Breaking Down the Class 1A State Wrestling Meet
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
The state wrestling tournament gets underway on Wednesday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines and Class 1A is the final session of the opening day with action in 1A starting at 6 p.m.
There will be plenty of Your Prep Sports area wrestlers competing in the 1A tournament with West Branch qualifying a school-record nine wrestlers and Regina sending three wrestlers to the 1A state meet.
Before the action gets rolling at the four-day state meet that concludes on Saturday evening we take a quick look at the Class 1A meet with a focus on area wrestlers.
The Wrestlers
Area qualifiers/Opening round opponents
106 – No. 12 Ethan Humphrey (29-2) Fr., West Branch vs. Connor Sullivan (27-25) Fr., Nashua-Plainfield
120 – No. 10 Lincoln Edwards (26-5) Sr., West Branch vs. Sam Dominick (24-9) Fr., Woodbury Central
126 – Carter Slager (20-17) Soph., Regina vs. No. 10 Owen Adlfinger (43-9) Jr., Wilton
132 – No. 12 Logan Christoffel (30-6) Soph., West Branch vs. Chance Christensen (20-9) Soph., Riceville
138 – Cash Hatfield (36-14) Soph., Regina vs. No. 12 Dawson Bell (42-6) Sr., Jesup
144 – Auron Marsh (17-8) Sr., West Branch vs. Brenner Sullivan (38-13) Soph., Woodbine
157 – Cale Seydel (25-5) Sr., West Branch vs. Will Buckholdt (33-13) Jr., Underwood
175 – Will Aitchison (11-7) Jr., Regina vs. Jordan Martin-England (41-7) Jr., Lenox
190 – Tate Frantz (28-9) Jr., West Branch vs. Bryce Wiskus (34-8) Sr., Carroll Kuemper
215 – Quintyn Rocha (28-7) Sr., West Branch vs. Carson Edney (34-9) Soph., Logan-Magnolia
Area qualifiers/Second round opponents
165 – No. 6 Cooper Gates (35-3) Soph., West Branch vs. Jacob Rystrom (35-15) Sr., Shenandoah/Clay Wilgenbusch (33-9) Jr., East Buchanan winner
285 – No. 5 Logan Wright (31-3) Sr., West Branch vs. Cooper Marvel (14-5) Sr., Southwest Iowa/Kael Hanig (19-12) Sr., Mason City Newman winner
Undefeated Wrestlers
106 – Hayden Schwab (34-0) Fr., Don Bosco
113 – Gavin Landers (41-0) Fr., Denver
126 – Jesse Lewis (42-0) Jr., West Sioux
132 – Tanner Arjes (43-0) Sr., North Butler
138 – Blake Allen (17-0) Sr., Underwood
138 – Dylan Stein (47-0) Jr., Lenox
144 – Corbin Reisz (43-0) Jr., Logan-Magnolia
144 – Kolt Knaack (43-0) Jr., North Tama
157 – Kyler Knaack (24-0) Jr., Don Bosco
175 – Titus Evans (27-0) Sr., Nashua-Plainfield
190 – MaKade Bloker (36-0) Sr., North Butler
190 – Louden Huisenga (34-0) Jr., WACO
285 – Mason Knipp (34-0) Sr., Waterloo Columbus
Returning State Champions
Current Weight Class, Wrestler, School, 2023 Championship Weight Class
120 – Jayden Rinken, Jr., Nashua-Plainfield, 106
120 – Cael Morrow, Sr., Akron-Westfield, 113
138 – Blake Allen, Sr., Underwood, 138
157 – Kyler Knaack, Jr., Don Bosco, 152
285 – Mason Knipp, Sr., Waterloo Columbus, 220
First Round Matches to Watch
After going 0-2 in his state meet debut last season at 126 pounds Regina sophomore Cash Hatfield will be seeking his first career state meet win on Wednesday.
Hatfield (36-14) will have his hands full in his 138-pound opening round contest against No. 12 Dawson Bell (42-6) of Jesup.
Hatfield will attempt to use last season’s experience to his advantage on Thursday after dropping a pair of tight matches in his first state tournament experience last season.
The Regina sophomore is coming off a runner-up finish at the district meet after dropping an 8-0 major decision to seventh-ranked Gabriel Brisker of Wilton in the championship match.
Wrestler to Watch
The biggest of the nine West Branch qualifiers senior heavyweight Logan Wright has been one of the biggest reasons for the ascent of the West Branch program the past few seasons.
A three-time state qualifier the Bears’ recent surge toward the top of Class 1A has coincided with the success of Wright who finished eighth at the state meet at 220 pounds as a sophomore in 2022.
Wright missed a medal last season going 2-2 at 220 pounds and will look to return to the medal stand this year in his first trip to state at 285 pounds.
Fifth-ranked Wright (37-3) is coming off a district title last week and has now won nine matches in a row since a loss to third-ranked Aiden Salow of Maquoketa Valley on January 20.
Wright earned a bye and will face the winner of the opening-round match between Cooper Marvel (14-5) of Southwest Iowa and Mason City Newman senior Kael Hanig (19-12) in the second round.
Wright could face sixth-ranked Gage Jorgenson (25-4) of Emmetsburg in the quarterfinals.
Weight Class to Watch
West Branch sophomore Cooper Gates made a splash in his state tournament debut last season finishing eighth at 152 pounds as a freshman.
Gates returns to state this season ranked sixth at 165-pound and will look to be a major player in what could be a wide-open bracket.
John McGill (40-1) of Colfax-Mingo is the top-seed in the 165-pound bracket and won an 11-2 major decision over Gates at the District 8 meet last week.
Gates (35-3) earned a bye and will face the winner of Jacob Rystrom (35-15) of Shenandoah and Clay Wilgenbusch (33-9) of East Buchanan in the second round.
With a win Gates would likely set up a quarterfinal matchup with third-ranked Andrew Kimaball of Don Bosco (32-5).
The Teams
District Champions (State Qualifiers)
Hinton (8); West Branch (9); Don Bosco (10); Logan-Magnolia (7); Woodbury Central (X); Nashua-Plainfield (10); West Hancock (7); Riverside (8); Alburnett (11); Jesup (9); Interstate 35 (5); Wilton (10)
Area Teams (State Qualifiers)
West Branch (9); Regina (3)
2023 Top 5 Team Finishers – 1. Don Bosco 165; 2. Wilton 139; 3. Nashua-Plainfield 112; 4. Alburnett 111.5; 5. Waterloo Columbus 100.5
Last 5 Team Champs
2023 – Don Bosco
2022 – Don Bosco
2021 – Don Bosco
2020 – Don Bosco
2019 – Don Bosco
What to Watch in the Team Race
Perennial power Don Bosco is seeking to become the first team in state history to win a sixth consecutive state title and enters as the favorite.
The top-ranked Dons have 10 ranked wrestlers highlighted a trio of top-ranked wrestlers.
Second-ranked Alburnett and third-ranked Wilton should be among the teams battling for top-three finishes along with Jesup and Underwood.
West Branch finished 27th last season with 32 points and should improve on both of those numbers this season behind a school-record nine qualifiers.
The Bears have five ranked wrestlers with Ethan Humphrey 12th at 106 pounds, Lincoln Edwards 10th at 120 pounds and Logan Christoffel 12th at 132 pounds to go with Gates and Wright.
Regina has three qualifiers as 175-pound junior Will Aitchison and 126-pounder Carter Slager joining Hatfield.
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