~by Dustin Teays for The Scranton Journal
The Greene County Rams boys wrestling team shows no signs of slowing down as the season progresses.
This last week held plenty of action for the Rams as they first headed out Jan. 9 for a Heart of Iowa Conference triangular against Perry and Nevada. The Rams finished the event with a 2-0 record in duals after a 57-24 win over Nevada and a 51-30 win over Perry.
Against Nevada, Marcus Ball won over Zaydenn Shute via fall, Brennan Jacobs won over Bryson Grimm via fall, Gavyn Winters won over Jacob Smith via a 9-8 decision, Jacob Harmeyer won over Fletcher Williams via fall, Roman Sebourn won over Even Johns via fall, Crew Conner won by forfeit, Brent Dennhardt won over Jaden Grimm via fall, and Degan Miller won over Isaac Williams via fall.
In their dual against Perry, Marcus Ball won over Sebastian Oliver via fall, Kole Johnson won by forfeit, Brennan Jacobs won over Dionisio Andres via fall, Jaron Jacobs won over Angel Aguilar via fall, Gavyn Winters won by forfeit, Crew Conner won over Townes Wilson via a 5-1 decision, Brent Dennhardt won over Brock Rowe via fall, Degan Miller won by forfeit and Haiden Venteicher won over Freddy Melandrez-Corado via fall.
The Rams wrapped up their week at the massive Rollin Dyer Tournament Jan. 11 in Atlantic and placed ninth out of 19 teams with a team score of 97, with Atlantic taking the top spot overall with a score of 191.5 team points.
As for the overall wrestlers, three of the eight wrestlers who attended finished in second place in their weight classes. Brennan Jacobs placed second at 106 pounds, Gavyn Winters placed second at 120 pounds, and Brent Dennhardt placed second at 157 pounds. Jaron Jacobs placed fifth at 113 pounds, and Degan Miller placed fifth at 165 pounds. Crew Conner at 144 pounds, Haiden Venteicher at 175 pounds, and Marcus Ball at 215 pounds did not place inside of the top eight at the tournament.
“We wrestled pretty well last week, we certainly faced some tough competition but responded with some good battles and some areas for us to make improvement,” head coach Kirk Davis said. “I was excited for the opportunity to see some great competition for all of our wrestlers because that is when you can get the most growth. In highly competitive matches your weaknesses are exposed, and your strengths are confirmed and allows you time to come back in the room and strengthen your weaknesses.”
The Rams will participate in a Heart of Iowa Conference triangular this week on Thursday, Jan. 16, featuring PCM and South Hamilton. They will close their week on Saturday with the Perry-Carlisle Boys Wrestling Invitational.
