The Simpson wrestling team competed at the Lower Midwest Regionals this past weekend in Dubuque. There were 10 wrestlers competing for the Storm over the weekend, but none shined brighter than sophomore Dylan McChesney.

           McChesney, who was competing in the 125-pound weight class, started the weekend on Saturday strong, claiming a 0:56 pin against Luther’s Sam Camacho in his first match. In his second match, McChesney faced Wartburg’s Brady Kyner where he gained a 9-3 decision win to finish the first day of the Lower Midwest Regionals with a record of 2-0.

           McChesney entered Sunday looking to be the Storm’s first national tournament qualifier since 2007. His efforts weren’t enough, as he dropped his first match and then dropped his last match a close decision to Loras’ Matt Randone. 

This finished McChesney’s strong run and placed him in sixth place. He totaled 16 wins on the year, which passed his freshman year total of 14.

           McChesney helped lead the Storm this season along with sophomore Shyler Langley, who each had eight dual wins. Langley also led the team in American Rivers Conference wins with six. Langley and McChesney led the team in pinfalls with six apiece.

           McChesney wasn’t the only wrestler who earned wins over the weekend.

Langley, who was in the 174-pound division, earned a third-period pin to earn him his first win on Saturday. He dropped his next two matches after that, which would end his weekend. Langley finished the season with 13 wins during the year.

           Freshman Dalton Cockman was hopeful to make it to Sunday with his teammate McChesney. Cockman was competing in the 165-pound division. He lost his first match of the day on Saturday but followed it up with a 3:31 pin. 

To move on, Cockman had to win but lost by pin in his third match ending his freshman year. He finished with 13 wins on the year as well.

           Freshman Jason Peta competed in the 133-pound division and also started his day with a loss, but soon rebounded with a win in his second match by a major decision of 13-1. 

Like fellow freshman, Peta could not carry over the momentum from his second match as he dropped his third, ending his year too. He finished with 8 wins on the season.

           There was one lone senior on this team, Sam Mathis. Mathis couldn’t get it going this weekend and lost both of his matches, which would end his career at Simpson. 

Coach Dylan Peters looked at Mathis as a huge leadership piece for this team, given he was the only senior. Mathis ended his season with 10 wins during the season and had 41 wins total in his career for the Storm.

           It was not the season that anyone from this team would have hoped for. The Storm had an overall record of 2-11. They were 0-6 against American Rivers Conference opponents. 

There is still a lot of hope from Peters for this team, knowing he had many young guys step up this year. Hope for the future is bright for this team.