Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

The Wrestlers

Area Qualifiers/Opening Round Opponents

160 – No. 2 Ryan Schott (44-2) Sr. Regina vs. Luke Jones (43-8) Sr. Central Decatur

170 – No. 7 Nick Milder (26-4) Jr. Regina vs. No. 4 Cael Krueger (44-2) Jr. Denver

Returning State Champions

Current Weight/Wrestler/2017 Championship Weight

113 – Adam Allard, Soph. West Sioux (106)

120 – Cael Happel, Soph., Lisbon (113)

126 – Alex Thomsen, Sr., Underwood (126)*

145 – Chance Throndson, Sr., Riceville (132)

152 – Kaleb Krall, Jr., Wapsie Valley (138)

160 – John Henrich, Jr., Akron-Westfield (160)

*-Denotes multi-time champion

Undefeated Wrestlers

113 – Adam Allard (42-0) Soph., West Sioux

160 – John Henrich (40-0) Jr., Akron-Westfield

170 – Gabe Pauley (52-0) Jr., AHSTW

182 – Hunter Connor (40-0) Sr., Louisa-Muscatine

182 – Logan Schumacher (48-0) Sr., Martensdale St. Marys

195 – Hunter DeJong (44-0) Sr., Sibley-Ocheyedan

220 – Kaleb Reeves (48-0) Sr., Sigourney-Keota

220 – Nick Gaes (48-0) Jr., Alta-Aurelia

285 – Brian Sadler (40-0) Sr., Jesup

Who to Watch

Regina senior Ryan Schott got his first state meet win in his first ever state meet match last season.

What followed were two consecutive losses that made the first state meet experience a fairly short one for Schott.

He intends to stick around for a little longer this season.

Schott (44-2) enters ranked second at 160 pounds and faces unranked Luke Jones of Central Decatur in the opening round.

A possible quarterfinal matchup with sixth-ranked Chance Rice of Colfax-Mingo awaits with unbeaten defending state champion John Henrich (40-0) looming on the same side of the bracket.

Schott has shown the ability to compete with the best this season and will attempt to end his career on a high note with his first state medal.

Weight Class to Watch

Whoever emerges from the bottom of the bracket to reach the 170-pound semifinal will have certainly earned it.

Four of the top seven wrestlers at 170 are in the bottom quadrant of the bracket and have combined record of 165-10 this season.

Top-ranked and unbeaten Gabe Pauley of AHSTW opens with sixth-ranked Gunnar Grunsted of Panorama while Regina’s seventh-ranked Nick Milder and No. 4 Cael Krueger (44-2) of Denver meet in another top-10 first round

tilt.

The winners will battle for a semifinal spot.

Don’t Miss This

Underwood senior Alex Thomsen joins fellow 126-pound senior Brody Teske of Fort Dodge as the two wrestlers attempting to join a select group of four-time state champion.

Entering this season 25 wrestlers have won four-state titles but that number could grow by two on Saturday evening.

Thomsen brings a 186-1 career record into the state meet and capped unbeaten seasons with state titles in each of his first three seasons.

A Nebraska recruit ranked sixth-nationally at 126 pounds by Intermat, Thomsen won a 113-pound title as a freshman before capturing the 126-pound title the past two seasons.

The lone blemish on the career mark for Thomsen was a loss to Teske earlier this season that he later avenged.

The Teams

District Champions (State Qualifiers)

Missouri Valley (5); Don Bosco (9); Lake Mills (6); Pekin (5); AHSTW (6); Denver (9); Woodbury Central (6); Lisbon (9)

2017 Top 5 Team Finishers

1. Lisbon 97.5; 2. Don Bosco 76; 3. Sibley-Ocheyedan 75; 4. Underwood 62; 5. Alburnett 57.5

Last 5 team Champs

2017 – Lisbon

2016 – Alburnett

2015 – Alburnett

2014 – Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont

2013 – Alburnett 

What to watch In the Team Race

Perennial powers Lisbon and Don Bosco battled it out for the team title last season with the Lions pulling away for its first title since 1993.

It could come down to those two once again battling for Class 1A supremacy.

Top-ranked Lisbon and third-ranked Don Bosco each qualified nine wrestlers and have eight ranked in the top 10 as they set up for another tussle at the top of 1A.

Don Bosco won six of seven titles from 2006 to 2012 but last season’s runner-up performance was its first top four finish since.

Lisbon and Don Bosco each have one top-ranked wrestler.

Don’t count second-ranked Denver out of the championship mix either.

The Cyclones match Lisbon and Don Bosco with nine qualifiers and eight ranked wrestlers and have two wrestles ranked second in their weight class.