Championship round set for Iowa state wrestling
By Dana Becker | Photos by Matthew Putney
The night wrestlers all over Iowa work for is now here, as the fourth and final day of the Iowa state wrestling championships is upon us.
A sold-out crowd from Des Moines and inside the Wells Fargo Arena will watch as champions are crowned in 14, weight classes across three classifications.
Here is a recap of that action from Friday:
1A: Don Bosco nearing second ‘five-peat’
Over the long and storied history of wrestling in Iowa, only two programs have ever captured five consecutive traditional team championships in a row.
Don Bosco has the chance to do it a second time.
Waterloo West was the first, winning it all each season from 1942-46. The Dons accomplished the feat from 2006-10, and are now in the driver’s seat to do it again.
Heading into Saturday’s final rounds, Don Bosco sits atop 1A with 152 points. They have four wrestlers in the finals and five more competing on the consolation side, and could mathematically surpass the 2009 team that scored a 1A-high 194 points.
Only Wilton, with one finalist and seven in the medal-round, can catch the Dons, as they have 105 points, but they would need to be perfect with Don Bosco completely falling apart.
Nashua-Plainfield sits third with 99 points and two in the finals and three more in consolation matches, followed by Lisbon and Alburnett.
Kaiden Knaack, Kyler Knaack, Jared Thiry and Mack Ortner are all in the finals for Don Bosco, while Wilton has Mason Shirk competing for a state title.
Nashua-Plainfield’s Jayden Rinken and future University of Northern Iowa wrestler Garret Rinken each advanced through the semifinals, as well. Jayden Rinken and Shirk will meet at 106 pounds, where Sigourney-Keota’s Reanah Utterback looks to make more history.
Utterback, a two-time qualifier, will face Riverside, Oakland’s David Bramman for seventh place. She will become just the second girl to medal at this tournament thanks to her 7-2 win in the consolation fourth round over Earlham’s Dallas Canoyer.
Megan Black was the first to accomplish the feat, placing eighth in 2012. The crowd packed inside Wells Fargo Arena greeted Utterback with a standing ovation after her win.
2A: Osage completes the championship double
With another dominating performance, Osage secured the Class 2A traditional team title on Friday ahead of the final rounds of action.
Fresh off winning state duals two weeks ago, the Green Devils pushed four through to the championship finals and have four more on the consolation side, racking up 144.5 points.
Despite being one of the smaller teams in 2A, Notre Dame, Burlington holds second place with three finalists and another competing for a medal. They are eight points ahead of West Delaware, followed by Mount Vernon and Sergeant Bluff-Luton.
Freshman Blake Fox earned his spot in the 120-pound finals and his 50th win of the year with a 4-3 victory over Webster City’s Carson Doolittle. A reversal late in the third provided the winning points for Fox.
Senior Nicholas Fox clinched the team title with a win at 170 pounds over Kellen Moore from Forest City. He is now a four-time finalist, while Anders Kittleson and Tucker Stangel join them.
Kittleson picked up his 50th win with a 3-1 decision over Matt Beem of Glenwood, while Stangel moved to 39-0 with a 7-2 decision vs. Michael Macias of Davenport Assumption.
Carter West, Isaiah Fenton and CJ Walrath all secured their spots in Saturday’s finals with victories. West is now 50-1 on the year, while Fenton is 38-0 and Walrath 55-0. West was a runner-up last year, Fenton finished seventh and Walrath is a defending state champion.
Walrath has gone 110-0 the last two years and is 159-1 over the past three.
3A: Waverly-Shell Rock builds lead as Linn-Mar makes run
Throughout the regular season, many saw Linn-Mar as a potential threat to break up the party between Waverly-Shell Rock, Southeast Polk and Bettendorf.
Well, the Lions came out roaring on Friday in Class 3A, but it might not be enough to overtake the Go-Hawks.
Entering Saturday, Waverly-Shell Rock sits atop the team standings with 152 points. Linn-Mar is second with 128 followed by Southeast Polk, Bettendorf, Iowa City High and Fort Dodge.
Unbeaten defending state champion Ryder Block, Bas Diaz, unbeaten Danny Diaz and heavyweight Jake Walker all secured spots in the finals. The Go-Hawks did lose defending state champion McCrae Hagarty, as the future Iowa State Cyclone bowed out of his semifinal match when he injured shoulder proved too much to overcome.
Linn-Mar also has four in the finals in Brayden Parke, Kane Naaktgeboren, Grant Kress and Tate Naaktgeboren, while Southeast Polk went 0-4 and will be without a champion this year.
Bettendorf has Jake Knight, Iowa City High features Cale Seaton, Gabe Arnold and Ben Kueter, while Fort Dodge advanced Dru Ayala, Damarion Ross and Dreshaun Ross.
Kueter, a three-time unbeaten prep, was finally pushed longer than 14 seconds, but still earned a first period pin vs. Ayden Hoag from Le Mars in the semis. Arnold, meanwhile claimed his second fall in three matches vs. West Des Moines Valley’s Chase Hutchinson.
Some of the finals could determine the race as Block meets Kane Naaktgeboren, Ross faces Danny Diaz and Arnold battles Tate Naaktgeboren.
