Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

DES MOINES – An impressive list of state qualifiers for Class 3A No. 10 West High included a three-time state champion in Robert Avila and a three-time finalist and two-time champ in Hunter Garvin.

Neither of those defending state champs are the Trojan’s leader in career state tournament matches.

That distinction belongs to senior Grant O’Dell who advanced to the state quarterfinals for the third consecutive season on Thursday with his eighth career win in his 17^th career state-meet match.

“I do think I’ve learned a lot with that experience,” O’Dell said. “Just making sure that your mind is right before going into competition and making sure your body is ready to go.”

A three-time medalist, O’Dell was among four West High wrestlers to post opening round wins on Thursday at the Class 3A state meet at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Seniors Robert Avila, Hunter Garvin and Kael Scranton all joined O’Dell in the 3A quarterfinals that will open on Friday at 9 a.m.

Seventh-ranked O’Dell (40-5) improved to 8-9 in his career at the state meet with a second-period pin of City High sophomore Jake Mitchell in an opening-round match at 138 pounds.

“You just have to come ready to go,” O’Dell said. “It’s hard to explain but you have to keep doing the same stuff and believing in what you can do as a competitor.”

Garvin and Avila continued their state meet dominance on Thursday.

A three-time champion at Lisbon, Avila (12-1) remained unbeaten at the state meet when he pinned Kelton Youngberg of Davenport West in 1:32 in a 145-pound opener.

Garvin (45-0), a three-time finalist and two-time defending champion pinned Isaac Vollmecke of Waukee Northwest in 58 seconds in a 152-pound opening-round match.

Scranton, another four-time state qualifier for the Trojans, had the biggest opening-round win for the Trojans.

No. 10 Scranton scored a pair of third-period takedowns to secure a 5-3 decision over No. 6 Gabe Carver of Urbandale at 160 pounds.

“My freshman year when I walked in here I didn’t really know what to think, I just saw the bright lights. First round I had a three-time state champ but back then my mentality wasn’t, ‘I’m coming here to win,’ it was more just I was coming to throw my hat in the ring,” Scranton said “Now there are no nerves, I’m 100 percent calm.”

Scranton (28-11) was calm late in his win over Carver.

He broke a 1-1 tie with the first takedown of the match with 1:27 left in the third period.

Scranton then secured a spot in the 3A quarterfinals with a second takedown with :49 remaining.

“The experience is crazy because out there I was a lot less tense than I usually am,” Scranton said. “When you get tense and nervous you tighten up and get tired and I had no nerves just having fun. I knew that if I kept going and kept doing what I was told that I’d come out on top.”

West High pushed seven of his eight qualifiers into day two.

Sophomores Braden Doyle and Kyler Scranton and freshman Justin Avila all bounced back from opening-round losses with consolation wins on Thursday.

Doyle (27-17) won a 3-2 overtime decision over Jeffrey West of Davenport North to stay alive in the 113-pound bracket while Scranton (27-15) won a 13-0 major decision over North Scott senior Cael Straley at 132.

Avila (27-11) responded from an opening round 6-4 loss to ninth-ranked Caden McDermott of Pleasant Valley with a 14-4 major decision over Boone’s Dylan Pestotnik at 170 pounds.

“We are all just having fun,” Kael Scranton said. “Wrestling is a sport, it’s not like a job where you should dread going to it and we are having fun. It’s just an awesome group of teammates and coaches.

Class 3A State Wrestling Tournament

At Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines

Team scores (Top 10; area teams) – 1. Southeast Polk 36.5; 2. Waukee Northwest 32; 3. Waverly-Shell Rock 32; 4. Bettendorf 24.5; 5. North Scott 22; 7. West High 19; 13. City High 12.5

Opening round (Area wrestlers)

106 – Carter Pearson (Southeast Polk) pinned Cale Nash (Clear Creek Amana) :32

113 – Steele Diercks (Bettendorf) pinned Braden Doyle (Wet High) 3:50

120 – Cale Seaton (City High) pinned Sterling Warren (West High) 1:42

126 – Kael Kurtz (City High) pinned Trent Harper (Norwalk) 3:03

132 – Donovan Card (Norwalk) dec. Kyler Scranton (West High) 5-4

138 – Grant O’Dell (West High) pinned Jake Mitchell (City High) 4:50

145 – Robert Avila (West High) pinned Kelton Youngberg (Davenport West) 1:32

145 – Grant Kress (Linn-Mar) dec. Ryan Ott (City High) 11-8

152 – Hunter Garvin (West High) pinned Isaac Vollmecke (Waukee Northwest) :58

160 – Kael Scranton (West High) dec. Gabe Carver (Urbandale) 5-3

160 – Jackson Helmkamp (Ankeny Centennial) maj. dec. Elijah Terwilleger (Liberty High) 13-1

170 – Caden McDermott (Pleasant Valley) dec. Justin Avila (West High) 6-4

220 – Ben Kueter (City High) tech. fall Griffin Schultz (Linn-Mar) 20-5

First round consolation

106 – Malik DeBow (Linn-Mar) dec. Cale Nash (Clear Creek Amana) 8-7

113 – Braden Doyle (West High) dec. Jeffrey West (Davenport North) 3-2 TB-1

120 – John King (West Des Moines Dowling) maj. dec. Sterling Warren (West High) 12-4

132 – Kyler Scranton (West High) maj. dec. Cael Straley (North Scott) 13-0

138 – Logan Stotts (Waukee Northwest) dec. Jake Mitchell (City High) 1-0

145 – Ryan Ott (City High) dec. Kelton Youngberg (Davenport West) 6-5

160 – Josiah Schaetzle (Dubuque Hempstead) dec. Elijah Terwilleger (Liberty High) 11-4

170 – Justin Avila (West High) maj. dec. Dylan Pestotnik (Boone) 14-4

Friday’s Quarterfinal Matches

120 – No. 3 Cale Seaton (39-2), Soph., City High vs. No. 7 Nate Bierma (35-8) Jr., West Des Moines Valley

126 – No. 7 Kael Kurtz (36-4) Soph., City High vs. No. 5 Ben Hansen (29-7), Soph., Ankeny

138 – No. 7 Grant O’Dell (40-5) Sr., West High vs. No. 3 Chase Fiser (37-4) Sr., Bondurant-Farrar

145 – No. 2 Robert Avila Jr. (12-1) Sr., West High vs. No. 6 Grant Kress (34-4), Soph., Linn-Mar

152 – No. 1 Hunter Garvin (45-0), Sr., West High vs. No. 8 Brennan Amos (16-1), Sr., Newton

160 – Kael Scranton (28-11), Sr., West High vs. No. 1 Aiden Riggins (40-0), Sr., Waverly-Shell Rock

220 – No. 1 Ben Kueter (34-0), Jr., City High vs. No. 10 Colton Teem (36-5), Sr., Urbandale

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