-Messenger photo by Britt KudlaCarson Taylor of Fort Dodge wrestles against Mason City Connor Wiemann on Thursday inside Dodgers gym

Thursday night’s CIML Iowa Conference dual with Mason City was a chance for the top-ranked (Class 3A) Fort Dodge wrestling team to shine a little light on the future.

Minus two highly-ranked seniors, the Dodgers had no trouble taking care of the Mohawks, winning nine matches and scoring a 49-22 victory.

With three-time state champion and No. 1 ranked Brody Teske sitting the meet out alongside third-rated Damond Lockner, Fort Dodge (13-0 overall) was able to still record 22 bonus points, including pins by Hunter Alexander, Levi Egli and Triston Licht.

“I think it says a lot about the program for us to be 13-0 without having the same varsity lineup for several meets,” FDSH head coach Bobby Thompson said. “It shows we have a lot of depth in our room.

“And I know some people think we’ll go away after this year graduating four big seniors, but we have some ammo left in the tank. We aren’t going away and the future remains bright for Fort Dodge wrestling.”

The meet set up for a marquee contest right off the bat, as Dodger freshman Drake Ayala and Mason City sophomore Cullan Schriever would have kicked things off in a battle of the Top-2 wrestlers at 106 pounds.

Schriever, though, was unable to compete due to an illness and Ayala earned a forfeit for his 28th consecutive win this year.

Carson Taylor, ranked fifth at 113 pounds, picked up a technical fall in just over four minutes vs. Connor Wiemann, 16-0.

The Mohawks picked up victories at 120 courtesy Christian Rodriguez and 126 with eighth-ranked Colby Schriever, as they defeated Kody Cook and Michael Schroeder.

Drew Bennett and Drevon Ross, who are both ranked No. 1 at 132 and 138, received forfeits, and Alexander followed with a fall at 145 over Marcos Cervantes in 2:42. Bennett is now fifth on the school’s career wins chart.

“Hunter did an excellent job filling in for Damond, coming out and recording a fall,” Thompson said. “He’s a kid that has been working very hard to crack the lineup.

“Michael also stepped in and wrestled a tough kid in Schriever. This was a good opportunity for both of those guys to compete in a home dual and gain some experience.”

Fort Dodge’s fourth top-ranked individual, Cayd Lara, earned his 160th career win with a 9-1 major decision over Luke Deinhart, who is rated eighth at 152.

Egli followed with a fall in just 40 seconds, Kaden Smith earned a major decision and Licht added a pin in 23 seconds for the final Dodger win of the night.

“We’ve just got to keep moving forward,” Thompson said. “Hopefully we’ll be a full-strength for the conference tournament and we can show what we are capable of.”

Earning wins for the FDSH junior varsity were Lane Cowell, Brayton Alexander, Tyson Powers, Dustin Handy, Savian Wheat and Keegan Lynch.

The Dodgers head to Waverly for the Rick Caldwell Invitational hosted by Waverly-Shell Rock on Saturday. Rounding out the field will be Clear Creek-Amana, Crestwood, Indianola, Saint Ansgar, Storm Lake, Waterloo East and West Branch.

FORT DODGE 49, MASON CITY 22

106 — Drake Ayala, FD won by forfeit; 113 — Carson Taylor, FD tech. fall Connor Wiemann, 16-0 (4:21); 120 — Christian Rodriguez, MC dec. Kody Cook, 8-4; 126 — Colby Schriever, MC pinned Michael Schroeder, 3:08; 132 — Drew Bennett, FD won by forfeit; 138 — Drevon Ross, FD won by forfeit; 145 — Hunter Alexander, FD pinned Marcos Cervantes, 2:42; 152 — Cayd Lara, FD major dec. Luke Deinhart, 9-1; 160 — Levi Egli, FD pinned Aiden Colby, :40; 170 — Kaden Smith, FD major dec. KJ Barkema, 20-9; 182 — Evan Craw, MC major dec. Austin Lee, 14-4; 195 — Triston Licht, FD pinned Justin Ziegler, :23; 220 — Jeff Schurtz, MC pinned Caleb Vance, :27; 285 — Troy Monahan, MC dec. Logan Finowski, 5-1.