At long last, champions!

Evan Rosonke didn’t know which match sealed New Hampton/Turkey Valley’s Northeast Iowa Conference championship Saturday.
As it turns out, it was his.
When the sophomore pinned Crestwood’s Judd Grover in the championship round, it ended a see-saw battle between three teams for first place, giving the Chickasaws their first title since 2004. New Hampton was first with 231 points, while Crestwood finished second at 218.5 and Waverly-Shell Rock third with a 217.5.
Helping the team to the title were five champions: Jon Dreckman at 106, Michael Blockhus at 145, Noah Glaser at 170, Rosonke at 182 and Areon Day at 220.
The location of the meet — Waverly — was especially sweet.
The New Hampton win snapped a string of titles by the Go-Hawks that stretched back to 2004 when the Chickasaws won their last championship, also at Waverly. The past two years New Hampton has finished first in the dual team standings, but has been unable to come up with the tournament title.
“It was just good to win it,” said coach Nick Hemann. “There have been some demons on our backs the last few years, but this year we got it done, and we did it short-handed, which is a true testament to our guys.”
Rosonke — like a few other Chickasaws — was part of a line-up change coach Nick Hemann implemented for the meet. He’d wrestled much of the season at 195 but weighed in and won the title at 182 Saturday.
--For all the New Hampton results, please see the Jan. 27 Tribune.