Junior Drake Allen saw his first action of the season Thursday night in a double dual meet the J-Hawks hosted against Dubuque Wahlert and third-ranked Iowa City West.

Jefferson beat Wahlert 45-24, but lost to Iowa City West 45-18.

Allen, who did not go out at the start of the season, picked up two pins.

“It feels pretty good mostly just to be back out there,” Allen said. “I am very thankful my teammates let me back on the team since I didn’t go out to start the year.”

Jefferson Coach Dick Briggs was pleased with Allen’s return to the team.

“It was a good start for him,” Briggs said. “He is very quick and explosive, especially that weight (220).”

The J-Hawks started the night out with an exciting win over Wahlert. The match went back and forth in the early going. The meet started at 132 pounds and Wahlert had the advantage in the middle weights.

The J-Hawks trailed, 19-18, when Drake Allen took the mat. His fall started a run of four consecutive pins for Jefferson.

“We knew Wahlert had strong kids in the middle. I wasn’t too excited with the draw,” Briggs said. “We knew we had to win it where we can. Our bigger and little guys got it rolling.”

The J-Hawks fell behind early against Iowa City West and were never able to catch up. The Trojans wrestled without three ranked wrestlers (Kegan Wakefield at 138, Gradey Gambrall at 145 and Payton Kauzlarich at 152), but were still able to handle the young J-Hawks.

The J-Hawks got a pin from sophomore Josh Allen and decision wins from both senior Griffin Bollman and freshman Luke Sedlacek to go along with Drake Allen’s second pin of the night.

Drake Allen’s second pin came right after the official reset the wrestlers with Allen down. Allen pulled a quick move, secured a pin, and with a smile on his face immediately pointed at the bench.

“Right before (assistant coach Matt) Orton told me what to do. I went right to it and it worked,” Drake said. “I pointed to say thanks.”

Briggs said he was OK with the result and has confidence his team can get to where they want to be by the time districts roll around in a little over a month.

“We have a young team, even some of our older kids don’t have a lot of experience,” Briggs said. “We have a lot of potential but need to do a lot of growth to accomplish our goals. I think we can.”

“We have high expectations and want to be in one of the top two places at districts,” Drake Allen said. “We have some good heavy guys ready to compete for a spot at state.”

JEFFERSON 45, WAHLERT 24

106 - Griffin Bollman (CRJ) pinned Kyle Pape, 3:13
113 - Patrick Rashed (CRJ) pinned Matt Wigginton, 2:33
120 - Cody Hensel (CRJ) dec. Jacob Lange, 9-3
126 - Greg Vance (DW) tech. fall Michael Moncivais, 19-4
132 - Spencer Brosseau (CRJ) pinned Charlie Smith, 3:31
138 - Shane Broderick (DW) dec. Luke Sedlacek, 8-2
145 - Weslee Haynes (DW) dec. Kelly May, 5-2
152 - Jacob White (DW) pinned Shane Lockhart, 3:09
160 - Shavez Butler (CRJ) pinned Gavin Gremmel, 4:40
170 - Adam Knier (DW) major dec. Josh Allen, 11-2
182 - Andrew Turner (DW) dec. Dalton Kuehl, 7-1
195 - Brandon Leary (CRJ) pinned Ries Bohr, 1:40
220 - Drake Allen (CRJ) pinned Nik Nauman, 4:26
285 - Mic Vesey (CRJ) pinned Ryan Seaman, 1:08

IOWA CITY WEST 45, JEFFERSON 18

106 - Griffin Bollman (CRJ) dec. Jasmine Bailey, 5-2
113 - Phillip Laux major dec. Patrick Rashed, 16-6
120 - Ernest Willis (ICW) major dec. Cody Hensel, 15-6
126 - Jack Hathaway (ICW) pinned Michael Moncivais, 2:39
132 - Dakota Bauer (ICW) tech. fall Spencer Brosseau, 20-5
138 - Luke Sedlacek (CRJ) dec. Jake Gorvin, 6-0
145 - Sam Chalkley (ICW) dec. Kelly May, 8-2
152 - Tyler Hebl (ICW) major dec. Shane Lockhart, 14-4
160 - Justin Koethe (ICW) won by forfeit
170 - Mike Watkins (ICW) major dec. Shavez Butler, 8-0
182 - Josh Allen (CRJ) pinned Blake Bohner, 2:34
195 - Mickey Pelfrey (ICW) pinned Brandon Leary, 2:24
220 - Drake Allen (CRJ) pinned Paul Pelfrey, 4:09
285 - Colin Foerstner (ICW) dec. Mic Vesey, 2-1