Fuller gets first round win at Wells Fargo

DES MOINES – For being just a freshman, James Fuller put on quite a show in his first day ever wrestling with the state’s best.
The 10th seeded Fuller, who wrestles with the Bloodhounds as part of shared program with Central Lee, had a spectacular entry into the tournament and then lost a tough second-round match to a dude from Waverly-Shell Rock by pin in the first period.
Fuller now finds himself in the consolation, or wrestleback, side looking for a shot at 3rd place.
He takes the mat again Thursday morning against Dubuque Hempstead’s Ike Heysinger in 2nd-round consolation wrestling starting at 9 a.m. Fuller will have to win his next two matches before being guaranteed a spot on the podium with the top eight wrestlers in the state at 113 lbs.
Fuller came into the tournament seeded 10th after winning the district qualifier in Iowa City. Heysinger is seeded 24th in the bracket. Should he win his first match Thursday, his second would be against either the 15th or 17th seed, but he would have to knock off either the 6th seed or 3rd seed who's introduced into the bracket with a loss in the quarterfinals of the championship side of the bracket, for a spot on the podium.
The consolation side determines places 3-8 while the championship side determines 1st and second place.
In his opening match, he faced No. 23 seed Peyton Philavanh out of Dallas Center-Grimes. Philavanh executed a toss about 15 seconds into the match and got Fuller to the ground for 3 points, but Fuller escaped near the edge of the mat for his first ever point in Wells-Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

With both wrestlers now back on their feet, Fuller got to business with a shot at Philavnh’s legs that he gained control on for 3 points and a 4-1 lead. He would ride the Mustang sophomore with 40 seconds left in the first until he escaped for a point and then executed a shot right away, grabbing Fuller by the legs and spinning him to the ground for another takedown and a 7-4 lead.
Fuller deferred on the restart with Philavanh choosing to start bottom in the 2nd period and Fuller was able to ride the Mustang the entire period despite neither wrestler scoring a point. An important turn was a stalling warning Philavanh received at the 1:10 mark. That would come back and turn into a penalty point in the third period with :49 seconds left and Fuller trailing 7-5. With the two battling at the edge of the mat near the scorers table, Fuller was able to execute a 3-point takedown with two of the four wrestlers' feet outside the circle for an 8-7 lead. Philavanh then escaped with 16 seconds left to tie the match at 8-all and both wrestlers got to their feet. Fuller immediately jumped back on the attack and with a shot and rollup that pulled Philavanh into a cradle for a 3-pointer with two seconds left and an 11-8 lead, but Fuller was able to cinch the move for a pin with 1 second left in the match for a win.
Fuller jumped to his feet and celebrated as his hand was raised. He then shook hands with Philavanh and his coaches before coming to celebrate with the Bloodhound coaches.
“I knew I was down and I needed to score. I couldn’t ride him out and I looked up at the clock and realized I had to score and get to my stuff, and I ended up turning that into a pin,” Fuller said.
“I was fully committed to getting that pin.”
The win put Fuller against Waverly-Shellrock’s Kipton Lewis, seeded 7th, who had a bye in the first round. Lewis scored a shot and a takedown 19 seconds into the match and converted that to a pin with a cradle at 1:15 into the match to send the Bloodhound to the consolation bracket.
“I’ve been watching him and I knew he was going to be tough. But I just got a win, keep winning, and keep my head up and just forget that match.”