Tigers finish in 8th at H-10 Tournament

CLARINDA—The Red Oak Tigers finished in eighth at the Hawkeye Ten Conference wrestling meet at Clarinda High School Saturday.

Seth Esaias (182-lbs.) was the lone conference champion for the Tigers. Esaias won all three of his matches via pinfall and is now a four-time conference champion. The senior pinned Glenwood’s Hunter Hoffmann in the championship match.

Tanner Mertz finished in second place at the 106-lbs. class. He finished his afternoon with a 2-1 record and recorded two pinfalls. Mertz lost in the finals to Atlantic’s Darrian Schwenke.

Geoff Sellers was the other top finisher for Red Oak as he placed fourth in the 120-lbs. class. Sellers finished the afternoon with a 2-2 record.

On Thursday night, Red Oak competed in their last home dual meet of the regular season.

The Tigers lost to both Lewis Central and Atlantic in double-dual action. Red Oak lost to Lewis Central 53-25 and to Atlantic 69-6.

Several wrestlers picked up wins against Lewis Central. Mertz and Sellers both won via decision victories, while Esaias and Caleb Orme both had pinfall wins.

“We didn’t wrestle bad against them,” Tigers Head Coach Tiegan Podliska said about Lewis Central. “We’re right there as far as the actual matches go. We still give up too many points through forfeit.”

Orme faced a tough task in his second match, which was against Atlantic’s Darrian Schwenke at 106 lbs.

Schwenke, who is ranked No. 1 in the state in Class 2A at 106, won via pinfall.

“I wish there was a spot for him. He’s a tough 106-pounder,” Podliska said about Orme.

In the meet against Atlantic, Esaias picked up the lone win of the dual, doing so via pinfall.

Red Oak now enters the postseason, which starts this weekend with sectionals in Creston.

“We just have to get better at every position,” Podliska said. “We got to get our kids ready. You have one bad day and you sit at home for the rest of the year. You have one good day, you upset a kid, and he sits at home for the rest of the year and you get to keep wrestling.”

Red Oak will be facing off at sectionals against teams like Bedford/Lenox, Clarinda, Creston/Orient-Macksburg, Shenandoah and Winterset.

Podliska mentioned how much he loved playing spoiler when he wrestled in high school, as well as in college.

“I had to upset people because nobody knew what Tiegan had. I tell these kids everyday, no one knows what Dakota Petty has, no one knows what Tanner Mertz has, no one knows the true Geoff Sellers,” Podliska said. “We’re going to keep turning heads as a team and program.”

The action all starts Saturday at noon.

Last year, the Tigers had three district qualifiers. The three were Esaias, Sellers and Cole Meek.