Pioneers outduel Indians in Dickinson County battle

For the second year in a row, Okoboji won the key swing matches to secure a 37-36 victory over Dickinson County rival Spirit Lake Park in a non-conference dual Thursday, Jan. 28 at Spirit Lake High School.

"It is always nice when we can pick up a dual win against Spirit Lake Park," said Okoboji wrestling coach Justin Bouse. "It is a fun rivalry and most of the duals over the years have come down to a match or two. Obviously this year was no exception. I really felt overall the team came out a bit flat, but survived it and still came away doing what was needed."

The Pioneers captured three critical matches in the three upper weight classes from Shane Vanderpool, Doug Schwaller and Dustin Schwaller while also coming away with a huge win from Kris Kaufman at 152 pounds.

"I was very pleased with Kris Kaufman, who picked up a key win at 152 pounds over a very good wrestler in Rick Maris," said Bouse. "Kris stayed in great position and held on for a 4-2 decision. Shane Vanderpool also came up big, earning a major decision over another solid wrestler in Rick Wilson at 189 pounds. Doug Schwaller picked up a pin with 11 seconds remaining in the match, which was huge. All three of those matches had to play out the way they did or we (would) lose the dual. It is amazing how those bonus points add up."

Besides Kaufman's two-point win over Maris, Vanderpool was victorious by a 16-7 major decision over Wilson, Doug Schwaller pinned Adam Dreeszen in 5:49 while clinging onto a 3-1 lead and Dustin Schwaller put away Shae Heinrichs by a 6-0 margin.

Taylor Cody (130) won by forfeit, Brody Linn (135) pinned Brandon Sundall in 3:44, Tanner Taylor (140) won a 2-0 decision over Jacob Welch and Zach Jones (160) won by pinfall in 4:30 over Brandon Griffin in the other four victories for Okoboji.

The Indians closed the final gap down to 37-36 with three straight pins after falling behind by as many as 19 points in the dual. Sam Bosma (103) tossed Ryan Clark in 2:32, C.J. Kent (112) pinned Cameron Arnold in 5:47 and Doug Miner (119) won by pinfall in 1:23 over Jon Mitchell.

Other SLP winners included Dylan Bryce (won by forfeit at 125), Casey Jones (won by fall in 5:44 at 145) and Andrew Broocks (won by fall in 53 seconds at 171).

"It was very evident today that we're not finishing periods and not finishing matches," said SLP wrestling coach Rick Vander Woude. "We've got to finish our matches better and we'll use this to focus on that. It hurts that Okoboji outwrestled us for the second straight year. They wrestled hard and have some good kids that know how to wrestled entire matches."

Okoboji boosts its overall dual record to 5-7 while Spirit Lake Park falls to 9-9 on the year.

Okoboji 37, SLP 36

103 -- Sam Bosma (SLP) pinned Ryan Clark (O), 2:32; 112 -- C.J. Kent (SLP) pinned Cameron Arnold (O), 5:37; 119 -- Doug Miner (SLP) pinned Jon Mitchell (O), 1:23; 125 -- Dylan Bryce (SLP) won by forfeit; 130 -- Taylor Cody (O) won by forfeit; 135 -- Brody Linn (O) pinned Brandon Sundall (SLP), 3:34; 140 -- Tanner Taylor (O) won by dec. over Jacob Welch (SLP), 2-0; 145 -- Casey Jones (SLP) pinned Tanner Manwarren (O), 5:44; 152 -- Kris Kaufman (O) won by dec. over Rick Maris (SLP), 4-2; 160 -- Zach Jones (O) pinned Brandon Griffin (SLP), 4:30; 171 -- Andrew Broocks (SLP) pinned Jacob Sauter (O), 1:53; 189 -- Shane Vanderpool (O) won by major dec. over Rick Wilson (SLP), 16-7; 215 -- Doug Schwaller (O) pinned Adam Dreeszen (SLP), 5:49; 285 -- Dustin Schwaller (O) won by dec. over Shae Heinrichs (SLP), 6-0.