Tigers finish sixth at John J. Harris

CORNING—The Red Oak wrestling team finished in sixth place at the John J. Harris Invitational in Corning Saturday.

Seth Esaias won the 182-lbs. title as he pinned all four of his opponents at the Invitational. Tanner Mertz (106-lbs.) and Geoff Sellers (120-lbs.), both had second place finishes in their respective classes.

Jordan Vrba was the next top finisher as he placed fourth in his weight class.

Red Oak was able to finish in the top six thanks to bonus points as five wrestlers (Mertz, Sellers, Vrba, Esaias and Dakota Petty) scoring at least one pin during the Invitational.

Earlier in the week, Red Oak competed in a double-dual at home against Creston and Shenandoah. They lost to Shenandoah 50-24 and to Creston 69-6.

Tigers Head Coach Tiegen Podliska said the team had its ups and downs.

“We didn’t wrestle to the potential we have. We have some guys who are out with injury and various other things, so it makes it tough to win in a dual team situation,” Podliska said. “Right now we’re looking like much better of a tournament team than a dual team.”

Petty and Sellers picked up the two non-forfeit wins for Red Oak.
Petty defeated Austin Larson in the 120-lbs. match via pinfall with four seconds left in the second period. Sellers pinned Shawn Rice in the first period of their match at 126-lbs.

“If you look at the actual head-to-head match-ups in that last match, it’s a much closer dual than what the dual score would lead you to believe, just because we have a couple opens right now,” Podliska said. “You can’t look at the score and go ‘oh they got murdered’, because if you look at the wrestlers who stepped out on the mat, they come out even  head-to-head.”

Sellers had injured his shoulder in his match earlier with Creston's Spencer Wray. Wray slammed Sellers, causing him to land on his shoulder.

“He’ll be alright,” Podliska said. “He came back and wrestled tough in the second match.”

Mertz and Esaias picked up the wins for Red Oak against Creston. Esaias won via pinfall in the second period against Trevor Frain, while Mertz won a 5-3 decision over Kruz Adamson.

Mertz lost a close decision in his second match 4-3, against Shenandoah's Zac McCoy.

“McCoy is tough, but so is Tanner Mertz,” Podliska said. “He’s already on that tier where he can hang with McCoy and he can hang with all the other wrestlers he’s wrestled.”

Red Oak will compete in their final home meet of the season Thursday night when they take part in a double-dual against Lewis Central and Atlantic.

On Saturday, Red Oak competes in the Hawkeye Ten Tournament, which will be held at Clarinda High School.