Green Devils battle for fifth at Waterloo
By Kristi Nixon
WATERLOO — The Osage girls wrestlers put the “battle” in the Green Devils portion of the Battle of Waterloo.
Falling behind 27-0 in the initial bracket championship against Bettendorf, coach Ryan Fank’s team won five straight to tie it, saw another tie at 33 and momentarily went ahead 39-33 following Gable Hemann’s match at 110, only to see the dual finish knotted at 39 and the Bulldogs emerging via tiebreak, most first points scored in matches.
Even still, it was a truly exciting match for Osage as they went on to the Silver Bracket to finish fifth overall.
“It was fun,” said Hemann, who was the only Green Devil girl to go undefeated. “My heart is full, now, 27-0. That is crazy. I think our team wanted it. And I think it was a lot of heart, more heart than they (Bettendorf) put into it, in my opinion. I just think we wanted it really bad.
“It happens (losing by tiebreak) – it’s okay.”
Indeed, even in matches that the Green Devils rallied to win during that stretch, the Bulldogs had the initial takedowns that provided the ultimate dual decider.
“Obviously, it didn’t shake out our way,” Fank said. “It comes down to first points scored – 16-12 – I think it was. Bettendorf scored first (more often), so that’s it: you score first, you win. Our girls fought down 27-0. We’re a young team. We fought. I was proud.”
The full story and more photos will be found in the Dec. 20 print and e-editions of the Enterprise Journal.
