The Norwalk wrestling teams both competed on Saturday. The Warrior boys placed eighth out of 23 teams at Urbandale’s Ed Winger Invitational and the girls placed 15th out of 21 teams at the Colfax-Mingo Invite.
Senior Kolton Borcherding-Johnson was an individual champion for the Norwalk boys, defeating Dowling Catholic’s Brady Hagan 4-1 in sudden victory for first place at 285 pounds. Ranked 2nd in Class 3A, Borcherding-Johnson won a 2-1 decision earlier in the meet and finished 4-0 with two major decisions.
The Warriors scored 98 points as a team and had five place-winners against an outstanding field. Liam McLaughlin placed third at 150, Harrison Tripp was fourth at 215, Victor Esparza took sixth at 190 and Kale Wadle was seventh at 138. McLaughlin and Wadle both went 4-1 and scored bonus points in all eight of their wins. The Warriors return to action Thursday for a double dual at Urbandale against the J-Hawks and Ankeny at 5:00 p.m.
The Norwalk girls scored 49 points in their 15th-place showing at Colfax-Mingo. Katie Liedtke led the Warriors with a fourth-place finish at 170, going 3-2 with three pins. Lizzie Reeves at 235 and Brookelynn Lonnevik at 105 both placed fifth. Norwalk will now turn their attention to Friday’s Class 2A Regional Tournament at Waukee Northwest.
BOWLING
The Norwalk bowling teams split a dual meet with Ballard on Friday at Perfect Games in Ames. The Norwalk girls won 1959 to 1740, improving to 7-2 on the season. Top two-game series scores for the Warriors included Julia Palen with a 306, Elivia Stout 259 and Ellery Racz 254. Palen’s 163 was the top individual game. Anna Curran stepped up during the Baker games for Norwalk with a 60 percent conversion rate.
Ballard defeated the Warriors in the boys dual by a final score of 2603 to 2520, dropping Norwalk to 4-5 overall. Blake Halsted led the Warriors with a two-game set of 412 and a high game of 234. Tanner Housley added a series score of 383, including a 199, and Brytan Bassman scored a 368. Trailing by just 17 pins after the individual round, Norwalk took a brief lead through two Baker games but could not hold on for the victory.
Both Norwalk bowling teams return to action at Air Lanes in Des Moines next Saturday, hosting ADM.