Districts loom for Tigers

Sam Dagit wrestles his Linn-Mar opponent in last Thursday’s meet. Danielle Robertson Photo.

When the Tigers face their competitors at the Districts competition this Saturday, they’ll be facing Waverly-Shell Rock, one of the top ranked teams in the state.

Assistant coach Ethan Weichmann is looking toward his upperclassmen for leadership.”Being we have several underclassmen in our lineup, we will be looking for them to use this opportunity to set the stage for Tiger wrestling not only this year, but next as well,” Weichmann said.

North Des Moines, Marshalltown, Newton, Cedar Rapids Prairie, Waterloo East, Waterloo West, and Waverly-Shell Rock will all be participating in the meet, but the competition level of the other schools besides Waverly Shell-Rock is unknown.

Weichmann said the coaches emphasize to their kids to wrestle in every position and battle for the whole match. “If we do both those things, the scores and the placing will take care of themselves. The reality is we’ve got one of the toughest if not the toughest Districts in the state. Every team is bringing in quality wrestling.”

Last week, the boys had tough practices preparing for the JV MVC, and this weekend’s Districts. Weichmann explained the drill, “We’ll hit it hard at first, then slowly taper off so we have fresh legs on Saturday.” With State the following weekend, the coaches are confident as to how well it will go. With Waverly-Shell Rock being the stand-out and number one team in the state, they are expected to be the biggest competitors with the Tiger’s hopes to win.

Weichmann expressed his belief that anything can happen on the drive to State. “The great thing about wrestling is everyone has a shot. One move in the right position can catapult a kid to State.”