Josh Pederson, a 140-pound Linn-Mar Lion, has never bowled a perfect 300 game. But Saturday at the Lion Invitational, he wrestled one.

Pederson separated himself from the entire field by pinning all five of his opponents, including a buzzer-beater in the finals in 5:57 to lead the Linn-Mar Lions over the Bobcats of Western Dubuque, 55-18.

“It feels great," said Pederson. “I just came out trying not to force my shots, stay patient, and it came to me.”

Pederson, a junior with a 19-9 varsity record, has been working recently with Coach Doug Streicher to diversify his offense.

“I’ve been trying to stay away from the fireman’s-carry and work on some other moves like duck-unders and ankle picks,” said Pederson.

Pederson has been wrestling “on and off since the third grade” and was a state qualifier for the Lions in 2010.  A day like Saturday probably makes his dreams to “become a state place-winner” a much clearer picture to see.

“Josh is a hard worker and is well-liked by the kids, but every now and again we need to make sure wrestling’s not only fun, but also that he’s taking care of business," Streicher said.

In Pederson’s five trips to the office Saturday he pinned 10 shoulder blades, for two seconds each, to the same mat in a collective time of 14:08.

The tournament finale, based on the scores with common opponents throughout the day, led one to believe the final showdown would go down to the wire – especially since the Bobcats have defeated the Lions in the finals the last three years straight.

But Saturday belonged to the Lions.

The meet started with Alijah Jeffrey (103) and Joel Northrup (112) getting things off on the right foot and showed why they’re both ranked wrestlers, collecting a pair of falls to take the 12-0 lead.

The Bobcats answered with two regular decisions of their own at 119 and 125 before Linn-Mar’s Jeremy Severin won momentum back, earning a pivotal second-period fall over Western Dubuque’s Dylan Gansen.

“I was just getting after it trying to be aggressive, and everything just kind of clicked. It felt great,” said Severin.

Capitalizing on the momentum, the Lions reeled off the next five matches in a row, including pins by Spencer Claybough (140), Pedersen (145) and the freshman Andrew Holladay (160).  The tight 12-6 lead blossomed into 43-6 breeze.
 
Claybough, a reserve 140 bumped up a weight, scored a torturous second-period fall that seemed to take the wind out of the Bobcats' sails.

The Bobcats made one last move at 171 and 189, picking up a pin by fifth-ranked Michael Kluesner followed by a Lions forfeit to Demmer at 189.  Those two wins were Western Dubuque’s fourth and final win of the dual.

At 215, AJ Garcia used a couple of takedowns and an escape to win a hard-fought battle 5-3, and heavyweight Dustin Smith scored a late third-period fall (5:55) to erase the two-point deficit.

The Lions (18-5) had four wrestlers -- Jeffery, Northrup, Ross Lembeck and Pederson -- go undefeated.  Jeffery scored four falls and had a forfeit.   Northrup and Lembeck had three pins each.

Xavier finished seventh in the eight-team field and had three undefeated wrestlers of their own in Nick Drahozal (112), Braxton Chicchelly (130), and Peter Ickes (171).

Ickes (21-3) credits this year’s big improvement to taking a more serious approach to the sport and eliminating distraction.  “I’m happy with today but not content – I really want to get better and make it to state,” Ickes said.

Round 1

LINN-MAR 60, XAVIER 13

171 ¬– Ickes (X) pinned Gansen, 1:28; 189 - Atwater (LM) dec. Bolland, 5-2; 215-Garcia (LM) pinned Barak, :19; 285-Smith (LM) won by forfeit; 103-Jeffrey (LM) pinned Duball, 1:18; 112-Northrup (LM) won by forfeit; 119-Drahozal (X) dec. Berry, 5-0; 125-Griffin (LM) dec. Downey, 6-0; 130-Chicchelly (X) major dec. Severin, 13-0; 135-Lembeck (LM) pinned Laska, 3:51, 140-Pederson (LM) pinned Donithan, 4:59; 145-Clabough (LM) won by forfeit; 152-Neil (LM) pinned Moore, 2:38; 160-Holladay (LM) pinned Joens, 3:26

Round 2

LINN-MAR 52, MOUNT PLEASANT 18

189-Dilks (MP) dec. Atwater, 5-7; 215-Garcia (LM) dec. Apalara, 12-3; 285-Bruggemeyer (MP) pinned Smith, 3:31; 103-Jeffrey (LM) pinned Matthews, 1:05; 112-Northrup (LM) pinned Lanphier, 1:26; 119-Berry (LM) pinned Dameron, 4:53; 125-Grffin (LM) won by forfeit; 130-May(MP) dec. Severin, 10-5; 135-Lembeck (LM) pinned Movall, 3:26; 140-Edington (MP) dec. Wempen, 8-4; 145-Pederson (LM) pinned Alderson, :47; 152-Neil (LM) pinned Scarff, 1:19; 160-Holaday (LM) pinned Phillips, 1:38; 171-Dilks (MP) dec. Gansen, 4-0

MOUNT VERNON 55, XAVIER 17

189-Davidson (MV) pinned Boland, 1:10; 215-Cannon(MV) pinned Barak, 1:59; 285-Bellamy (MV) won by forfeit; 103-Wenzel (MV) major dec. Duball, 12-2; 112-Wolrab (MV) won by forfeit;  119-Drahozal (X) dec. Jilovec, 5-3; 125-Downy (X) major dec. Dehistrom, 19-10; 130-Chicchelly (X) pinned Gardner, 1:59; 135-Ryan (MV) pinned Laska, 1:21; 140-Abresch (MV) pinned Donithan, 2:28; 145-Jilovec (MV) won by forfeit; 152-Simons (MV) dec. Moore, 11-9; 160-Cox (MV) pinned Jones, 1:55; 171-Ickes (X) major dec. Rawson, 14-4

Round 3

LINN-MAR 46, MOUNT VERNON 24

215-Smith (LM) dec. Davidson, 10-6; 285-Garcia (LM) pinned Bellamy, 3:01; 103-Jeffrey (LM) pinned Wenzel, 1:11; 112-Northrup (LM) pinned Wolrab, :52; 119- Jilovec (MV) dec Berry, 5-4; 125- Dahlstrom (MV) pinned Griffin, 4:35; 130-Severin (LM) pinned Galdner, 1:04; 135-Lembeck (LM) major dec. Ryan, 15-4; 140-Pederson (LM) pinned Jilovec, 1:51; 145-Clabough (LM) dec. Abresch, 2-1; 152-Neil (LM) pinned Simons, 2:44; 160-Cox (MV) pinned Holaday, 3:32; 171-Rawson (MV) dec Gansen, 6-4 OT; 189-Cannon (MV) won by forfeit

MOUNT PLEASANT 48, XAVIER 33

103-Duball (X) pinned Matthews, 4:43; 112-Eagleman (MP) won by forfeit; 119-Drahozal (X) pinned Lanphier, 3:27; 125-Downey (X) pinned Dameron, 2:20; 130-Chiccelly (X) inj. def. May; 135-Moval (MP) pinned Laska, 5:36; 140-Edington (MP) pinned Donithan, 3:51; 145-Alderson (MP) won by forfeit; 152-Scarff (MP) inj. def. Moore; 160-Phillips (MP) Joens, 5:04; 171-Ickes (X) pinned Dilks, 1:13; 189-Boland (X) dec. Dilks, 1-0; 215-Apalara (MP) pinned Barak, 1:39; 285-Brown (MP) won by forfeit

 Round 4

LINN-MAR 45, KEOKUK 26

285-Smith (LM) dec Goss, 10-8; 103-Jeffrey (LM) won by forfeit; 112-Northrup (LM) won by fofeit; 119-Hethenhal (K) dec Griffin,9-5; 125-Berry (LM) won by forfeit; 130-Severin(LM) pinned Forbes, 1:24; 135-Lembeck (LM) pinned Cuvillier, 1:09; 140-Pederson (LM) pinned Hemphill, 1:54; 145-Rose (K) major dec Clabough, 9-1; 152-Rose (K) dec Neil, 8-2; 160-Maxwell (K) major dec Holaday, 17-7; 171-Nye (K) pinned Gansen, 5:29; 189-Martin (K) won by forfeit; 215-Garcia (LM) pinned Fitencourt, :56

DUBUQUE HEMPSTEAD 42, XAVIER 34

No boxscore available

Round 5

Championship

LINN-MAR 55, WESTERN DUBUQUE 18

103- Alijah Jeffrey (LM) pinned Austin Hosch, 4:23; 112 –  Northrup (LM) pinned Dougherty, 1:24; 119 – Gotto (WD) dec. Griffen, 6-5; 125 – Steger (WD) dec. Berry, 7-1; 130 – Jeremy Severin (LM) pinned Gansen, 3:49; 135 – Ross Lembeck (LM) dec. Nemmers, 10-9; 140 -- Josh Pederson (LM) pinned Smith, 5:57; 145 Spencer Claybough pinned Milons, 3:41; 152 – Neil (LM) dec. Hall, 10-9; 160 – Holladay (LM) pinned Schemmel, :46; 171 – Kluesner (WD) pinned Gansen, 2:45; 189 – Demmer (WD) won by forfeit; 215 – AJ Garcia (LM) dec. Ramler, 5-3; 285 – Smith (LM) pinned Elledge 5:55

Third place

Keokuk 46, Mount Pleasant  20

Fifth place

Mount Vernon 44, Hempstead  25

Seventh place

XAVIER 63, LINN-MAR JV  12

103 – Duball (X) won by forfeit; 112 – Bauermeister (X) won by forfeit; 119 – Drahozal pinned Stecker, :46; 125 Downy (X) pinned Roudabush, 5:12; 130 – Chicchelly (X) tech fall Oberbroeckling, 17-2; 135 – Laska (X) dec. Richardson, 7-2;  140 - Donithan (X) pinned Stecker, :59; 145 – Sanborn (L-MJV) won by forfeit; 152 – Moore (X) major dec. Cunningham, 15-2; 160 – Joens  (X) pinned Mich, 1:12; 171 – Ickes (X) pinned Beaird, 1:10; 189 – Boland (X) dec. Evans 7-6; 215 – Barak (X) pinned Eppard, 2:40; 285 – Slezak (X) pinned Feldman, :51.