Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

The Wrestlers

Area Qualifiers/Opening Round Opponents

126 – No. 3 Hayden Taylor (47-2) Fr., Solon vs. Cael Ihle (35-5) Soph., Gilbert

132 – No. 6 Zeb Gnida (37-9) Jr., Solon vs. Stone Schmitz (31-14) Fr., Union

152 – No. 4 Zack Bevans (44-5) Sr., Solon vs. Cody Wallace (36-9) Sr., PCM

160 – Andy Brokaw (37-11) Sr., Solon vs. No. 6 Justin McCunn (44-2) Jr., Red Oak

170 – No. 9 Jax Flynn (43-5) Jr., Solon vs. Frank Vondrak (36-8) Sr., Sioux City Heelan

220 – No. 3 Mike Hoyle (43-1) Sr., Solon vs. Wyatt Scheidel (27-13) Jr., Crestwood

Returning State Champions

Current Weight/Wrestler/2017 Championship Weight

113 – Matthew Lewis, Soph., Centerville (106)

126 – Andrew Flora, Sr., ADM (113)

182 – Lucas Roland, Sr., PCM (170)

195 – Julien Broderson, Sr., Davenport Assumption (182)*

Undefeated Wrestlers

120 – Caleb Fuessley (39-0) Sr., Center Point-Urbana

126 – Andrew Flora (35-0) Sr., ADM

126 – Kain Luensman (39-0) Soph., Monticello

132 – Eric Faught (34-0) Sr., Clear Lake

138 – Jarod Kadel (39-0) Sr., Columbus

138 – Jack Thomsen (43-0) Jr., Union

145 – Joey Busse (43-0) Sr., Humboldt

170 – Paul Ryan (39-0) Sr., Mount Vernon

170 – Sage Walker (44-0) Jr., Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont

182 – Kyler Fisher (25-0) Sr., Southeast Valley 

182 – Tristin Westphal-Edwards (39-0) Sr., Washington

195 – Julien Broderson (49-0), Sr., Davenport Assumption

285 – Spencer Trenary (46-0), Sr., Clarion-Goldfield-Dows

Who to Watch

After early exits from the state meet each of the past two seasons Solon senior Mike Hoyle returns to Wells Fargo Arena older, bigger, more experienced and ready to end his career on a high note.

Hoyle went 1-2 in each of his first two state meet appearances dropping his final two matches at 182-pounds last season after a 6-5 opening round win.

This season Hoyle bumped up to 220 pounds and has been dominant while securing a third consecutive state meet berth.

Hoyle (43-1) has recorded 32 wins via fall or tech fall this season and brings a 14-match winning streak into the state meet after his only loss of the season to 1A top-ranked Garet Sims of Iowa Valley.

Hoyle would like to make his first state medal a gold but will have to navigate a tough 220-pound field just to reach the title match.

Wyatt Scheidel (27-13) of Crestwood upset fifth-ranked Lane Albertsen of Union on his way to the district title and will meet Hoyle in the opening round on Thursday.

Sixth-ranked Seth Adrian (48-2) of Davenport Assumption is a likely quarterfinal opponent while top-ranked Cody Fisher (40-1) of Woodward-Granger could be waiting in the semifinals.

Weight Class to Watch

Entering the final season of his career Zack Bevans had one tournament victory to his credit.

The 152-pound Solon senior has won each of his last five tournaments and brings a 20-match winning streak into the state meet on Thursday.

Prior to this season the only individual tournament title for Bevans was a championship at the Regina Invite.

He won that tournament again in December and hasn’t slowed down since.

Bevans (44-5) won Solon’s Ed Hadenfeldt Invitational last month and added conference, sectional and district titles in successive weekends.

None of those tournament titles have been a fluke. Bevans has navigated challenging fields in all of his tournament wins downing ranked wrestlers in the title match in each of his final three tournaments.

Bevans has navigated a challenging schedule with all five of his losses coming to ranked foes while racking up seven wins over ranked wrestlers this season including four over ranked 2A opponents.

Just as he has all season Bevans will have a loaded bracket to contend with at state.

Fourth-ranked Bevans opens against PCM senior Cody Wallace (36-9) and could meet second-ranked Easton Graff (44-3) of Sergeant Bluff-Luton in the quarterfinals.

Of the four possible semifinal opponents for Bevans three are ranked including No. 3 Kyler Rieck (38-2) of Spirit Lake Park .

The Teams

District Champions (State Qualifiers)

Van Meter (7), West Delaware (8), Clarion-Goldfield-Dows (6), Sergeant Bluff-Luton (5), New Hampton/Turkey Valley (4), PCM (7), Spirit Lake Park (6), Solon (6)

2018 Top 5 Team Finishers – 1. Dubuque Wahlert 94; 2. New Hampton/Turkey Valley 80; 3. South Tama 75; 4. Ballard 69; 5. PCM 62.5

Last 5 Team Champs

2018 – Dubuque Wahlert

2017 – Solon

2016 – Creston/Orient-Macksburg

2015 – Mediapolis

2014 – Davenport Assumption

What to Watch in the Team Race ­

Dubuque Wahlert brought four wrestlers to Des Moines last February but walked away with four medals including two champions and its first state title.

The Eagles aren’t going to repeat this season leaving the 2A door wide open and there are plenty of teams ready to take advantage.

Prairie City-Monroe, Union, West Delaware, Sergeant Bluff-Luton and Solon all hoping to have a say in who walks away with the 2A title this season.

Top-ranked PCM was fifth a year ago and sends seven wrestlers to state second only to the eight qualifiers for No. 3 West Delaware.

Second-ranked Union also has seven qualifiers including a pair of top-ranked individuals.

West Delaware has the depth to be a factor with all eight of its qualifiers ranked in the top 10 but none are inside the top five.

Solon hopes to sneak into the title conversation with its six qualifiers that include five ranked wrestlers and three that are in the top four.

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