It might have been their best meet of the year. With just seven wrestlers entered in the Jan. 19 David City Invite, the Clippers grabbed four medals and scored 55.5 points for a 10th-place team finish.
“We’re seeing improvement in everyone,” Malcolm coach Matt Coufal said. “Obviously, that’s what you want. Now, we need to keep taking steps in that direction.”
Bricen Wilkie continued his impressive senior year campaign. After opening the meet with three pins, the 157-pounder faced Ashland-Greenwood’s Austyn Cote in the semifinals. Two of Wilkie’s three losses this season are to Cote. This time, Wilkie had the upper hand in a 5-3 win.
In the championship match, Wilkie faced Harrell Jackson. The Millard West senior was a Class A 160-pound state medalist in 2023. Wilkie improved his season record to 24-3 with an 8-4 championship match win over Jackson.
“Bricen controlled the whole match,” Coufal said. “He kind of gassed him out and wore him down.”
Cody Barton earned the silver medal at 113 pounds. After winning his first four matches, the sophomore squared off against Creighten Lassen. The Millard West sophomore finished fourth in Class A 106 pounds last year. Lassen outlasted Barton, 8-1 in the championship m,atch. Barton is 22-2 this season.
“Cody got frustrated and started forcing some things that turned out bad,” Coufal said. “As lopsided as the score was, it was the kind of match that Cody can learn a lot from. He’ll get better from seeing that kind of competition.”
The Clippers brought home a pair of sixth place medals. Christopher Burbach went 2-2 on the day with two pins in the 144-pound bracket.
“Christopher learns and improves from one match to the next,” Coufal said. “He’ll make a mistake in one match and then go back out and not do it again in the next one. We just need him to keep doing those good things.”
Cooper Vetick, a freshman, had one pin on his way to sixth place at 126 pounds.
“Cooper had to sit out his whole eighth grade season with an injury,” Coufal said. “Not only is he learning how to wrestle at the high school level, he’s doing it after taking a year off.
“He does a lot of things fundamentally right. At this point, it’s about getting stronger and gaining more experience.”
The Clippers hosted Ralston for a Jan. 18 dual. The Rams won 66-12. Vetick and Wilkie picked up a pair of wins for Malcolm.
Malcolm’s lone female wrestler is Vanesa Gonzalez-Mendoza. The freshman lasted late into the third period in her dual match before being pinned by Maiah Sanderson.
Gonzalez-Mendoza went 0-2 at the Jan. 20 Weeping Water Girls Invite.
The Clippers will host the eight-school Trailblazer Conference Tournament on Friday before heading to the Raymond Central Invite on Saturday, Jan. 27.
“Just a couple more weekends and we’re into the postseason,” Coufal said. “These next two weeks are when we need to take some big steps forward.”
