Eureka Continues to Improve at Cliff Keen Mike Duroe Open

MOUNT VERNON, Iowa – The Eureka wrestling team returned to the mat on Saturday, competing at the Cliff Keen Mike Duroe Open hosted by Cornell College and turning in several strong individual performances against a deep field of competition.

On the men's side, Isaac Smith led the way with an impressive run at 125 pounds, earning a fourth-place finish. Smith opened his tournament with back-to-back wins by fall (1:49) and tech fall (4:26) before dropping a narrow 6-3 decision to eventual champion Jase Van Pelt of Cornell. He responded with two more wins by fall at 4:43 and 1:52 to advance to the third-place match, where he was forced to default due to injury while holding the lead. Trevor Hedges (141) also had a productive day, picking up a win by fall in 2:34 and a tech fall in 2:01 before being sidelined by a default and being forced to forfeit later in the bracket.

At 165 pounds, Caleb Ohnesorge opened his tournament with a win by fall in 2:37 before dropping his next two bouts by fall, while Jeremiah Robertson rebounded from an opening round tech fall loss with a hard-fought 11-10 decision victory before falling in his final match. Tyren Moore (184) battled through a tough bracket, earning decision wins of 4-3 and 10-3 while gaining valuable mat time in four contested bouts.

The women were highlighted by strong starts from Buchana and Campbell. Krisean Buchana (131) opened with a tech fall victory in 2:24 and a quick win by fall in 1:21 before dropping her final two matches. Jaylah Campbell (160) secured a win by fall in 4:46 to begin her day before falling short in her next two bouts.

Head coach Eric Biehl reflected on the team's continued development following the weekend. "Our teams definitely improved from the last outing," Biehl said. "It's good to see progress as we enter the home stretch of our season. We now get a week to recover and get ready for a few upcoming duals."

Eureka used the tournament as another opportunity to build momentum and measure growth as the season winds down.

UP NEXT

Eureka will return home to host Southeastern Community College in a dual on Friday, Jan. 30, with action set to begin at 6 p.m.