Three for three — All three Bulldogs place in state tournament

   DES MOINES -- MFL MarMac’s blue and gold made its presence well known at last week’s state wrestling tournament. All three Bulldog state qualifiers reached the awards platform as the team came home with a strong 12th-place finish.

   “Overall I thought the tournament was just a huge success for the boys,” Bulldog coach Chet Bachman said. “You come up a little bit short, maybe, of your ultimate goal but in reality to place top six with all three boys is a very, very difficult thing to do in high school.

   “It’s very, very special for these three boys,” he said.

   Senior Garret Keehner led the way with a third-place finish at 220 pounds while Michael Egan placed fifth at 145 and Nathan Johanningmeier was sixth at 182. The finishes were career-bests for all three.

   Keehner came into the tournament undefeated and finished with just one loss, a semifinal defeat at the hands of eventual state runner-up Nick Gaes of Alta-Aurelia. Egan suffered a heartbreaking semifinal loss to eventual state champion Wade Mitchell of Woodbury Central and then fell in his consolation semifinal before rebounding to win his fifth-place match while Johanningmeier fell to eventual state runner-up Thomas Even in the quarterfinal round before coming back to win two straight matches and assure himself of a top-six finish.

For more of this story see the Feb. 20 Outlook.