Aiming for state duals

Two Februaries, as far as New Hampton/Turkey Valley wrestling coach Matt Paulus is concerned, without a trip to the state duals is enough.
“That’s our No. 1 goal, without a doubt,” he said. “We were used to going every year there, and we’ve always taken duals very seriously here. To me, it represents how deep your program is. You can win the [traditional] title with four or five good guys, but you have to have a team for duals.”
And he thinks he’s got the making of a team that will get New Hampton/Turkey Valley back to Des Moines the day before that traditional tournament begins.
He  also thinks he has some wrestlers who can keep his coaching staff busy on the best night of the year, the Saturday night finals.
First, though, he just wants to get to that point in the season. COVID-19 has been a major concern, and Paulus said he, his fellow coaches and his wrestlers are doing everything they can to make sure they get to wrestle a complete season.
“Every day I get up, I just think one more day of wrestling,” he said, “and I think our guys are doing all the right things, all the things they can do. We’re wearing masks for a lot of practice, we’re working in our pods, we’re spreading out. These guys want a wrestling season as much, maybe even more, than me. And that’s saying a lot.”
The Chickasaws enter the season with two hammers — seniors Carson Babcock and Jacob Reicks.
Babcock took fourth at the 2020 state meet at 160 and will bump up to 170 this season while Reicks had a breakout season at 182 as he finished sixth at the state meet.
— For more on this story, see the Dec. 1 Tribune