Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Noah Carlson of St. Edmond grabs Braden Hansen of Hampton-Dumont on Thursday at the Gael gym. For more photos, visit CU.messengernews.net

Eugene Carlson didn’t know what to expect in the season opener for his St. Edmond wrestling team — both from his athletes and how the Gael gym would sound.

Following action against both Algona and Hampton-Dumont, Carlson was excited about almost everything.

The Gaels dropped both duals, falling to Algona, 78-6, and Hampton-Dumont, 66-16. Algona finished the evening with a 34-20 victory over H-D.

Ryan Duckett earned a major decision and a forfeit, with Ronnie Orres and Jonah Hindt also picking up wins for St. Edmond.

“The energy in here was awesome,” Carlson said. “I’ve just got to thank everyone for coming out and supporting the program. We’ve had a rough couple of years, but this was a great night and just incredible support from the fans.”

With the North Central Conference schedule rotation, Thursday night marked the lone home appearance for the Gaels outside of their dual tournament in January.

St. Edmond honored senior wrestlers Hindt, Noah Carlson, Alfonso Galvan, Isaac Pontes and Bryce Andersen, along with senior cheerleaders Ally Duckett and Cameron Brown between the duals.

“It was a great showing for Senior Night from our kids,” Carlson said. “I thought we gave them a good show and we had some really great energy flowing in the gym.”

Duckett, a returning state qualifier, downed Hampton-Dumont’s Jack Showalter via major decision at 113 pounds, 11-1. He also picked up a forfeit in the final match of the night vs. Algona.

“Ryan looked good for his first match,” Carlson said. “But we’ve got to continue to work on getting out from the bottom. That really hurt him last year and we know it will again if we don’t get it corrected.”

Orres, a freshman, picked up a forfeit at 106 pounds vs. Hampton-Dumont, as did Hindt at 170 against H-D. In the dual with Algona, only Duckett’s forfeit went in St. Edmond’s favor.

“We knew this would be a tough way to open,” Carlson said. “Algona and Hampton-Dumont are both big schools with a lot of wrestling tradition. I thought we did some good things, but we also made some mistakes that we shouldn’t have — even for a young, inexperienced team.

“Maybe the bright lights of a varsity dual got the better of them. We’ll go back to the room and correct those mistakes and get better from this.”

Algona’s Joel Lentsch, Hayden Thompson, Hunter Berry, Luke McKenna, Spencer Long, Cole Lewis, Andrew Hamilton and Gavin Meints earned wins vs. Hampton-Dumont, with Jacob Zabka, Thompson, Hunter Penton, Thompson, Caleb Tabot, Brandon Harris, Gavin Bowman, McKenna, Long, Collin Murphy, Lewis, Hamilton and Grant Meints picking up wins vs. SEHS.

In junior varsity action, Tyler Rossmanith and Grant Webster both won matches via fall, with Galvan earning a decision.

The Gaels return to action on Saturday when they head to Manson for the Doug Wood Invitational. The field includes the host, Manson Northwest Webster, Alta/Aurelia, Clarinda Academy, East Sac County, Hampton-Dumont, Ogden, Ridge View, South Central Calhoun, South Hamilton and West Bend-Mallard.