Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

DES MOINES – Confidence can be critical in the success of an athlete.

When Jordan Schmidt made his state wrestling tournament debut as a freshman by his own admission he lacked confidence.

Two years later Schmidt is confident and enters the state quarterfinals for the first time a title contender at 138 pounds.

Seventh-ranked Schmidt (46-6) secured his first quarterfinal appearance in three state tournament trips with a 4-2 decision over eighth-ranked Cael Nelson (32-5) of Carroll in a 138-pound second-round matchup on Wednesday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

“My freshman year I came here I had no confidence, I was scared the whole tournament,” Schmidt admitted on Wednesday. “Last year I didn’t have as many nerves and even this year you have a few nerves but I’m confident now. I’ve been here, I’ve been in the moment and it’s nice to be in the quarterfinals finally.”

Schmidt went 0-2 in his state meet debut two seasons ago.

Last year he won his opening-round match but dropped a 4-0 decision in the second round before rattling off four wins in the consolation bracket to place seventh.

This season it was a noticeable more confident Schmidt that secured a spot in the 2A quarterfinals that get underway on Thursday at 9 a.m.

“It’s just believing in myself and having the confidence that I can win the whole thing and win every match,” Schmidt said. “You just need to figure out a way to win.”

Schmidt has earned his confidence starting with last year’s run through the 132-pound consolation bracket at state.

A win over second-ranked Jase Jaspers (37-3) of Mount Vernon, who also advanced to the 138-pound quarterfinals on Wednesday, in the district title match last week only boosted the confidence level for Schmidt.

Combine the confidence and the experience gained with wrestling nine matches at the state meet the last two seasons and Schmidt enters a quarterfinal matchup with fifth-ranked Kaden Kremer (40-7) of Independence very much in the conversation to reach the title match.

“This is his third time here and he knows the routine, he knows the layout and that helps with confidence,” Solon coach Aaron Hadenfeldt said. “Last week he had a good week to help his confidence and when you get a wrestler riding a high confidence they can do good things.”

Schmidt scored a takedown a minute into the match and added a second takedown with two seconds remaining in the second quarter.

“My coaches are always telling me to have confidence on my feet,” Schmidt said. “I used to never shot, I barely shot last year and now I know I just have to stick to my offense and my feet and do what I do best. I have all the technique I just have to have faith that I can do it all.”

The second-round win by Schmidt highlighted a solid opening day for Solon.

Freshman Lucas Feuerbach (41-9) went 1-1 in his state meet debut at 215 pounds.

Feuerbach won a 12-1 major decision over Dre Smithburg (27-13) of Fairfield in the opening round match collecting four takedowns.

Fourth-ranked Mason Koehler of Glenwood (41-6) pinned Feuerbach in 1:58 in the second round.

Feuerbach will face Stryker Lettington (31-7) of Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont in a consolation match on Thursday.

“You don’t see too many freshmen up at this weight and for Lucas this is all experience that is going to pay off for us in the next few years but as long as we are down here lets give it everything we’ve got,” Hadenfeldt said. “He got his first win at the state tournament and that’s a big deal but lets keep wrestling as long as we can while we are down here.”

Charlie Karam and Jackson Feuerbach each dropped opening-round matches on Wednesday.

Ninth-ranked Kaiden Parker (27-8) of Oskaloosa pinned Karam (31-19) in the opening round at 132 pounds.

Jackson Feuerbach (30-21) dropped an 8-3 decision to Central DeWitt senior Elston Lindner (22-9) in the opening round at 165 pounds.

Karam will face Steele Diercks (29-7) of Davenport Assumption in a consolation match on Thursday while Jackson Feuerbach will take on William Boliner (41-6) in a consolation match at 165 pounds.

Class 2A State Meet

Team scores (Top 20; area teams) – 1. Burlington Notre Dame 36.5; 2. Mount Vernon 33; 3. Osage 27.5; 4. Glenwood 27; 5. Creston 26; 6. Union 24; 7. Sergeant Bluff-Luton 23; 8. North Polk 22; 9. Roland Story 22; 10. Davenport Assumption 21.5; 11. Algona 21; 12. Ballard 20; 12. Decorah 20; 14. Hampton-Dumont-Cal 19.5; 15. Anamosa 19; 16. Humboldt 18; 16. New Hampton/Turkey Valley 18; 16. West Delaware 18; 19. Benton Community 17.5; 19. Charles City 17.5

Opening round (area athletes)  

132 – Kaiden Parker (Oskaloosa) pinned Charlie Karam (Solon) 5:15

165 – Elston Lindner (Central DeWitt) dec. Jackson Feuerbach (Solon) 8-3

215 – Lucas Feuerbach (Solon) major dec. Dre Smithburg (Fairfield) 12-1

Second round (area athletes) 

138 – Jordan Schmidt (Solon) dec. Cael Nelson (Carroll) 4-2

215 – Mason Koehler (Glenwood) pinned Lucas Feuerbach (Solon) 1:58

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