Comet senior 120-pounder Carter Haberkorn qualifies for State Wrestling Championships

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

NEW HAMPTON — Carter Haberkorn had been here before.

Down 13-6 going into the third period of his 120-pound semifinal match against Waukon’s Kaden Mitchell during Saturday’s Class 2A District 9 wrestling tournament at New Hampton, the Charles City senior needed to pull off a come-from-behind victory — something Haberkorn has had a penchant for doing this season — to advance to the bracket’s final.

And he appeared to do just that.

With short time getting shorter and shorter, Haberkorn was able to chute through Mitchell’s standup defense and take the Indian freshman down to the mat just as the period expired. That would have given Haberkorn the victory, but the referee ruled that it wasn’t in time as Mitchell advanced to the final by way of a 16-15 decision.

“The referee made the right call and I have to respect that,” Haberkorn said of the loss that had the Comet team and its supporters crestfallen as Haberkorn was the team’s most likely candidate to advance to the State Wrestling Championships this week at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. “I shouldn’t have put myself in that position where I needed a call to go my way. I should have worked harder earlier in the match. I knew that, but I was still disappointed.”

Haberkorn was able to bounce back in the backside bracket, pinning West Delaware’s Colton Roling in the consolation semifinal and earning a major decision over Vinton-Shellsburg’s Conner Bridgewater in the consolation final.

When Mitchell defeated North Fayette Valley junior Kyson Moss with a 5-2 sudden-victory in the district championship match, Haberkorn’s was granted a chance to return to state with a wrestleback bout against Moss.

Haberkorn’s wrestleback against Moss was an antithesis to the high-scoring semifinal against Mitchell. After a scoreless first period, Haberkorn — starting the second period in the “down position” — was able to escape to a 1-0 lead.

Moss chose the down position to start the third period, but Haberkorn — who is an excellent defensive wrestler — was able to keep Moss face-down and prone on the mat for the remaining two minutes, including the final seconds where Haberkorn deftly was able to keep a foot in the circle on the fringe of the boundary as time expired, earning another trip to Des Moines.

Haberkorn was a state-qualifier his sophomore season with the Comets, but opted not to go out for wrestling his junior year.

“I’m glad I came back,” said Haberkorn, who joined the team under the direction of new head coach Ryan Schmalen. “After a season away, I feel more committed to the sport.

“We’re a small team, but we have some good young wrestlers who improved throughout the season,” said Haberkorn, who mentioned the likes of Comet junior heavyweight Jackson Warnke, a 20-win wrestler who took fourth in his bracket at districts. “We had (215-pound senior) Trevor Carolan, who went out for wrestling for the first time yet still had a winning record.

“We have a lot of good middle school wrestlers coming up, and we have a great coaching staff. It’s just a matter of getting more kids out for wrestling. I truly believe that Charles City wrestling is going to make a comeback.”

As Charles City’s lone state-qualifier, Haberkorn (22-13) will face Winterset junior Judah Gurwell in the first round of the state tournament, which starts Wednesday.

The Comets placed seventh out of eight teams at the district tournament with West Delaware pacing the field with 238 team points while finishing well ahead of runner-up North Fayette Valley (164).

* At the Class 1A District 5 wrestling tournament hosted by MFL MarMac, Nashua-Plainfield paced a field of 10 with 197 team points while qualifying seven wrestlers to the state meet.

They included first-place finishers Nic Brase (113) and Jayden Rinken (132); and runners-up Lincoln Huck (106), Jagger White (120), Devon Blanchard (157) and Eli Kalainoff (197).

At the Class 2A District 5 wrestling tournament hosted by Clear Lake, North Butler-Clarksville qualified two wrestlers with runners-up Carl Shew (113) and Jaxson Miller (138) while placing seventh out of eight teams.