The Mid-Prairie wrestling team continued the forward momentum of their program with another big campaign in 2020-21. The Golden Hawks finished with 14 dual wins on the season, one shy of the school record.

In tournament action, the Golden Hawks won their home Colton Allen Invitational on December 12th by a half point over Alburnett.

It was a big postseason for the Golden Hawks, starting with the Mid-Prairie girls who took 10 to compete at the Iowa Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association Girls State Wrestling Tournament at the XStream Arena in Coralville. Mid-Prairie finished 12th as a team with 71.5 points. The Hawks were led by a pair of podium finishes with sophomore Bronwyn Brenneman taking fourth at 126lbs and senior Sarah Meader fifth at 152lbs.

The Mid-Prairie boys opened the postseason with sectionals at Albia, setting a new school record with a runner-up finish in the team standings with 185 points. They also had a record number of individual sectional champions with five Golden Hawks finding the top of the podium, Vinnie Bowlin at 160lbs, Ben Meader at 182lbs, Cael Garvey at 195lbs, Josh Wallington at 220lbs and Gannon Callahan at 285lbs. Mose Yoder also advanced to districts at 113lbs as a runner-up. The six district qualifiers tied a school record set the year prior.

At the district meet in Mt. Pleasant, the Golden Hawks saw Ben Meader at 182 bring home the title. Josh Wallington was also a district champion at 220lbs and Cael Garvey punched his ticket to Des Moines with a runner-up finish. Once at state, Garvey would make the podium with an eighth place finish at 195.

Individually, two Golden Hawks won the 100th matches of their careers during the past year with Josh Wallington accomplishing the feat January 21st, on Senior Night in Wellman with a pin against Tyrrell Hughes of Wilton. Cael Garvey won his 100th match January 28th at Clear Creek Amana with a pin of Mitchell Howard of Central DeWitt. Five Golden Hawks won at least 25 matches this year, led by Wallington’s 36-3 record. Others include Meader’s 33-9, Garvey’s 32-3, Gannon Callahan’s 32-4 and Mose Yoder’s 26-13. The Golden Hawks say good bye to seniors Caitlyn Busch, Sarah Meader, Vinnie Bowlin, Ben Meader, Dominic McCain, Josh Wallington, Gibson Lowenberg and Michael Kelly.