Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

The Wrestlers

Area Qualifiers/Opening Round Opponents

160 – No. 1 Hayden Taylor (35-0) Jr. Solon vs. River Belger (24-10 Jr., West Burlington Notre Dame

220 – No. 10 Gage Marty (32-8) Jr., Solon vs. Tino Tamayo (24-13) Jr., Charles City

Returning State Champions

Current Weight/Wrestler (School)/2020 Championship Weight

113 – Camron Phetxoumphone (Webster City) Jr., 106

126 – Carter Fousek (Crestwood) Jr., 113

145 – Matthew Lewis (Centerville) Sr., 126

160 – Hayden Taylor (Solon) Jr., 145

182 – Adam Ahrendsen (Union) Sr., 160

Undefeated Wrestlers

113 – Anders Kittelson (Crestwood) Fr., 26-0

120 – McKinley Robbins (Greene County) Soph., 30-0

126 – Carter Fousek (Crestwood) Jr., 26-0

160 – Hayden Taylor (Solon) Jr., 35-0

160 – Jarrett Roos (Sheldon-South O’Brien) Fr., 40-0

160 – Wyatt Appleseth (Panorama) Sr., 43-0

170 – Carson Babcock (NH/TV) Sr., 42-0

170 – CJ Walrath (West Burlington Notre Dame) Soph., 45-0

170 – Jared Voss (West Delaware) 34-0

182 – Adam Ahrendsen (Union) Sr., 19-0

195 – Wyatt Voelker (West Delaware) Jr., 34-0

195 – Mason Askelsen (Ballard) Sr., 28-0

220 – Dylan Winkel (Central Lyon/George-Little Rock) Sr., 29-0

285 – Carson Petlon (West Delaware) Sr., 35-0

First-round Match to Watch

Gage Marty took the long way to the first state medal of his career last season dropping his opening round match before winning three of four consolation matches to secure a seventh-place finish at 195 pounds.

In his return trip to the state meet Marty can make it a little easier on himself with an opening round win.

Tenth-ranked Marty (32-8) will face unranked Tino Tamayo (24-13) of Charles City in the 220-pound opening round on Thursday.

Don’t be fooled by the 13 losses Tamayo is a formidable foe. The junior has lost 11 matches to ranked opponents with five of his losses coming to Crestwood senior Treyton Burnikel the most recent a second-period pin in the district title match.

Marty has faced his own challenging regular season schedule with all eight of his losses coming to ranked foes including four, all by decision to second-ranked Kobe Simon of West Liberty.

An opening round win would likely set Marty up with a quarterfinal showdown with third-ranked Crew Howard (44-1) of Clarinda.

Who to Watch

Who else would it be but Hayden Taylor?

Already one of the most accomplished wrestlers in Solon program history Taylor has a chance to put himself in rare company with a third consecutive state title.

After winning titles at 126 pounds as a freshman and 145 pounds last season as a sophomore Taylor enters the state meet with a 35-0 record and top-ranked at 160 pounds.

With a third consecutive state title this season Taylor would join a list of 93 wrestlers in state history with three state championships.

Taylor boasts as a career 138-2 record with both losses coming during his freshman season and brings a 107-match winning streak into the state meet.

As expected Taylor has been absolutely dominant throughout the season posting 22 pins and seven tech falls among his 35 wins.

Only one of the last 20 matches for Taylor has gone the distance, a 3-1 win over 1A second-ranked Cael Frost of Don Bosco.

Weight Class to Watch

Taylor is clearly the class of this bracket, and perhaps all of Class 2A, but the two-time defending state champion has several potential interesting matchups on his way to a 160-pound title.

It’s possible that Taylor faces back-to-back matches against unbeaten wrestlers on his way to his third straight state title.

A meeting with unbeaten freshman Jarrett Roos (40-0) of Sheldon is possible in the semifinals while second-ranked and unbeaten Wyatt Appleseth (43-0) of Panorama is a likely championship opponent.

Roos is ranked eighth this season and would face fifth-ranked Allen Catour (19-3) of Davenport Assumption in the quarterfinals if seeds hold.

Appleseth would certainly be a formidable title opponent.

The Panorama senior was third last season at 152 pounds, falling to eventual champion Will Esmoil of West Liberty 4-1 in the semifinals and is 124-6 over the past three seasons.

The Teams

District Champions (State Qualifiers)

West Delaware (11); Davenport Assumption (5); Osage (6); Bondurant-Farrar (5); Sergeant Bluff-Luton (5); Winterset (8); Crestwood (7); Independence (9)

2020 Top 5 Team Finishers – 1. Osage 85; 2. Union 78; 3. Centerville 66; 4. Solon 63; 5. West Delaware 62

Last 5 Team Champs

2020 – Osage

2019 – West Delaware

2018 – Dubuque Wahlert

2017 – Solon

2016 – Creston/Orient-Macksburg

What to Watch in the Team Race

There hasn’t been a repeat team champion in Class 2A since Ballard won back-to-back titles in 2008 and 2009 and that streak is likely to extend another year as West Delaware is a heavy favorite to overtake defending champion Osage for the top spot.

Top-ranked West Delaware is seeking its fourth state title overall and second in three seasons after winning the title in 2019.

The Hawks have nine ranked wrestlers among their 2A-leading 11 qualifiers and have five wrestlers ranked in the top five including a trio of top-ranked wrestlers.

West Delaware is balanced but really flexes its muscle at the upper weights with unbeaten and top-ranked wrestlers Jared Voss (34-0) at 170, Wyatt Voelker (34-0) at 195 and Carson Petlon (35-0) at 285.

Second-ranked Crestwood, defending champion Osage and Davenport Assumption are expected to battle for top three spots along with Union.

Crestwood has six ranked wrestlers among its seven qualifiers while Assumption has five ranked qualifiers.

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