Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

DES MOINES – In a matter of hours the matchups for championship Saturday at the state wrestling tournament will be set.

While the big show is always Saturday night at Wells Fargo the Friday night semifinals offer some exciting matchups with Your Prep Sports area athletes set to compete in some of the best semifinal showdowns in any class.

Here are five semifinal matches featuring Your Prep Sports area athletes to keep a close eye on Friday evening.

Ashton Barker (West High) vs. Mickey Griffith (Des Moines Lincoln)

One of the most exciting semifinal matchups across all classes features the lone remaining unbeaten at 170 pounds in Barker and last year’s 170-pound champion in Griffith.

Third-ranked Barker (14-0) has been a beast all season and hadn’t had a match last six minutes until an 19-11 win over Norwalk’s Tristen Duncan in the quarterfinals.

An Iowa State recruit, Barker is seeking his first ever state finals appearance after place third at 170 each of the past two seasons.

Griffith (24-1) is 59-3 over the past two seasons and advanced to the semifinals with a 10-0 major decision over Andrew Reed of Southeast Polk.

The lone loss for Griffith this season was a 6-4 sudden victory loss to No. 2 Caleb Helgeson of Johnston in the district final.

Barker and Griffith met once last season with Griffith earning a 7-5 decision.

Graham Gambrall (West High) vs. Aiden Riggins (Waverly-Shell Rock)

Another one vs. three matchup that features a defending state champion and an unbeaten wrestler.

Third-ranked Gambrall (10-2) is the defending champ after winning the 145-pound title a year ago while Riggins owns a perfect 32-0 slate this season that includes a 11-2 major decision over Gambrall back on January 23.

Riggins is 112-5 in his career and is seeking another step up the podium after placing third as a freshman at 106 and runner-up last season to West High’s Hunter Garvin at 132.

An Oregon State signee, Gambrall will end his career a four-time medalist and is seeking a second consecutive gold.

Ben Kueter (City High) vs. Tanner Spyksma (Waukee)

Kueter has been a machine in back-to-back pins to open the state tournament and will face his toughest test to date in seventh-ranked Spyksma (19-4) who is coming off an impressive quarterfinal win.

After being pinned by fourth-ranked Gabe Hemsted of Carlisle in the district title match last week Spyksma got revenge with an 11-7 win in the quarterfinals Friday morning.

It has been that type of season for the Waukee senior who was 24-21 as a junior a year ago and went 1-2 at the state meet.

Top-ranked Kueter (9-0) brings a 33-0 career record into the semifinals and has looked like a man on a mission in consecutive pins over Victor Bird and Cade Sheedy.

Hunter Garvin (West High) vs. Carter Martinson (Southeast Polk)

Garvin (14-0) is seeking to become a three-time finalist after finishing runner-up as a freshman at 120 and winning the 132-pound title last season.

The junior has followed up a dominant regular season with an impressive state meet, posting a 20-3 tech fall in the opener and a third-period pin of Ankeny sophomore Jace Anderson in the quarterfinals.

Martinson (21-5) is chasing his first trip to the state finals after placing third at 138 pounds last season.

The junior lost the district championship match to fourth-ranked Jackson Helmkamp of Ankeny Centennial last week but has regroup at state, avenging a regular season loss to fifth-ranked Owen Helgeson of Johnston with a 2-1 win in the quarterfinals.

Hayden Taylor (Solon) vs. Allen Catour (Davenport Assumption)

Taylor has continued his string of dominance that dates back to his freshman season in 2019 with a pair of state tournament wins to reach the 160-pound semifinals.

A two-time champion Taylor is seeking to become the 93^rd wrestler in state history with three titles this season and enters the semifinals with a 109-match winning streak.

Fifth-ranked Catour (21-5) has reached the semifinals in his first season in Iowa after transferring to Assumption from Illinois.

Catour advanced with a 6-4 win over previously unbeaten and eighth-ranked Sheldon-South O’Brien freshman Jarrett Roos in the quarterfinals.

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