“They got into a little scrap there and Dom just took a bad shot, he got kind of long and he was extended,” Widmer said. “Lillegard countered it really quickly, it’s a position that he’s good in. He went straight to that inside cradle and got it locked up. He was able to take Dom over to his back and got the pin.”

It set the stage for a grandstand finish — and early on, it looked as though Ridout was the man with the upper hand. The consensus top-ranked Mustang got a near-fall with 1:45 left in the match and took a 2-0 lead. But 28 seconds later, Lillegard picked up an escape. It was then that the match turned away from Ridout — with one minute left, Lillegard recorded a takedown. Ridout wasn’t able to get back up and with 5:08 of the match elapsed, the third-ranked Lillegard completed the pin.

Ridout laid on the mat in tears. His hope for a state title was gone just 17 seconds after he scored the match’s first points.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE - South Tama junior Payton Vest, left, returns Bondurant-Farrar’s Cody Hall to the mat in their 182-pound second-round consolation match on Friday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Understandably upset, Ridout (36-1) now wrestles today in the consolation bracket.

Widmer said it was tough for the sophomore after the match.

“I just told him to keep his head up,” Widmer said. “He’s been working hard at this his whole life.”

Ridout, who reached the semifinals with a pin of Red Oak’s Johnathon Erp, will battle with Brock Moore of Forest City (41-13) for a spot in either the third- or fifth-place match.

After mowing down his first-round opponent on Thursday, East Marshall/GMG’s Connor Murty was unable to collect the second victory to get to the podium. Murty (39-5), ranked ninth, ran into No. 2 Evan Rosonke from New Hampton in the quarterfinals at 195 pounds and got caught in a couple cradles.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

Murty made his way back from a 4-1 deficit with a pair of second-period reversals and trailed 6-5 entering the final stanza, but Rosonke (37-3) scored a reversal with 35 seconds left in the match and rode out Murty for an 8-5 decision.

Murty’s bid for a spot in the top-eight came up short in the second-round consolations as Creston’s fifth-ranked Sam Chapman (45-10) broke free from a scoreless tie in the second period with a takedown and six points worth of near-falls. Murty was in position to gain the advantage out of a pair of scrambles but Chapman got the upper hand both times and advanced, eliminating the EM/GMG junior by major decision, 12-3.

Storm’s Kolthoff still going

Moments before Ridout took to the mat, South Hardin-BCLUW wrestler Carter Kolthoff advanced to the consolation bracket semifinals at 106 pounds with a 13-1 victory over Nathaniel Bigalk of Crestwood. Kolthoff (41-3) will be the first medalist for SH/BCLUW since his older brother Taylor finished in seventh place in 2018 at 113 pounds.

Kolthoff, ranked seventh, had a 4-0 lead after the first period thanks to a takedown and near-fall. Another takedown in the second period gave him a 6-0 lead — and he ran up the score in the third period with an escape, takedown and another near-fall.

T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING

Kolthoff was happy to be fighting for bronze.

“Once you get going, you’re not gonna stop unless they pull something out,” Kolthoff said.

He will face No. 6 Derrick Bass of Davenport-Assumption this morning for a chance at the third-place match.

Kolthoff’s day began auspiciously, as second-ranked McKinley Robbins (36-1) from Greene County sent the SH-BCLUW sophomore to the back side of the 106-pound bracket with a 10-4 decision in the quarterfinals.

Robbins had two first-period takedowns, got another in the second and two more in the third.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

It was Kolthoff’s first loss to a 2A opponent this year. His two regular-season losses were both to ranked 1A foes.

But Kolthoff rebounded in what is affectionately known as the blood round. He hammered out a 13-0 major decision over his sectional and district final opponent, Drew Robinson (33-8) from Nevada, in the elimination match that guaranteed the winner a spot on the podium.

Kolthoff used a pair of five-point moves to pile up the points, beating Robinson for the third time in the last two weeks and by the largest margin yet.

STC duo set to medal

South Tama entered Friday’s action with two wrestlers left.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

The Trojans left Wells Fargo Arena Friday night with a fighting chance at two third-place medals, thanks to a pair of pins from Logan Arp at 126 pounds and Payton Vest at 182 pounds.

Trojans coach Nate Van Dyke was thrilled with the duo’s performances.

“They’re just wrestling their best at the right time,” Van Dyke said. “You kind of get into a tournament like this and get on a roll.”

The first match of the night was Arp against Ty Koedam of Sergeant Bluff-Luton. It started well for Arp with two first-period takedowns and a 4-2 lead. Nothing happened point-wise in the second period, and another takedown with 1:15 left in the match gave Arp a 6-2 lead. With eight seconds left, the eighth-ranked Arp completed a pin to end the match early and move on.

Arp (33-10) takes on No. 5 Joe Sullivan of Osage for a spot in the 126 third-place.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

Vest got his work done early against Jack Neuhaus of West Delaware. Neuhaus struck first with a takedown 43 seconds in, but five seconds later Vest scored an escape and pinned Neuhaus just 1:35 into the match. Vest let out a passionate scream of joy before hugging the assistant coaches in his corner.

Van Dyke said seeing Arp win earlier in the evening gave Vest confidence.

“Vest has always had the tools, but he hadn’t really beat kids like this before,” Van Dyke said. “He saw Logan won, so he said ‘Now it’s my turn.'”

Vest (27-14) takes on fifth-ranked Caden Collins of Charles City in the morning with the chance to move to the third-place match.

Arp and Vest both began the day on the back side of their respective brackets after opening-round losses and wrestle-back victories on Thursday.

T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING

Arp punched his ticket to the podium at 126 by beating Clear Lake’s sixth-ranked Sam Nelson (12-6) by decision, 10-6, in their second-round consolation pairing. Arp racked up three takedowns in the first period and one in each of the last two periods.

Vest vaulted himself into the top-eight with his second-straight pin on the back side of the 182-pound bracket, putting down Bondurant-Farrar’s Cody Hall in 3:25.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)

• Daily Newsletter
• Breaking News
• Obituaries

Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

• Yes
• No