Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

DES MOINES – City High has a pair of well-known, must-watch hammers at the top of their lineup in nationally ranked Iowa recruits Ben Kueter and Gabe Arnold.

On the opening day of the Class 3A state tournament on Wednesday it was the two lighter weight stars in the Little Hawk line that got City High off to a strong start.

Top-ranked Cale Seaton and No. 3 Kael Kurtz each posted impressive second-round wins on Wednesday as City High sent four wrestlers to the Class 3A quarterfinals in a strong opening session at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

“The moment isn’t that big you just have to go out there and wrestle,” Kurtz said. “I have to wrestle where I know that I am good at, I have to make sure I put myself in good positions and I just have to win. No matter how many points I score I just have to win.”

Kurtz and Seaton are both two-time medalists and the juniors return to Wells Fargo Arena as upperclassmen seeking more than just a spot on the medal stand.

Top-ranked Seaton returned from injury to place third at the Class 3A, District 1 meet last week, injury defaulting out of his final two matches.

Seaton looked, and felt, healthy in his state meet opener at 126 pounds, an impressive 13-2 major decision over Landon Reisen of Dubuque Hempstead.

“I feel really good,” Seaton said. “I feel really quick, really fast. I feel good.”

Seaton (34-4), who missed nearly two weeks with an injury sustained at the Bean City Duals, quickly built a 9-1 lead in the first period in the win over Reisen and will face ninth-seed Jashua Anglo (36-8) of Johnston in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

“It’s awesome to have the opportunity to even compete at this,” Seaton said. “We take it for granted sometimes so being able to compete and be on the mat it’s huge. It sucks when you can’t compete.”

Kurtz (35-5) was just as impressive in his 132-pound second-round match needing just 1:13 to pin Urbandale freshman Henry Bagby.

“This is a big meet but I understand it’s going to be 0-0 each match,” Kurtz said. “I just have to go out there and wrestle hard.”

Kurtz scored his first takedown less than 30 seconds into the win over Bagby and didn’t waste any time securing the pin.

“At this point in the season there is no reason to risk putting myself in bad positions,” Kurtz said. “I have to make sure I am staying on top all match.”

Kurtz will face No. 13 Tyle Lee (40-9) of Cedar Rapids Prairie in a quarterfinal on Thursday after Lee pinned fourth-seeded Logan Trenary of Southeast Polk.

All four of the in-state losses for Kurtz this season have come to 132-pound quarterfinals in a bracket that is shaping up to be one of the more entertaining in 3A.

“I am just glad early in the season I got the opportunity to wrestle everybody,” Kurtz said. “I have to go out tomorrow and make sure I am in control of the match.”

Kueter and Arnold did their thing on Wednesday, continuing unbeaten seasons with dominating efforts in their openers.

Arnold pinned Kaden Phan of Clear Creek Amana in 44 seconds in a 182-pound second-round match.

Kueter needed just 14 seconds to pin Linn-Mar’s Griffin Schultz in a 220-pound second-round contest.

City High is tied with Dubuque Hempstead for 12^th in the Class 3A team standings with 29 points entering Thursday.

Class 3A State Meet

At Wells Fargo Arena Des Moines

Team scores (Top 20 area teams) – 1. Waverly-Shell Rock 55.5; 2. Southeast Polk 54; 3. Bettendorf 43.5; 4. Carlisle 40; 5. Ankeny 39.5; 6. Linn-Mar 39; 7. Ankeny Centennial 36; 8. Johnston 33; 8. Waukee Northwest 33; 10. Cedar Rapids Prairie 32.5; 11. North Scott 30; 12. Dubuque Hempstead 29; 12. City High 29; 14. Fort Dodge 28; 15. Pleasant Valley 27; 16. Bondurant-Farrar 21.5; 17. Norwalk 19; 18. Dallas Center-Grimes 18.5; 19. Ames 18; 20. West Des Moines Valley 17.5; 25. West High 15.5; 31. Clear Creek Amana 11; 40. Liberty High 4

Opening Round (Area athletes)

106 – Kendall Kurtz (City High) pinned Brennan Geers (Cedar Rapids Washington) 5:17

113 – Cody Vandermark (Ankeny Centennial) pinned Chris Davis (City High) 5:23

113 – Cale Nash (Clear Creek Amana) major dec. Shandrel Thompson (Johnston) 18-5

120 – JJ Maihan (Ankeny) tech. fall Jose Mendieta (Clear Creek Amana) 18-3

126 – Nolan Howell (Clear Creek Amana) dec. Kane Shimp (Cedar Falls) 10-4

132 – Cael Wiener (Ankeny Centennial) pinned Jay Halverson (Clear Creek Amana) 3:34

132 – Henry Bagby (Urbandale) pinned Braden Doyle (West High) 5:31

132 – Logan Gard (Dallas Center-Grimes) major dec. Tien Pham (Liberty High) 8-0

138 – Jake Mitchell (City High) dec. Levi Johnson (Spencer) 5-1

145 – Casey Kelley (Cedar Rapids Prairie) dec. Beck Arant (Clear Creek Amana) 6-4

145 – Nolan Riddle (Fort Madison) pinned Zach Fern (City High) 5:27

152 – Ethan Bibler (Waverly-Shell Rock) pinned Landon Bell (Liberty High) 1:17

160 – Hayden Lucas (Carlisle) pinned Ryan Ott (City High) 2:25

170 – Braylon Kammrad (Council Bluffs Lewis Central) major dec. Gavin Benton (Liberty High) 12-1

170 – Kaia Fox (Johnston) major dec. Benjamin Haughey (Clear Creek Amana) 12-3

182 – Kaden Phan (Clear Creek Amana) dec. Wyatt Weter (Newton) 13-7

195 – Ethan Williams (Clear Creek Amana) pinned Derek Hoerner (Western Dubuque) 3:34

195 – Vincenzo Lima (Liberty High) pinned Harrison Tripp (Norwalk) 4:00

Second Round (Area athletes)

106 – Alexander Pierce (West High) tech fall Kendall Kurtz (City High) 22-7

113 – Dru Ayala (Fort Dodge) pinned Cale Nash (Clear Creek Amana) 5:07

126 – Cale Seaton (City High) major dec. Landon Reisen (Dubuque Hempstead) 13-1

126 – Cody Trevino (Bettendorf) dec. Nolan Howell (Clear Creek Amana) 11-5

132 – Kael Kurtz (City High) pinned Henry Bagby (Urbandale) 1:13

138 – Koy Davidson (Fort Dodge) dec. Jake Mitchell (City High) 7-2

145 – Justin Avila (West High) pinned Aydan Cary (North Scott) :36

152 – Kyler Scranton (West High) dec. Logan Stotts (Waukee Northwest) 8-6 SV-1

182 – Gabe Arnold (City High) pinned Kaden Phan (Clear Creek Amana) :44

195 – Dreshaun Ross (Fort Dodge) pinned Ethan Williams (Clear Creek Amana) :52

195 – McCrae Hagarty (Waverly-Shell Rock) pinned Vinny Lima (Liberty High) 3:04

220 – Ben Kueter (City High) pinned Griffin Schultz (Linn-Mar) :14

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