Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

DES MOINES – City High got off to a strong start at the Class 3A state wrestling meet on Wednesday sending four wrestlers to the quarterfinals.

It turns out that was just the start for the Little Hawks.

City High went a perfect 4-for-4 in quarterfinal matches on Thursday and sent five wrestlers into Friday in an stellar session on the second day of the 3A state meet at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Juniors Cale Seaton and Kael Kurtz and seniors Gabe Arnold and Ben Kueter all secured spots in the semifinals on Friday while junior Jake Mitchell kept his season alive with back-to-back wins in the consolation bracket on Thursday.

The strong effort on Thursday pushed City High to eighth in the Class 3A team standings with 63 points.

The Little Hawks are just 3.5 points behind fifth-place Johnston entering home stretch of the four-day meet that continues with the third 3A session that gets under way at 6 p.m. on Friday.

Just as they did on Thursday it was Seaton and Kurtz that got things rolling for City High on Friday.

Top-ranked Seaton continued his stellar season with a 5-2 win over Jashua Anglo of Johnston in a 126-pound semifinal.

Seaton (35-4) will face No. 12 seed Ayden Golden (31-19) of North Scott in the semifinals on Friday as the junior seeks his first career state title match appearance.

Kurtz (36-5) followed with an impressive 7-1 decision over Cedar Rapids Prairie junior Tyler Lee in a 132-pound quarterfinal.

Fifth-seeded Kurtz will face top-seed and two-time defending state champion Carter Freeman (30-3) of Waukee Northwest in the semifinals on Friday.

Top-ranked seniors Arnold and Kueter put the finishing touches on the perfect quarterfinal round for City High with resounding wins.

Arnold needed just 4:25 to rack up a 21-6 tech fall of eighth-seed Holden Hansen (32-11) of Southeast Polk at 182 pounds.

Arnold (39-0) will take on fourth-seed Chase Hutchinson (33-7) of West Des Moines Valley in the semifinals.

Kueter (37-0) posted his second consecutive sub-15 second pin in his 220-pound quarterfinal.

The unbeaten, three-time defending champion Kueter followed up a 14 second second-round pin with a 12-second fall of ninth-seeded Will Hinrichs of Ankeny.

Kueter will take on fifth-seed Ayden Hoag (43-1) of LeMars in the semifinals.

Junior 138-pounder Jake Mitchell extended his season with back-to-back consolation wins.

Mitchell posted a 16-1 tech fall of Lincoln Hutt of Waukee Northwest and added a 4-2 win over Peyton Ritzert of Pella to advance into Friday.

Class 3A State Meet

At Wells Fargo Arena Des Moines

Team scores (Top 20 area teams) – 1. Waverly-Shell Rock 101; 2. Southeast Polk 85.5; 3. Bettendorf 77.5; 4. Linn-Mar 73; 5. Johnston 66.5; 6. Ankeny 65.5; 6. Ankeny Centennial 65.5; 8. City High 63; 9. Carlisle 59.5; 10. Fort Dodge 58.5; 11. Cedar Rapids Prairie 55.5; 12. Waukee Northwest 55; 13. North Scott 48; 14. Dubuque Hempstead 43.5; 15. Pleasant Valley 42; 16. Bondurant-Farrar 41.5; 17. Norwalk 41; 18. West Des Moines Valley 37.5; 19. Dallas Center-Grimes 35.5; 20. Ames 33; 20. Indianola 33; 29. West High 20.5; 30. Clear Creek Amana 20; 39. Liberty High 8

Quarterfinals (Area athletes only)

106 – Alexander Pierce (West High) dec. Dylan Munson (Cedar Rapids Prairie) 10-8

126 – Cale Seaton (City High) dec. Jashua Anglo (Johnston) 5-2

132 – Kael Kurtz (City High) dec. Tyler Lee (Cedar Rapids Prairie) 7-1

145 – Lucas Bruhl (Ankeny Centennial) dec. Justin Avila (West High) 7-4

152 – Elijah Mendoza (Bettendorf) dec. Kyler Scranton (West High) 6-3

182 – Gabe Arnold (City High) tech. fall Holden Hansen (Southeast Polk) 21-6

220 – Ben Kueter (City High) pinned Will Hinrichs (Ankeny) :12

Second Round Consolation  

106 – Kendall Kurtz (City High) pinned Daniel Overall (Council Bluffs Lewis Central) 3:44

113 – Cale Nash (Clear Creek Amana) major dec. Tate Hollenkamp (Boone) 10-2

113 – Chris Davis (City High) pinned Ayden Beck (Dallas Center-Grimes) 2:30

120 – Max Bishop (Fort Dodge) pinned Jose Mendieta (Clear Creek Amana) :15

126 – Nolan Howell (Clear Creek Amana) pinned Caden Ervin (Pleasant Valley) 5:05

132 – Logan Gard (Dallas Cener-Grimes) major dec. Jay Halverson (Clear Creek Amana) 8-0

132 – Mason Lucas (Carlisle) dec. Braden Doyle (West High) 7-4

132 – Cael Wiener (Ankeny Centennial) pinned Tien Pham (Liberty High) 1:50

138 – Jake Mitchell (City High) tech. fall Lincoln Hutt (Waukee Northwest) 16-1

145 – Beck Arant (Clear Creek Amana) dec. Aydan Cary (North Scott) 8-7

145 – Jake Pontier (Indianola) major dec. Zach Fern (City High) 9-1

152 – Jack Miller (Pleasant Valley) pinned Landon Bell (Liberty High) 3:27

160 – Owen Helgeson (Johnston) pinned Ryan Ott (City High) 3:52

170 – Jackson Van Kley (Pella) pinned Benjamin Haughey (Clear Creek Amana) :47

170 – Zander Wedemeier (Waverly-Shell Rock) dec. Gavin Benton (Liberty High) 4-3

182 – Jace Tippet (North Scott) major dec. Kaden Phan (Clear Creek Amana) 11-0

195 – Lane Nelsen (Dallas Center-Grimes) major dec. Ethan Williams (Clear Creek Amana) 10-2

195 – Vincenzo Lima (Liberty High) pinned Bret Scheffler (West Des Moines Valley) 1:01

Third Round consolation

106 – Ajay Braddock (Boone) dec. Kendall Kurtz (City High) 4-2

113 – Cale Nash (Clear Creek Amana) dec. Carter Schorsch (Council Bluffs Lewis Central) 9-2

113 – Gabe Cauthron (Spencer) tech. fall Chris Davis (City High) 16-0

126 – Nolan Howell (Clear Creek Amana) dec. Andrew Roland (Ankeny Centennial) 6-4

138 – Jake Mitchell (City High) dec. Peyton Ritzert (Pella) 4-2

145 – Jake Pontier (Indianola) dec. Beck Arant (Clear Creek Amana) 7-5 SV-1

195 – Vincenzo Lima (Liberty High) dec. Cade Bennethum (Ankeny) 8-5

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