Breaking Down the Class 3A State Wrestling Meet
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
The Class 3A state wrestling tournament gets underway on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.
There will be 30 wrestlers from the Your Prep Sports area competing at the four-day state tournament that concludes with championship session on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
Clear Creek Amana qualified an area-best 11 wrestlers for the 3A state meet with City High and West High each sending eight and Liberty High sending three.
Before the action gets underway on Wednesday in Des Moines we take a quick look at the Class 3A tournament with a focus on Your Prep Sports area athletes.
The Wrestlers
Area qualifiers/Opening round opponents
106 – Elder Mendieta (18-33) Fr., Clear Creek Amana vs. No. 9 Elijah Hyet (27-7) Soph., Dubuque Hempstead
106 – Charles Barnhouse (25-13) Fr., West High vs. Lucas Reeder (36-11) Soph., Pleasant Valley
113 – Jose Mendieta (30-20) Soph., Clear Creek Amana vs. Caleb Arroyo (25-11) Fr., Urbandale
113 – Kendall Kurtz (28-10) Jr., City High vs. Garrett Evans (8-4) Jr., Bettendorf
120 – No. 12 Matthew Tran (27-9) Fr., West High vs. Stoney Wood (23-14) Fr., Indianola
120 – No. 7 Cale Nash (43-4) Jr., Clear Creek Amana vs. Kaiden Rogers (24-13) Jr., Newton
120 – Chris Davis (23-15) Soph., City High vs. No. 9 Ajay Braddock (24-6) Soph., Boone
126 – Edgar Mhoon-Lopez (11-14) Sr., City High vs. Danny Cleveland (29-7) Soph., Sioux City East
126 – Malachi Clement (13-32) Fr., Clear Creek Amana vs. No. 11 Rylan Hilton (28-9) Fr., Indianola
138 – No. 9 Nolan Howell (39-14) Jr., Clear Creek Amana vs. Jaxon Brewer (27-21) Jr., Council Bluffs Lewis Central
138 – Campbell Janis (20-16) Soph., West High vs. Tate Turner (20-9) Sr., Norwalk
144 – Braden Doyle (19-12) Sr., Wet High vs. Rylee Brown (27-21) Soph., Fort Dodge
144 – Ryker Jones (36-15) Sr., Clear Creek Amana vs. Adam Cook (28-15) Sr., Cedar Rapids Xavier
144 – Jake Mitchell (26-11) Sr., City High vs. Will McDermott (33-15) Soph., North Scott
150 – Jack Stevens (39-14) Sr., Clear Creek Amana vs. Brady Jennings (30-11) Jr., Clinton
157 – Trace Robertson (25-24) Jr., Clear Creek Amana vs. No. 8 Nolan Riddle (39-6) Sr., Fort Madison
157 – Landon Bell (29-8) Soph., Liberty High vs. Daniel Zeoh (39-9) Sr., Des Moines East
175 – Gavin Benton (28-8) Sr., Liberty High vs. Mason Tilley (20-19) Jr., City High
190 – Ethan Williams (36-14) Sr., Clear Creek Amana vs. Wyatt Young (28-7) Jr., Cedar Rapids Washington
215 – Carson Nash (34-19) Sr., Clear Creek Amana vs. Colin Woods (20-12) Sr., Cedar Rapids Jefferson
285 – Vinnie Keller (25-26) Jr., Clear Creek Amana vs. Cory Arnett (24-10) Jr., Fort Madison
285 – Ashton Honore (18-13) Sr., West High vs. Carlos Andrade (11-6) Sr., Council Bluffs Lewis Central
Area qualifiers/Second round opponents
113 – No. 1 Alexander Pierce (32-1) Soph., West High vs. Kyler Simons (17-9) Fr., West Des Moines Dowling/Joey Cahill (24-19) Fr., Waukee Northwest winner
132 – No. 1 Cale Seaton (30-1) Sr., City High vs. Caden Ervin (32-14) Sr., Pleasant Valley/Carson Crigger (25-14) Sr., Waukee winner
138 – No. 3 Kael Kurtz (24-3) Sr., City High vs. Zeb Fitzgerald (18-10) Sr., West Des Moines Dowling/Gavin Doebel (20-11) Sr., Spencer winner
150 – No. 4 Justin Avila (33-3) Jr., West High vs. Jack Stevens (39-14) Sr., Clear Creek Amana vs. Brady Jennings (30-11) Jr., Clinton winner
157 – No. 1 Kael Voinovich (37-1) Sr., City High vs. Mekyver Hagarty (20-18) Soph., Waverly-Shell Rock/Dominic Tigner (32-9) Jr., Norwalk winner
175 – No. 7 Kyler Scranton (33-5) Sr., West High vs. Nic VanArkel (32-5) Sr., West Des Moines Valley/Chase Cournoyer (11-18) Jr., Pleasant Valley winner
215 – No. 3 Vincenzo Lima (29-2) Sr., Liberty High vs. Carson Nash (34-19) Sr., Clear Creek Amana/Colin Woods (20-12) Sr., Cedar Rapids Jefferson winner
Undefeated Wrestlers
106 – Weston Porter (32-0) Fr., Council Bluffs Lewis Central
113 – Tyler Harper (36-0) Sr., Norwalk
120 – Carter Pearson (35-0) Jr., Southeast Polk
144 – Kane Naaktgboren (33-0) Sr., Linn-Mar
175 – Maximus Magayna (41-0) Sr., Waterloo East
215 – Dreshaun Ross (43-0) Soph., Fort Dodge
215 – Andrew Price (3-0) Jr., West Des Moines Valley
285 – Andrew Herrera (14-0) Sr., Ames
Returning State Champions
Current Weight Class, Wrestler, School, 2023 Championship Weight Class
113 – Alexander Pierce, Soph., West High, 106
120 – Jake Knight, Soph., Bettendorf, 113
126 – Koufax Christensen, Sr., Waukee Northwest, 120
132 – Cale Seaton, Sr., City High, 126
138 – Carter Freeman, Sr., Waukee Northwest, 132
150 – Bas Diaz, Jr., Waverly-Shell Rock, 145
165 – Jacob Helgeson, Jr., Johnston, 152
175 – Maximus Magayna, Sr., Waterloo East, Class 1A 170
215 – Dreshaun Ross, Soph., Fort Dodge, 195
First Round Matches to Watch
Clear Creek Amana 120-pound junior Cale Nash (43-4) is seeking his first career state medal in his third consecutive trip to the state meet.
Nash will face Newton junior Kaiden Rogers (24-13) in the opening round at 120 pounds on Wednesday and the story isn’t so much the matchup but the fact Nash is wrestling in the opening round.
Seventh-ranked Nash didn’t receive one of the eight opening-round byes that go to the top eight seeds meaning the junior will get to work right away against first-time qualifier Rogers in the opening round.
Nash has been impressive all season and is coming off just his third loss of the season to second-ranked Jake Knight of Bettendorf in the district title match.
With a win in the opening-round match Nash would face No. 10 Reid Foster (26-7) of Bondurant-Farrar in the second round.
The 120-pound bracket is one of the toughest in the state this weekend with top-ranked Southeast Polk junior Carter Pearson (35-0) the top seed.
Knight is a returning state champion after winning the 113-pound title a year ago while third-ranked Fort Dodge senior Dru Ayala is a two-time runner-up.
Wrestler to Watch
In his state meet debut last season Alexander Pierce did more than just impress, he dominated on his way to becoming the third freshman state champion in West High history with a title at 106 pounds.
Pierce returns to the state meet this week top-ranked and top-seeded at 113 pounds and seeking to add to his title count.
It has been another season of dominance for Pierce (32-1) who brings a 29-match winning streak into the state meet after a 4-0 decision over fourth-ranked Cale Vandermark of Ankeny Centennial in the district title match.
Pierce is unbeaten against in-state competition this season and has 14 pins among 31 victories this season.
Weight Class to Watch
The quest for a second state title for top-ranked City High senior 132-pounder Cale Seaton hit its first snag of the year last week with an 8-6 loss to third-ranked Jayce Luna (41-3) in the district title match.
That upset by Luna makes the 132-pound bracket a little more interesting this week.
Seaton (30-1) is still the favorite.
The senior won the 126-pound title a year ago despite a serious knee injury sustained mid-season.
A South Dakota state signee, Seaton has been dominant this season and opens his title quest in the second round against the winner of the opening-round match between Caden Ervin (32-14) of Pleasant Valley and Waukee senior Carson Crigger (25-14).
Luna is the top seed and could meeting second-ranked Justis Jesuroga (20-7) of Southeast Polk in the semifinals.
Jesuroga defeated Luna 5-2 at the state dual meet earlier this month.
If seeds hold Seaton would face fifth-ranked John King of Waukee Northwest (30-10) in the quarterfinals and Bondurant-Farrar (28-3) senior Connor Fiser in the semifinals.
The Teams
District Champions (State Qualifiers)
Indianola (14); Johnston (12); Bondurant-Farrar (10); Waukee Northwest (11); Southeast Polk (13); Bettendorf (13); Waverly-Shell Rock (11); Ankeny Centennial (11)
Area Teams (State Qualifiers)
Clear Creek Amana (11); City High (8); West High (8); Liberty High (3);
2023 Top 5 Team Finishers – 1. Waverly-Shell Rock 169; 2. Southeast Polk 153; 3. Bettendorf 149; 4. Linn-Mar 130; 5. City High 119.5.
Last 5 Team Champs
2023 – Waverly-Shell Rock
2022 – Southeast Polk
2021 – Waverly-Shell Rock
2020 – Waverly-Shell Rock
2019 – Waverly-Shell Rock
What to Watch in the Team Race
Top-ranked Southeast Polk enters as the favorite after finishing runner-up to Waverly-Shell Rock last season and is seeking a second title in the past three seasons.
The Rams have 12 ranked wrestlers among 13 state qualifiers including six wrestlers ranked in the top three.
Second-ranked Bettendorf, third-ranked Fort Dodge and seventh-ranked Indianola along with defending champion Waverly-Shell Rock will all be in the trophy conversation.
Bettendorf has five wrestlers ranked in the top four, Fort Dodge has a trio of top-two ranked wrestlers, Indianola qualified all 14 wrestlers and Waverly Shell-Rock has won four of the last five 3A titles.
City High was fifth with 119.5 points last season and has eight qualifiers including three in top-ranked seniors Kael Kurtz (132) and Kael Voinovich (157) and third-ranked Kael Kurtz (138) that are ranked in the top three.
West High finished 21st with 38.5 points last season but brings back all four qualifiers from last season including Pierce and ranked wrestlers Kyler Scranton (175) and Justin Avila (150) while doubling its qualifiers from a year ago.
Clear Creek Amana scored 20 points and placed 33rd last season with eight qualifiers and brings 11 to Des Moines this week led by Nash and ninth-ranked 138-pounder Nolan Howell.
Liberty High has three qualifiers led by third-ranked senior 215-pound Vinny Lima who is making his second consecutive state tournament appearance.
Did you enjoy this subscription free article? Help keep Your Prep Sports free by donating.
