Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

Postseason wrestling got underway in Class 1A last week with 16 sectional meets across the state.

With spots at the state tournament on the line things take a big step forward on Saturday.

Eight district meets will produce the 16 wrestlers at each weight class that are headed for the 1A state meet next week at Wells Fargo Arena.

We take a quick look at what to watch for from Your Prep Sports area athletes in the Class 1A district meets on Saturday.

Class 1A, District 1 Meet

When: Saturday, 11 a.m.

Where: Cascade

Ranked teams: None

What to watch: West Branch hasn’t had a state qualifier since Drew Finnegan in 2016 and hasn’t sent more than one wrestler to Des Moines since sending three in 2014.

The Bears can change that on Saturday.

West Branch has a pair of top-10 wrestlers seeking their first ever trips to Des Moines in sophomores Lincoln Edwards and Logan Wright.

Edwards is ranked fifth at 113 pounds while Wright is ranked ninth at 220.

West Branch was much improved as a team in 2022 and has already taken big steps forward as a program this season.

Sending its talented sophomore duo to the state tournament would be another big accomplishment for a program on the rise.

Who to watch: Wright has emerged as one of the top young big men in Class 1A.

The sophomore 220-pounder owns a 42-6 record is ranked ninth and has won River Valley Conference and sectional titles in his last two meets.

Wright opens district competition with perhaps his biggest challenge right out of the gate in the form of eighth-ranked Maquoketa Valley sophomore Brady Davis (34-4).

Davis was pinned by Cascade junior Cade Rausch (31-16) in the sectional title match setting up battle of ranked wrestlers in the district semifinal.

Weight class to watch: All signs point to a third meeting this season between top-five ranked River Valley Conference rivals Brody Brisker and Edwards in the 113-pound title match.

Fifth-ranked Edwards (28-3) opens with Dyersville Beckman freshman Jake Schmidt (23-18) in the opening round while fourth-ranked Brisker (43-1) gets MFL Mar-Mac freshman Keith Anderson (16-16) in the semifinals.

Brisker has won the previous two meetings with Edwards this season including a second-period pin in the sectional final last Saturday.

Ranked wrestlers

106:     No. 3 Brock Morris (Cascade) Fr.

No. 9 Eric Flores (Clayton Ridge) Jr.

No. 10 Kale McQuillen (Wilton) Fr.

No. 11 Rowdy Neighbor (Alburnett) Fr.

113:     No. 4 Brody Brisker (Wilton) Soph.

No. 5 Lincoln Edwards (West Branch) Soph.

120:     No. 6 Preston Klosterman (Alburnett) Fr.

No. 7 Jordan Dusenberry (Wilton) Fr.

126:     No. 6 Nick Schmidt (Dyersville Beckman) Sr.

No. 8 Ethan Gast (Durant) Sr.

No. 9 Blaine McGraw (Alburnett) Jr.

132:     No. 12 Brody Neighbor (Alburnett) Jr.

138:     No. 5 Cael Bridgewater (North Linn) Jr.

145:     No. 8 Carson Klostermann (Alburnett) Jr.

152:     No. 2 Gabe McGeough (MFL Mar-Mac) Sr.

No. 9 Gunnar Keeney (Alburnett) Jr.

No. 10 Michael Schaul (Maquoketa Valley) Sr.

160:     No. 9 Karter Decker (MFL Mar-Mac) Jr.

170:     No. 12 Kaden Shirk (Wilton) Jr.

195:     No. 2 Cayden Miller (Midland) Sr.

No. 5 Owen Huehnergarth (Dyersville Beckman) Sr.

220:     No. 8 Brady Davis (Maquoketa Valley) Soph.

No. 9 Logan Wright (West Branch) Soph.

285:     No. 5 Cody Fox (East Buchanan) Soph.

Class 1A, District 7 Meet

When: Saturday, Noon

Where: Wapello

Ranked teams: No. 3 Lisbon; No. 8 New London

What to watch: Like its River Valley Conference rival West Branch, Regina has taken big steps forward as a program this season.

The Regals would like nothing more than to add an exclamation point on what has already been a year of great growth.

Regina has five district qualifiers led by a trio of returning state qualifiers in seniors Sam Aitchison and Aidan Udell and junior Ronan Poynton.

All five Regals competing on Saturday have a legit shot to advance.

Junior Christopher Waikel (29-10) has a daunting bracket at 182-pounds with a pair of ranked wrestlers but proved he was a contender with an upset of tenth-ranked Jamien Moore of Lisbon in the sectional final.

Senior Caden Shetler (29-15) has an equally challenging bracket at 220-pounds with fourth-ranked Jonah Clark (42-1) of WACO and No. 10 Connor Reed (38-4) of Sigourney the favorites to advance.

Who to watch: Udell (32-2) is hoping for a fourth postseason matchup with third-ranked Lisbon senior Max Kohl (37-3) in the past two seasons but will have his hands full in the his semifinal match with eighth-ranked Jack Clarahan (44-3) of Sigourney.

Udell won a 12-3 major decision over Clarahan in the finals of the Regina Invitational in December and both of the other two losses for Clarahan have come to Aiden Zook of North Tama who also handed Udell won of his two losses this season.

With a semifinal win Udell would like get another crack at Kohl who has won three postseason matches over the Regina senior the past two seasons including a 4-2 win the sectional final last week.

Weight class to watch: The battle for the two state meet spots at 195 should be one of the best of the day in Wapello.

Three ranked wrestlers will battle for the top two spots with Regina junior Ronan Poynton (32-5) in the mix for a return trip to Des Moines.

Poynton faces Van Buren senior and No. 12 ranked Brant Tedrow (25-7) in the semifinals.

Tedrow took out seventh-ranked Cade Streigle of Sigourney at the sectional meet before falling to Trent Wilkerson (47-6) of New London in the sectional finals.

No. 11 Wilkerson will face Lisbon sophomore Indy Ferguson in the semifinals.

None of the matches at 195 pounds will be easy on Saturday with the two state qualifiers certainly earning their trip to state.

Ranked wrestlers

106:     No. 5 Dalton Ervin (Moravia) Sr.

No. 6 Reenah Utterback (Sigourney) Fr.

113:     No. 6 Easton Schlabaugh (Highland) Jr.

120:     No. 2 Brandon Paez (Lisbon) Jr.

No. 10 Aiden Golston (Moravia) Soph.

126:     No. 1 Marcel Lopez (New London) Sr.

No. 3 Quincy Happel (Lisbon) Sr.

132:     No. 11 Paul DeJong (North Mahaska) Jr.

138:     No. 3 Quinten Aney (Mediapolis) Sr.

No. 6 Cade Siebrecht (Lisbon) Sr.

145:     No. 12 Louden Huisenga (WACO) Fr.

152:     No. 3 Dominic Lopez (New London) Jr.

No. 5 Lincoln Holub (Lisbon) Sr.

160:     No. 12 Cade Molyneux (Sigourney) Sr.

170:     No. 3 Max Kohl (Lisbon) Sr.

No. 6 Aidan Udell (Regina) Sr.

No. 8 Jack Clarahan (Sigourney) Jr.

182:     No. 5 Josh Glendening (New London) Jr.

No. 10 Jamien Moore (Lisbon) Sr.

No. 12 Aiden Schuster (Sigourney) Sr.

195:     No. 9 Ronan Poynton (Regina) Jr.

No. 11 Trent Wilkerson (New London) Jr.

No. 12 Brant Tedrow (Van Buren) Sr.

220:     No. 4 Jonah Clark (WACO) Sr.

            No. 10 Connor Reed (Sigourney) Sr.

285:     No. 4 Wyatt Smith (Lisbon) Jr.

No. 12 Trace Goemaat (North Mahaska) Jr.

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