(Battle Creek, IA) – Odebolt-Arthur/Battle Creek-Ida Grove Head Wrestling Coach Randy Nieman believes he has something special. This wrestling program entered the year as an underappreciated crew with some serious goals to accomplish, namely statewide recognition. Despite a rash of injuries, those goals are still in sight for this group of scrappy Falcons.

On Thursday, January 14th the Falcons suffered their first loss of the season to a solid Logan-Magnolia squad by the final tally of 35-30. While it was a disappointing first loss, Coach Nieman believes it could very well be their last loss of the season. In his opinion, the only thing keeping this team from the statewide recognition it will eventually garner has been the injury bug. These injuries have taken the shine off a hot start to the season for the Falcons but the return of some key cogs could likely give this team an added boost come tournament time. For a team featuring five wrestlers ranked in the preseason top ten, it is quite clear that this group has the chops to do some damage at Wells Fargo in February.

The highest rated wrestler entering the season for the Falcons was Senior Darius Dutcher. Wrestling at 125 pounds, Dutcher was ranked #3 in Class 2A in November and currently is undefeated with a 17-0 record. This two-time state qualifier placed 5th last season as a junior and receives glowing praise from his coach. “Darius is an amazing athlete. He is just a powerhouse that never tires. His strength and quickness are his best assets but at the end of the match he seems as fresh as he was when it started. I think if he continues to wrestle the way he has thus far, he could contend for a state championship.”

Josh Schaefer has perhaps the most intriguing story to tell on the OA-BCIG team. Schaefer, a Junior, entered the season ranked 5th at 140 lbs. and was poised to return to Wells Fargo where last season wrestling at 125 lbs. he finished with a fourth place finish in the state tournament. Coach Nieman believes that Schaefer is his most talented wrestler and unfortunately for Nieman and his Falcons, they would be without him for the majority of the season. During the Thanksgiving holiday break, Schaefer began to fall ill and developed a fever on Thanksgiving Day. It had become so bad that on Friday he was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery. At some point his appendix ruptured and for Josh wrestling was likely the furthest thing from his mind. He spent a couple of days in the hospital recuperating before attempting to return to school the following week. His situation worsened and he ended up spending two more weeks in the hospital and missed school for virtually the entire month of December. Once he stabilized he was able to return to school and has been cleared to return to the mat as of February 1st. Coach Nieman made a bold statement when speaking about his star pupil’s return. “I would bet February’s paycheck that this young man will qualify for the state.” His confidence in Schaefer is unwavering despite the tragic illness. He will likely return to the mat at 135 lbs. or possibly 140 lbs. after playing the entire football season at 150 lbs. His return will be vital to the long term success of this team.

Senior Chaps Wilcke is the unquestioned leader on the mat for the Falcons. The 189 pounder was ranked #8 pre-season and that is where he stands today. Currently, at 16-2, Wilcke looks to duplicate his junior campaign in which he qualified for the state tournament and finished up with a record of 41-10 wrestling at 171 lbs. “He is our hardest worker bar none,” Coach Nieman says. “He’s a kid that just loves to wrestle, and compete.” For Wilcke his leadership goes beyond the mat. “Chaps is a great student and kid who always makes the right choices. He is a leader in the student body as well and certainly someone we want our younger wrestlers to emulate,” Nieman says.

Also ranked 8th in the pre-season was Devon Pierce. He was ranked at 103 lbs. but has taken his skills to 112 lbs. “Devon has moved up in weight because we needed to improve there and Devon fit the bill.” Pierce is a four-year letter winner and come state qualifying time, Nieman believes Pierce will be back at 103, a weight at which he is undefeated in 2009-10. “He moved up to help the team but when it comes time to qualify he will be back at 103. That is his best weight.”

Dalton Hemer entered his junior year ranked #10 at 130 lbs. in class 2A. Currently unranked, Hemer sits at 17-4 and poised to return to Des Moines for his second tour of duty at Wells Fargo Arena. Following a 39-14 season, Hemer also earns high praise from his coach. “Dalton is a technician. He is the kid who gets the early work in the morning; he gets extra work after practice and is as nice a young man as you could possibly meet.” Coming from a wrestling family the 2009-10 campaign has seen Hemer lose to only ranked opponents thus far. Despite the fact that Hemer has fallen out of the rankings, he is likely to end his season on the mats of Wells Fargo again in 2010 as well.

Two other wrestlers deserve mention according to Coach Nieman. A year ago Brent Stickrod battled his way to Des Moines and finished his first year in high school with a record of 36-18. Toughness is a word that resonates in the mind of Coach Nieman when speaking of Stickrod. The sophomore has yet to set foot on the mat in 2010 due to a broken hand he suffered in week three of the football season. “The amazing thing about Brent is the fact that he played the entire season with that broken bone,” Coach Nieman recalls. “It wasn’t diagnosed until after the football season ended which has cost him the beginning of the wrestling season.” Once Stickrod returns the Falcons lineup instantly gets better and the prospects in Des Moines are that much sweeter with Brent in the fold.

Senior Tyler Down has been Mr. Consistent for this program over the last three years. Wrestling at 160 lbs. Down is currently 16-4 and would like nothing more than to cap a tremendous career with a trip to Des Moines. “Tyler is one of the most intelligent athletes I’ve ever been around. He is a hard worker and is similar to Wilcke in his leadership skills.” Down, a three year starter has qualified for districts three times in his career and a trip to Wells Fargo would send him out on top.

For Coach Nieman, this is his best team by far, and when this team is at full strength he believes that potentially they could qualify 7 or 8 wrestlers to the state tournament with 3 or 4 place winners in the mix. “We’ve had at least 2 starters out of every meet we’ve competed in this season. I used 6 different lineups and we are still 7-1. Right now we are wrestling for February and prepping for the playoffs.” With the best yet to come, the OA-BCIG wrestlers are poised to make everyone outside of Siouxland take notice of them as one of the best programs in the entire state.