The Atlantic-CAM wrestling team wrapped up a season of success with the annual banquet on Monday, March 11th. The Trojans finished the year with a staggering 20-0 dual record, winning the conference dual and tournament titles for the second time in three years, winning the prestigious John J. Harris Tournament, among many other accomplishments throughout the season. Before the awards portion of the banquet began, the first four-time state champion in Iowa, Bob Steenlage, gave an inspiring speech about his life and the obstacles he had to overcome in order to get to the level of success that he had. CAM sent six wrestlers to Atlantic this season. Two seniors, Mitchell Williamson and Sam Martin, two sophomores, Noah Riker and Jaxson Bell, and two freshmen, Nolan Hensley, and Ethan Follmann. Three of these athletes received varsity letters: Sam Martin, Mitchell Williamson, and Jaxson Bell. The team also had one senior manager, McKenna Stuhr. Among the many awards given out at the banquet, one of the winners from CAM was Ethan Follmann, who received the JV Competitor Award for his dominate JV season, as well as showing some success at the varsity level in the few meets he participated in. Brian South, an eighth-grade junior high wrestler from CAM received the Leadership Award for his leadership role on the junior high team. New to the banquet was the Rex Mehrhoff award that was given to the athlete who portrayed the traits and principles that Coach Mehrhoff preached in his years as a wrestling coach. This award was given to Cale Roller, the 220-pound state qualifier from Atlantic. The banquet wrapped up with coaches and senior gifts, followed by a video recapping the season’s highlights.

The wrestling season began on Thursday, November 29, with a quad dual against Audubon, Clarinda, and Griswold, in Audubon. The Atlantic-CAM wrestling team came home with three victories from the night. The Trojans defeated Audubon by a score of 66-10, Clarinda 51-30, and Griswold 66-16. These three wins gives the Trojans a 3-0 start on the dual season, and a 1-0 beginning to the Hawkeye 10 conference race. Jaxson Bell was CAM’s lone varsity wrestler on Thursday. Bell finished the night with three falls to help the team tremendously. The following day, the Atlantic-CAM wrestling team travelled to Humboldt for the Joe Fitch Invitational. The team ended up placing third by .5 points. CAM had two varsity wrestlers at the meet, Jaxson Bell and Sam Martin. Jaxson ended the night placing 5th and Sam placed 4th. The wrestling team had a successful first week, and look to continue to improve as the season progresses.

The Atlantic-CAM wrestling team had a week of back-to-back competition. Starting out on Tuesday, the Trojans faced two top Hawkeye 10 opponents in Red Oak (ranked 5th in the preseason) and Creston. The wrestling team topped the Tigers by a score of 48-23, and defeated the Panthers 40-27. The Trojans improve to 3-0 in conference duals. Mitchell Williamson and Jaxson Bell represented CAM at the varsity level for the dual. On Friday and Saturday, the Trojans traveled to Council Bluffs for the annual Council Bluffs Classic, held at the Mid-America Center. With 40 teams from 5 states, it is one of the largest tournaments in the Midwest. CAM had 3 representatives; Ethan Follmann, placing 19th at 113 pounds, Jaxson Bell, placing 27th at 132 pounds, and Mitchell Williamson, placing 21st at 182 pounds. The JV team wrestled at Southeast Polk where Sam Martin and Nolan Hensley participated.