Mount Vernon Wrestling qualified for 2A State Duals, beating both Assumption and Burlington in regionals on Feb. 4 to qualify. At Assumption, Cooper Krob, wrestling above his weight class at 113 instead of 106, pinned his opponent in three rounds.

Not giving his opponent an inch, Krob kept control of the match with a takedown in the first period, a reversal in the second, and a pin in the third. That pin earned Mount Vernon the first six points of the match.

“The season’s gone pretty well,” Krob said. “I feel like I’ve seen a lot of improvement from the beginning to now, I just got a lot stronger and, like, better at keeping control of my opponent.”

An important match for Krob was when he wrestled against an opponent he previously lost to, Evan Gleason. “My match against Solon, I was doing pretty well. I was wrestling in the upper weight class, 113, instead of 106, which is where I usually wrestle.” Krob said this match was where he learned the most. His strategy is to “Keep moving and don’t stop moving. And just keep fighting.”

Krob, a sophomore, has been wrestling for Mount Vernon since fourth grade when his father introduced him to the sport. He was fascinated by vivid photos and impressive brackets from his father’s time at state. “My dad did it, he introduced it to me, so it’s something for us to talk about,” Krob said.

Krob said that the most challenging school to face was Clear Creek Amana. “We’ve had some good matchups,” he said. “It’s a pretty challenging team this year, and they’ve done really well overall.” 

His favorite part of wrestling is “spending time with friends before and after meets.”