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Jacob Dykes didn’t reach his ultimate goal on the opening day of the Class 3A state wrestling tournament on Thursday but the City High junior took a big step toward doing so.

Dykes edged second-ranked Connor Corbin of West Des Moines Valley 2-1 in an opening-round matchup of ranked wrestlers at 195 pounds at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

The win kept fourth-ranked Dykes (45-0) unbeaten on the season and moved the City High junior into the state quarterfinals for the first time in his career.

Dykes will face North Scott junior Zach Petersen (35-12) in the 195-pound quarterfinals on Friday morning.

“Obviously, we knew that would be a good match and it was,” City High coach Cory Connell said. “I thought we were in positions where we could have opened it up a little bit more but hey, a win is a win here at the state tournament and he just has to keep winning.”

Senior 220-pound Jordain Buckland picked up the first state meet win of his career on Thursday to join Dykes in the quarterfinals.

After going 0-2 in his state meet debut last season, fifth-ranked Buckland didn’t waste any time moving into the winner’s bracket on Thursday.

He needed just 3:28 to pin Indianola junior Sam Wolff in the opening round and improve to 29-2 on the season.

Buckland will face top-ranked, defending state champion Wyatt Wriedt (41-1) of North Scott in the quarterfinals.

“They are all tough at state, especially when you are wrestling defending state champs,” Connell said. “He just needs to go out there and battle.”

The wins at back-to-back weights from Dykes and Buckland followed an 0-4 start to the day for City High in opening round matches.

Dykes' win started a string of six consecutive City High wins to end the first session, as all four Little Hawks that dropped opening-round matches won first-round consolation matches.

City High ends the first tied for sixth place in the 3A team standings with 16 points, four more than the Little Hawks scored at last year’s tournament.

“It would have been nice to get a couple more wins on the front side but I think the way they came back and battled on the back side was pretty impressive,” Connell said. “For Jordain to get a pin on the front side and Jacob to get a big win on the front side, that was big for them.”

First-time state qualifiers Lance Bormann, Joey Harney, Wilfred Kadahou and Brock Hunger all lost their state debuts.

None of those four needed to wait long for their first state meet win.

All four wrestlers recorded pins in first-round consolation matches to stay alive into the second day of the three-day meet.

Bormann (34-15) fell to Nathan Betts of Western Dubuque 3-0 in the opening round at 126 pounds before pinning Cedar Rapids Xavier’s Patrick Chambers in the second period of the consolation round.

Harney lost by tech fall 16-1 to top-ranked Jake Watters of West Des Moines Dowling in the 132-pound opening round but needed just 56 seconds to pin Dubuque Hempstead senior Jacob Faber in the first-round consolation match.

Kadahou was pinned by second-ranked Cayd Lara of Fort Dodge in his 152-pound opener before pinning North Scott’s Drake Golinghorst in the consolation round.

No. 10 Brock Hunger dropped a 9-2 decision to sixth-ranked Tyrell Gordon of Waterloo East in the opening round and pinned Emin Okic of Johnston in 4:21 in the consolations.

“All four of those guys that is there first time at the state tournament and obviously they didn’t have things go the way they wanted to on the front side,” Connell said. “They all refocused and gathered themselves and went out there and competed hard that second match and all got pins and that’s huge.”

 

Class 3A State Meet Results

Team scores (Top 10; Area Teams) – 1. Southeast Polk 30; 2. Fort Dodge 28.5; 3. North Scott 22.5; 4. West Des Moines Valley 22; 5. Western Dubuque 19; 6. City High 18; 6. Johnston 18; 8. Waverly-Shell Rock 17.5; 9. Waukee 15; 10. Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson 13; 10. Indianola 13; 16. West High.

Opening Round (Area Wrestlers Only)

126 – Nathan Betts (Western Dubuque) dec. Lance Bormann (City High) 3-0

132 – Jake Watters (West Des Moines Dowling) tech. fall Joey Harney (City High) 16-1

152 – Cayd Lara (Fort Dodge) pinned Wilfred Kadohou (City High) :49

182 – Tyrell Gordon (Waterloo East) dec. Brock Hunger (City High) 9-2

195 – Jacob Dykes (City High) dec. Connor Corbin (West Des Moines Valley) 2-1 SV-1

220 – Jordain Buckland (City High) pinned Sam Wolf (Indianola) 3:28

First Round Consolation

126 – Lance Bormann (City High) pinned Patrick Chambers (Cedar Rapids Xavier) 2:27

132 – Joey Harney (City High) pinned Jacob Faber (Dubuque Hempstead) :56

152 – Wilfred Kadahou (City High) pinned Drake Golinghorst (North Scott) 1:53

182 – Brock Hunger (City High) pinned Emin Okic (Johnston) 4:21

Friday’s 3A Quarterfinal Matchups

195 – No. 4 Jacob Dykes (45-0) Jr., City High vs. Zach Petersen (35-12) Jr., North Scott

220 – No. 5 Jordain Buckland (29-2) Sr., City High vs. No. 1 Wyatt Wriedt (41-1) Sr., North Scott