Three Worth County Athletes Competing for Warrior Wrestling Team

Three Worth County athletes are competing on the Albany wrestling team this year – Jeremy Wimer, Nate Adwell, and Justin Dye. The Warrior wrestling contingent has improved numbers this year, with nine out for the sport, much higher than in years past. Worth County and Albany compete together under a cooperative agreement. Last year, two Worth County athletes, Will Engel and Jeremy Wimer, went to state. Engel went on to sign with Graceland.

Thursday’s meet pitted Albany against three other schools – Mount Ayr, North Andrew, and South Harrison.

In Albany’s meets against North Andrew, Dawson Fansher pinned Nate Doolittle at the 36.5 mark of the first period. Nate Adwell only needed 24 seconds to pin Kiya Mortimore. Sam O’Neal pinned Sae Ezzell late in the first quarter.

The first close match came between Harrison Kerchner (Albany) and Ezra Mohn (North Andrew). Harrison Kerchner got an early takedown, only for Mohn to escape. Kerchner got another takedown and led 4-1 going into the second. He held him down for the entire second frame, finally pinning him at the 1:00 mark in the period.

Against South Harrison, Nate Doolittle drove Timmy Williams hard into the ground early and had the better of the match, pitting him at the 6.5 second mark of the first period.

Nate Adwell had an epic battle with Jaren Van Meter. In the early going, Adwell was taken down by Van Meter, only to escape. Van Meter took him down again, only for Adwell to get a reversal and take control of the match. Adwell was up 8-4, only for Van Meter to fight back with an escape and a takedown to make it 8-7. A three point near fall by Van Meter late in the second frame put him in control up 10-8, and he went on to pin Adwell at the 1:12 mark of the third period.

Cole Ellis pinned Sam O’Neil at the six second mark of the second quarter.

Harrison Kerchner and Parker Chamberlin had another good match. Parker Chamberlin body slammed Kerchner to go up early, but Kerchner got a reversal to tie it at 2-2. Another body slam by Chamberlin seemingly put him in control in the second frame, up 7-5, but then Kerchner got a reversal and then pinned Chamberlin at the one minute mark of the second period for the win.

After Trey Cooper (Albany) was pinned by Kaston Van Meter, Justin Dye took the mat for his first-ever wrestling match, against Holden Hager. Dye got an early takedown against Van Meter, only for him to escape. As the match progressed, Dye wore down and Van Meter won on a disqualification.

Gavin Shoush (Albany) had another good match with Mason Hamilton (South Harrison). A body slam by Shoush seemingly put him in control up 6-2 in the second, but Hamilton got a reversal late in the frame and nearly pinned Shoush, but he was saved by the bell still up 6-4. Shoush got an early takedown in the third and held it for a minute, up 8-4. But then Hamilton got a reversal with 33 seconds. Hamilton held down Shoush for the remainder of the match, but Shoush somehow avoided the pin or the near fall and came away with the 8-6 win.

Albany struggled against Mount Ayr, which has a solid wrestling program. Jeremy Wimer was pinned by Payton Fleharty at the 1:22 mark of the first period. Nate Adwell was pinned by Trae Ehlen at the 1:16 mark of the first. Harrison Kerchner was pinned by Keaton White at the 1:10 mark of the second.

One of the more entertaining matches was between Justin Dye and Josh Cox (Mount Ayr). Wrestling in only his second match ever against a skilled opponent, Dye got the takedown, only for Cox to flip him over and pin him at the 1:01 mark of the first period.

Gavin Shoush got the lone win for Albany, pinning Jarrett Webb at the 49.6 second mark of the first period after a body slam. Nate Doolittle was pinned by Bryce Shaha at the 39.8 mark of the first.