Ryan Zoucha of Malcolm, left, looks for an opening against Dylan McDonald of Concordia/DCW during the Malcolm Invite Jan. 5. Zoucha won the match by pin.
Adam Stewart of Malcolm (top) prepares to turn Austyn Dougherty of North Star before pinning him Jan. 5.
The Malcolm wrestling team has proven they have several quality wrestlers this season. Six weeks into the season, two stand out as more than just good. Entering the Jan. 5 Malcolm Invitational, Haydn Deinert and Dylan Zoucha were a combined 46-2.
That win total jumped by 10 while the number of losses remained the same as the duo rolled through respective weight classes en route to a pair of gold medals.
Deinert, now 27-1, wasted little time mowing down his competition. The 195-pound senior had four pins and one major decision. In his four matches that ended in a pin, Deinert averaged just over a minute on the mat.
“The competition was far from strong,” Malcolm head coach Matt Coufal said. “But Haydn did what he needed to do and stayed out of trouble while doing it.”
Zoucha improved his record to 29-1 while picking up his 100th career win. The 170-pound junior had three pins on the day.
“The thing that I see in Dylan this year is how much smarter he is wrestling,” Coufal said. “He’s gone from being a strong wrestler with good technique to an intelligent wrestler that knows what he needs to do to win.”
Deinert and Zoucha had company atop the medal stand as Grant Burbach and Adam Stewart also earned gold medals.
For Burbach, it was his first career tournament win. The 145-pound senior scored a pin in in the first period each of his four first matches.
“I’m really happy for Grant,” Coufal said. “He’s battled injuries so much of his career, and now we’re starting to see what he’s capable of.
“We moved him down from 152 to 145 and he’s been wrestling really well ever since. This is the right class for him.”
Adam Stewart’s story is similar. The 160-pound senior has spent plenty of his career overcoming injuries. This year, he has been able to showcase his strength and talent. Stewart’s record improved to 27-5 with five wins on his way to a gold medal.
“Because of how he’s built, Adam is really hard to score on,” Coufal said. “He just keeps improving and gaining confidence.”
Of the eight varsity wrestlers that competed for Malcolm, six finished in the top three in their brackets. In addition to the four gold medalists, freshman Gavin Zoucha placed second in the 138-pound class while his older brother Ryan Zoucha finished third in the 120-pound bracket.
As a team, Malcolm scored 130.5 points and finished fourth out of 14 teams. York won the meet with 196 points. The four gold medalists for Malcolm tied York with the most for one team.
The evening before, on Jan. 4, Malcolm hosted Broken Bow for a dual. While the Clippers lost the dual 60-18 to arguably the best dual team in Class C, the Malcolm grapplers did turn in some good individual performances.
Deinert and Stewart each scored pins while Ryan and Dylan Zoucha each went the distance to win their matches by two points.
“I’m a firm believer that your competition catches up with you,” Coufal said. “That’s why we put our guys in tough situations most of the year.
“They may not all have great records when districts roll around, but they won’t be surprised by their competition.”
This week, the Clippers will go to Raymond Central for a Thursday evening dual before making a trip to the Schuyler Invite on Saturday.
“Schuyler is one of the toughest meets we go to,” Coufal said. “We’ll see some of the best Classes A, B and C have to offer.
“It’s meets like these that get us ready for when it really matters in February.”
