Creston’s Long wins USA Dream Team match
IOWA CITY — Andrew Long of Creston/Orient-Macksburg was one of five Iowa winners against the USA Dream Team in the 12th annual prep wrestling showcase held Saturday night at Iowa City West High School.
The Iowa State recruit and three-time Iowa 2A champion, rated No. 1 nationally, beat No. 2-ranked Thomas Williams of California, 6-2, in the 119-pound bout. After a scoreless first period, Long dumped Williams for a reversal two seconds into the second period, and finished the scoring with two takedowns. Williams, a California state champion who will wrestle Division I at American University, scored only on two escapes.
The USA Dream Team scored a 40-15 victory over a squad of Iowa high school senior all-stars.
Other Iowa winners included top-ranked 125-pounder Nate Moore of Iowa City West, 9-3 over No. 2 Brian Owen of Washington; unranked Tanner Kampen of Humboldt at 145; No. 4 Grant Gambrall of Iowa City West at 171; and top-ranked heavyweight Eric Thompson of Waverly-Shell Rock.
At 160 pounds, Class 1A state champion Marcus Edgington of Hinton lost a 24-9 technical fall to Jason Welch of California, a Northwestern University recruit. Kalab Evans of Creston/O-M, a two-time Class 2A champion, was originally invited to be the Iowa representative, but declined due to a spring baseball conflict.
The near-capacity crowd in the Iowa City West gym included some of the biggest names in wrestling, such as Division I coaches Tom Brands (Iowa), Cael Sanderson and assistant Dylan Long (Iowa State), and J. Robinson (Minnesota) and Dan Hodge Award winner Brent Metcalf of the Hawkeyes.
“The crowd was great. It really got me into it,” said Long, Iowa’s first winner of the night.
Each year a host state’s all-star team takes on the USA Dream Team, and the USA team has never lost in the 12-year history of the event. However, Saturday’s outcome was an improvement on the USA team’s 60-0 victory over Iowa five years ago in Cedar Rapids. The closest dual came last year when an Ohio all-star squad lost three matches by a collective four points and was defeated 27-16.
— Larry Peterson, CNA sports editor
