Nelson works overtime to end career with 151st victory

North Butler senior wins fifth-place match in fourth state championship appearance

By John Burbridge sports@charlescitypress.com

DES MOINES — When North Butler senior Dalton Nelson released Pleasantville’s Griffen McBride with less than a minute remaining in regulation of their Class 1A 160-pound fifth-place match, he gave his opponent a 5-4 lead just seconds after he scrambled to tie it with a takedown.

It seemed risky, but with this being Nelson’s fourth Iowa State Wrestling Championships, maybe this kid knows what he’s doing.

“I knew I was better on my feet and I could tell that he was gassed,” said Nelson, who eventually was awarded a stalling point, which beckoned overtime.

“And like we say, ‘Overtime is our time’,” North Butler coach Gordy Smith said.

Sure enough, Nelson got a takedown call as time expired in the added period for the 7-5 sudden victory during Saturday’s consolation rounds.

McBride and his coaches didn’t agree with the call, but — of course — Smith wasn’t complaining.

“It’s nice to get one of those going our way for a change,” he said.

One call Nelson didn’t get came in the consolation semifinals against Gabe Pauley of AHSTW. Down a point in the third period, it looked as if Nelson had scored a one-legged takedown along the fringe of the circle only to have the official rule that the move occurred out of bounds.

Nelson eventually lost the match, 5-4, and things weren’t going too good for him early into his bout against McBride, who went up 3-0 with a near-fall.

“I knew I had to win,” Nelson said. “I knew I was in better shape, and I knew all the running and work I put in during the season was going to pay off.”

Getting into wrestling shape was a tough order of business for Nelson this season. As North Butler’s all-everything quarterback, Nelson broke his ankle in the middle of a three-games-in-eight-days stretch endured by the Bearcats football team.

“I still have the plate in my ankle,” said Nelson, who was out for the remainder of the football season and was inactive the first month and half of the wrestling season.

“I have to tape it and then re-tape it after every match,” Nelson said. “Other than that, it doesn’t bother me that much.”

Nelson was hoping to build on his previous award-stand performances in Des Moines. Last year, he placed seventh as a 152-pounder; as a freshman 120-pounder, Nelson placed eighth.

“I wanted to go out on top this year, but it was still nice to pick up my 150th victory here,” said Nelson, who finished with 151 wins for his career and a 29-2 record his senior year.

Nelson just signed on to continue his wrestling career at Upper Iowa University, where his brother, Cody Nelson, is a redshirt sophomore for the Peacocks.