Smalley's take on tourney

Le Mars Community suffered through some difficult days at the recent state wrestling tournament to be sure, with two of the six Bulldog state qualifiers bowing out on the first day and two more falling on day two. There were bright spots, however, with the two remaining wrestlers-Matt Gabel and Chad Peters-earning spots on the podium Saturday night. Still, four days removed from the end of the tournament, head coach Tom Smalley can't help but feel unsatisfied with the results.

"I'm greedy. I always like to have more," said Smalley. "I like to have more guys down there. I like to have more guys place and I'd like to get some more people in the championships."

Any hopes of a Le Mars state champion quickly disappeared after the first day with all six Bulldogs falling in the first round, leaving third the highest possible place for any of the six. What was perhaps more disheartening for Smalley was to see his highest ranked wrestler in Seth Fischer and one of his senior state veterans, Jordan Fischer, make early exits in the second round.

"I thought that those two probably had as good a shot as anybody to be on the awards stand," said Smalley. "You just never know what's going to happen down there. There's a lot of upsets all the time."

Le Mars pulled no upsets themselves, but not for lack of opportunities, as both Ben Sitzmann and Gabel drew no. 1-ranked opponents in the first round. Sitzmann led for a time against Cedar Rapid's Kennedy's Mike Russell, but was eventually pinned. Gabel, on the other hand, battled Ft. Dodge's Chase Holmgaard down the wire before falling 2-1-much as he had in earlier meetings between the two wrestlers.

"(Gabel's) wrestled (Holmgaard) three times and one point decided all three matches," said Smalley. "I think Matt's every bit as good a wrestler as that guy. It's just the way they call the matches. We've gotten nailed with some stalling calls and I can't say that Matt was stalling any more than the other guy."

There were some other questionable decisions made against the Bulldogs during the course of the tournament, according to Smalley. Another example would be in son Sean Smalley's last match of the tournament versus Linn-Mar's Jason Kolar.

"That last match was 4-1 and (Sean) had thrown (Kolar) out of bounds in the first period for a takedown, which he didn't get," said Smalley. "I didn't necessarily agree with (the call). But you can't argue down there and get anywhere."

With Smalley eliminated by Kolar and Sitzmann soon following suit with a loss to Devon Green of Ft. Dodge, the Bulldogs' hopes for place winners fell on Gabel and Peters. Both wrestlers worked their way back through the wrestlebacks to earn spots in place matches, a feat that Coach Smalley said was impressive in itself after fighting the disappointment of early losses.

"When your goal is to go down there and place really high and then you see the championship spots taken away right away and you've got to get yourself ready to come back and see how high you can go with it-that's tough," said Smalley. "It shows a lot of character."

Gabel and Peters were both beaten in their final matches and settled for sixth and eighth place respectively. Smalley was encouraged by their performances, however. For Gabel it was a strong showing in a last hurrah, while Peters took away experience that should help as he returns to the Bulldog lineup next season.

"Matt's a real tough wrestler. His weight class has probably been the toughest weight class every tournament we've gone to this year," said Smalley. "That was the first time he'd made it down to state and I think the fact that he was able to place the first time down in his last opportunity-I think he took full advantage of it.

"Chad wrestled real well down there. The fact that he's only a junior and coming back, having had a taste of it and getting an idea of what it's about, he should have his goals set even higher for next year."

Peters will not be the only Bulldog with state experience returning for Le Mars as both Smalley and Seth Fischer will also be back on the mat next season.

Coach Smalley said that the experience will help even for a wrestler like Sean Smalley, who's been shut out of the top eight in two trips to Des Moines.

"Sean, if nothing else, proved to himself that he can wrestle with those guys down there. It was a confidence builder. He's already gearing up for next year."

Having Fischer, Peters and Smalley-combined with a slew of younger wrestlers that got some serious varsity experience over the course of the year-should bode well for the Bulldogs in '04-'05, according to Smalley.

"I think with the kids that went down to state's experience and all the mat time the young guys got, things look good for next year. But they're going to have to put in some out of season work wrestling, being out for other sports, lifting and running in order for it to really pay off."