It’s hard to start a season better than going 3-0 against rivals.
That’s exactly how the Comet boys begain their season last Thursday, November 30, in a quad meet against Cascade, Bellevue and Iowa City Regina.
In Cascade’s gym, the Comets defeated the hosts 57-24, the Regals 66-15 and the Bellevue Comets 60-28.
In West Liberty’s six contested wins against Bellevue, all game via fall. All but one win came via pin against Cascade, except for Kaden Wiele who won with a 9-7 sudden victory over Ty Frasher.
The biggest number of the night was 10 — the number of pins the Comets earned against Iowa City Regina in what was the biggest blowout of the evening.
A few days later, this team participated in its first tournament of the season during a two-day tournament in Independence this past weekend.
The Cliff Keen Independence Invitational played host to 32 schools on December 1 and 2, although none were better than Alburnett which was the lone school to top 300 team points.
Carlisle took second place with 282 team points while Fennimore (277.5), Union, LaPorte City (256) and NH/TV (231) made up the top five.
The Comets struggled at this event. They finished with 103 team points and finished in 30th place.
Ryan Cassady was the best Comet wrestler over the weekend with a seventh-place finish in the 113-pound bracket. He earned three wins, two pins and one major decision, compared to two losses.
He ended his tournament with a pin in less than a minute over Bryce Naber of Cedar Rapids Xavier.
Tully Griffith scored a 14th place finish in the 120-pound division. It was a dramatic finish for Griffith who went into extra time in the 13th-place match. However, he fell to Connor Laughlin 8-6 in the bonus period.
A handful of Comets placed 17th including Briggs Collins (132), Ryker Dengler (157), Kaden Wiele (165) and Joe Akers (190).
Additionally, Lincoln Daufeldt (106), Robinson Baredes-Morado (120), Isaac Aragon (126), Gable Underbakke (150), Tytan Griffith (175) and Perry Lehman (215) all recorded at least three wins across the two-day event.
The Comets will look to recapture the magic of their quad meet success with another one on December 7. This time, the opponents are Tipton, Anamosa and Northeast.
For more tournament action, that will come on December 9 for the 17-school Mount Vernon Invitational.