Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

DES MOINES – There are few things in sports more difficult than a close call or coming up short.

Last season Vinny Lima had both.

Lima experienced the heartbreak of a lose in the blood round at the state wrestling tournament finishing a single victory away from a spot on the 195-pound medal stand.

Lima learned a lot of valuable lessons from that loss last season.

Atop that list of lessons – have fun.

“I learned a lot from last year,” Lima said. “I learned just because a guy is ranked higher than you that doesn’t mean he is better and just have fun. That’s really the big thing is just having fun.”

In his return to the state meet on Wednesday Lima had another close call and he also had some fun.

Third-ranked Lima (30-2) held off a late charge from Clear Creek Amana senior Carson Nash (35-20) to earn an 11-8 win in a 215-pound second-round matchup at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

“I am trying to wrestler smart, I didn’t really wrestle too smart in that last match but I want to wrestle in familiar position and not take any moment for granted, because every moment here is earned,” Lima said. “And I want to have fun.”

Last season Lima won back-to-back consolation matches following a second-round loss but came up one win shy of a medal.

Lima again moved a win away from a spot on the medal stand with his victory over Nash on Wednesday.

“Last year was very motivating,” Lima said. “I still feeling like being back here again I am going to get what I want. I have to take every match seriously and wrestle to the best of my ability.”

Lima had three takedowns in the opening two periods and led Nash 7-2 heading to the third.

An escape and a takedown by Nash that briefly had Lima on his back cut the lead to 7-5.

Nash tied the score at 8-8 with a takedown with 23 seconds remaining but Lima quickly escaped and added a takedown just before time expired.

“Some of those positions that I was in I feel like last year I wouldn’t have reacted as quickly as a did,” Lima said. “Last year I was processing it and today I was instinctive and I just went.”

Lima will make his quarterfinal debut on Thursday when he takes on fourth-ranked Griffin Schultz (31-3) of Linn-Mar.

“It feels really good,” Lima said. “It’s exciting to be in this spot.”

Liberty High senior Gavin Benton won his opening-round match at 175 pounds with a 18-3 technical fall over City High’s Mason Tilley.

Third-ranked Asa Hemsted of Carlisle pinned Benton in 1:56 in the second round.

Class 3A State Meet

Team scores (Top 20; area teams) – 1. Southeast Polk 58; 2. Ankeny Centennial 48.5; 3. Bettendorf 47.5; 4. Fort Dodge 37; 5. Bondurant-Farrar 35.5; 5. Indianola 35.5; 7. Johnston 33; 8. Linn-Mar 32; 9. Ankeny 31.5; 9. Dubuque Hempstead 31.5; 11. Waverly-Shell Rock 31; 12. Waukee Northwest 29.5; 13. Carlisle 29; 14. Ames 27; 15. City High 25; 16. West High 21; 17. Pella 10; 17. Cedar Rapids Prairie 17; 17. Waukee 20; 20. Fort Madison 18; 27. Clear Creek Amana 12

Opening round (area athletes)  

106 – Elijah Hyet (Dubuque Hempstead) tech. fall Elder Mendieta (Clear Creek Amana) 18-3

106 – Charles Barnhouse (West High) dec. Lucas Reeder (Pleasant Valley) 10-4

113 – Caleb Arroyo (Urbandale) dec. Jose Mendieta (Clear Creek Amana) 7-2

113 – Kendall Kurtz (City High) dec. Garrett Evans (Bettendorf) 1-0

120 – Matthew Tran (West High) dec. Stoney Wood (Indianola) 14-7

120 – Cale Nash (Clear Creek Amana) pinned Kaiden Rogers (Newton) 1:34

120 – Ajay Braddock (Boone) pinned Chris Davis (City High) 1:26

126 – Danny Cleveland (Sioux City East) pinned Edgar Mhoon-Lopez (City High) 1:23

126 – Rylan Hilton (Indianola) tech. fall Malachi Clement (Clear Creek Amana) 15-0

138 – Nolan Howell (Clear Creek Amana) pinned Jaxon Brewer (Council Bluffs Lewis Central) 1:43

138 – Campbell Janis (West High) dec. Tate Turner (Norwalk) 9-6

144 – Braden Doyle (West High) major dec. Rylee Brown (Fort Dodge) 11-3

144 – Adam Cook (Cedar Rapids Xavier) dec. Ryker Jones (Clear Creek Amana) 3-2

144 – Jake Mitchell (City High) tech. fall Will McDermott (North Scott) 17-2

150 – Jack Stevens (Clear Creek Amana) dec. Brady Jennings (Clinton) 8-7

157 – Nolan Riddle (Fort Madison) pinned Trace Robertson (Clear Creek Amana) 4:21

157 – Daniel Zeoh (Des Moines East) dec. Landon Bell (Liberty High) 5-3

175 – Gavin Benton (Liberty High) tech. fall Mason Tilley (City High) 18-3

190 – Wyatt Young (Cedar Rapids Washington) pinned Ethan Williams (Clear Creek Amana) 3:18

215 – Carson Nash (Clear Creek Amana) dec. Colin Woods (Cedar Rapids Jefferson) 4-3

285 – Cory Arnett (Fort Madison) pinned Vinnie Keller (Clear Creek Amana) 4:30

285 – Carlos Andrade (Council Bluffs Lewis Central) major dec. Ashton Honore (West High) 11-3

Second round (area athletes) 

106 – Dylan Munson (Cedar Rapids Prairie) injury default Charles Barnhouse (West High) 4:21

113 – Alexander Pierce (West High) pinned Kyler Simons (West Des Moines Dowling) :41

113 – Kendall Kurtz (City High) pinned Aiden Serrano (Carlisle) 4:36

120 – Cody Vandemark (Ankeny Centennial) major dec. Matthew Tran (West High) 14-6

120 – Reid Foster (Bondurant-Farrar) pinned Cale Nash (Clear Creek Amana) 5:09

132 – Cale Seaton (City High) tech. fall Carson Crigger (Waukee) 22-7

138 – Kael Kurtz (City High) dec. Zeb Fitzgerald (West Des Moines Dowling) 5-2

138 – Jabari Hinson (Ames) pinned Nolan Howell (Clear Creek Amana) 3:47

138 – Cody Trevino (Bettendorf) pinned Campbell Janis (West High) 2:47

144 – Maximus Dhabolt (Ankeny Centennial) pinned Braden Doyle (West High) 1:11

144 – JahKari Clark (West Des Moines Valley) major dec. Jake Mitchell (City High) 11-3

150 – Justin Avila (West High) pinned Jack Stevens (Clear Creek Amana) 1:37

157 – Kael Voinovich (City High) pinned Dominic Tigner (Norwalk) 3:06

175 – Asa Hemsted (Carlisle) pinned Gavin Benton (Liberty High) 1:56

175 – Nic VanArkel (West Des Moines Valley) dec. Kyler Scranton (West High) 3-1 SV-1

215 – Vincenzo Lima (Liberty High) dec. Carson Nash (Clear Creek Amana) 11-8

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