Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

DES MOINES – Exactly four weeks earlier, almost down to hour that he walked off the mat at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines on Saturday Cale Seaton thought his wrestling season was over.

“Four weeks ago today, probably around this time of night I dislocated my knee completely in a match against Jace Jaspers,” Seaton explained. “I tore my MCL, partially tore my ACL and ruptured by patellar and tore my meniscus.”

On Saturday night Seaton celebrated a state title.

Let that sink in.

28 days after the injury that will require surgery on Monday Seaton (37-4) capped an improbable comeback with a 4-3 decision over Ames sophomore Jabari Hinson in the Class 3A 126-pound title match.

“Unreal, it’s a miracle,” City High coach Cory Connell said. “I don’t know what else I can say. It’s a miracle.”

For two days following the injury Seaton, who was top-ranked and unbeaten against in-state competition at the time, believed his junior season was over.

At his doctor’s appointment on Tuesday following the injury Seaton got a sliver of hope.

He made the most of his opportunity this week, outscoring opponents 36-11 in four state-meet wins.

“We had an appointment two days later and we made a run for it,” Seaton said. “It’s the best decision I ever made.”

Seaton returned to the mat at the district meet where he won his first two matches to reach the championship and secure a spot at state before defaulting out.

A two-time third-place finisher at state Seaton finished out a state title run for the first time on Saturday under the most improbable of circumstances.

“His knee popped out in the first period, I knew it he knew it but we talked he just had to find a point,” Connell said. “He is good enough to win by one.”

Seaton never trailed in his title match win over Hinson but didn’t put things away until the final seconds.

Hinson was in on a shot early but one of only a few scramble scenarios for Seaton all week ended with a takedown for the City High standout.

“You take scores when you can get them, and that first scramble, I didn’t want to scramble that wasn’t in any sort of game plan but it’s the last match of the season and you have to do what you have to do and I came out on top,” Seaton said. “That was the one takedown I needed.”

Hinson evened the score with a reversal in the first period but a Seaton escape with 20 seconds remaining in the period gave him a 3-2 lead.

The two traded escapes over the final two periods as Seaton earned his second 4-3 win of the season over Hinson.

“It feels awesome after what I’ve gone through the last few weeks,” Seaton said. “I never thought that this would be possible a few weeks ago.”

Class 3A State Meet

At Wells Fargo Arena Des Moines

Team scores (Top 20 area teams) – 1. Waverly-Shell Rock 169; 2. Southeast Polk 153; 3. Bettendorf 149; 4. Linn-Mar 130; 5. City High 119.5; 6. Fort Dodge 110.5; 7. Johnston 104.5; 8. Waukee Northwest 103; 9. Carlisle 90.5; 10. Ankeny 89.5; 11. Bondurant-Farrar 83.5; 12. Ankeny Centennial 81.5; 13. Pleasant Valley 78; 14. North Scott 77; 15. Dubuque Hempstead 71; 16. Cedar Rapids Prairie 70; 17. Norwalk 69; 18. Ames 61; 19. West Des Moines Valley 60.5; 20. Indianola 44; 21. West High 38.5; 33. Clear Creek Amana 20; 43. Liberty High 8

Championship Matches (Area athletes only)

106 – Alexander Pierce (West High) dec. Tyler Harper (Norwalk) 10-7

126 – Cale Seaton (City High) dec. Jabari Hinson (Ames) 4-3

182 – Gabe Arnold (City High) dec. Tate Naaktgeboren (Linn-Mar) 2-1 TB-1

220 – Ben Kueter (City High) tech fall Joseph Lewis (Dubuque Hempstead) 19-4

Consolation Semifinal

132 – Kael Kurtz (City High) dec. Dalton Rowe (Bondurant-Farrar) 5-0

Third-place Match

132 – Jayce Luna (Bettendorf) dec. Kael Kurtz (City High) 5-2

Seventh-place Match

152 – Jack Lewis (Bondurant-Farrar) dec. Kyler Scranton (West High) 5-3 SV-1

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