Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

DES MOINES – The Gage Marty and West Lyon senior Easton Fleshman series that dated back to last season will end at an even two wins apiece.

Both wrestlers had a 3-1 win, both a victory at the state tournament.

Unfortunately for Marty the final and highest stakes meeting between the two cross-state rivals went to Fleshman.

An overtime escape resulted in a 2-1 tiebreaker victory for second-ranked Fleshman (47-1) in the Class 2A 285-pound state title match on Saturday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

“Those guys could wrestle 10 times and it might be five and five,” Solon coach Aarron Hadenfeldt said. “It didn’t go our way this time, it went our way the last time and that’s how it goes.”

The rivalry between the top two heavyweights in Class 2A began last season while both were wrestling at 220 pounds.

Fleshman won a 3-1 decision over Marty in the finals of the Herb Irgens Invitational in Ida Grove before Marty posted a pin of Fleshman in a state tournament consolation match.

This season those results were flipped.

Marty won 3-1 in Ida Grove last month with Fleshman returning the favor in the form of the tiebreaker win on Saturday.

The loss snapped a 17-match winning streak for top-ranked Marty (48-3) who closed the season 48-3.

“This isn’t the end of the world for Gage he’s going to go on to do bigger and better things later on,” Hadenfeldt said. “He will be able to look back on this and be proud of it and not be disappointed like he is now.”

The loss doesn’t overshadow what was a special season for Marty who secured a third consecutive state medal at a third different weight class.

Marty was seventh at 195 pounds as a sophomore and sixth at 220 pounds last season.

“What I am going to remember most about Gage is his work ethic and he’s super coachable,” Hadenfeldt said. “If you asked Gage to run through a wall he’s going to do it for you and I’ll miss that about Gage Marty.”

Class 2A State Wrestling Tournament

At Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines

Team scores (Top 10; area teams) – 1. West Burlington/Notre Dame 109; 2. Osage 108.5; 3. West Delaware 80.5; 4. Sergeant Bluff-Luton 79; 5. Vinton-Shellsburg 75; 31. Solon 21

Championship matches (Area wrestlers)

285 – Easton Fleshman (West Lyon) dec. Gage Marty (Solon) 2-1 TB 1

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