The nature of City High Wrestling’s rapid turnaround has many fans amazed.

“It’s been fun to see the guys I’ve been in the program with mature and become ranked wrestlers,” said Lance Bormann ‘18, the 132 pounder for the Little Hawks. “(This group) has kind of turned the program around.” 

The Little Hawks, who finished 13th out of 14 teams at the MVC Super Meet just three years ago, are rolling through dual opponents and individual tournaments alike. Now, only Thursday’s dual against conference-power Dubuque Hempstead stands between them and an MVC regular season title.

City High is a team on the rise, and is rising in the state rankings. This year,  Little Hawks are consistently ranked in the top ten and six of City’s 14 wrestlers are ranked. This is a shift for a program that just a few years ago was considered to be in the bottom-tier of the conference.

For the wrestlers, their improvement has been apparent.

“When I was a freshman we weren’t great,” says Bormann. “I know in years before we were way, way worse… so the program has come a long way.”

The shift, says Bormann, has been a matter of personnel and culture change.

“I think the biggest factor has been having guys that went through the whole kids program and kept working once they got into high school,” said Bormann.

He also says the team’s chemistry has been beneficial to the Little Hawks’ success on the mat.

“Wrestling can be kind of a grind sometimes. Between cutting a lot of weight and long practices, it helps you get through it when you have some friends on the team and are able to have the lighter side, too.”

Nowhere was the Little Hawk’s quick turnaround more evident than last Saturday’s victory at the Bean-City Duals. The Duals are City’s annual dual tournament hosted in honor of legendary coach Clyde Bean, who passed away last year.

The Little Hawks dominated the tournament, winning all five duals and outscoring opponents 320-55 on the day. The Little Hawks didn’t expect too much pressure from their first four opponents, who often had to forfeit at multiple weights because they didn’t have enough wrestlers.

However the final match of the day seemed to present a legitimate challenge in 2A power Decorah. The Little Hawks were missing multiple wrestlers due to illness and were forced to fill in JV wrestlers at those weights. Still, the team had little difficulty in dispatching the Vikings, who fell 53-13. Six Little Hawks made the all tournament team, meaning they went undefeated on the day.

“That was good,” said Bormann. “We had some guys out with colds and (other illnesses), so it was really cool to see that we could send out half of our JV guys and still beat up on other teams. It shows what the state of the program is right now.”

The Little Hawks will look to grab their first regular season MVC title tonight against Dubuque Hempstead. The first dual of the night between Dubuque Hempstead and Dubuque Senior begins at 5:30 pm at City High.