Breaking Down the Class 3A State Wrestling Meet
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
It’s state wrestling time.
The Class 3A state wrestling tournament gets underway at 9 a.m. on Wednesday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.
There are 29 wrestlers from the Your Prep Sports area competing in the four-day Class 3A tournament that concludes with the championship session on Saturday at 5:15 p.m.
Clear Creek Amana will send an area-best 11 wrestlers to the state meet while City High has nine qualifiers, West High has five qualifiers and Liberty High has four wrestlers at the state meet.
Before the action gets underway on Wednesday morning in Des Moines here is a quick look at the Class 3A state tournament with a focus on Your Prep Sports area athletes.
The Wrestlers
Area qualifiers/opening round opponents
106 – Cole Kasparek (41-13) Fr., Clear Creek Amana vs. Braydon Tranmer (34-11) Jr., Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln
106 – Connor McGonegle (26-12) Soph., Liberty High vs. Kent Montgomery (39-3) Soph., Newton
120 – Jose Mendiata (30-26) Jr., Clear Creek Amana vs. Karson Pulver (28-12) Soph., Pleasant Valley
120 – Benjamin Rosen (24-11) Soph., Liberty High vs. Max Panosh (18-18) Jr., Cedar Rapids Kennedy
126 – Malachi Clement (34-20) Soph., Clear Creek Amana vs. Stoney Wood (32-11) Soph., Indianola
126 – Chase Williams (21-18) Fr., City High vs. Elijah Hyet (28-9) Jr., Dubuque Hempstead
132 – Rex Edmonds (29-8) Fr., Liberty High vs. Jack Foster (29-12) Sr., Cedar Rapids Xavier
138 – Jay Halverson (23-14) Sr., Clear Creek Amana vs. No. 11 Collin Frost (29-6) Sr., Davenport Central
138 – Donovan Gipson (23-8) Jr., City High vs. Isaiah Madison (22-14) Soph., Johnston
150 – Trace Robertson (32-19) Sr., Clear Creek Amana vs. Trent Eckard (31-15) Fr., Boone
150 – Laith Alawneh (31-17) Sr., City High vs. Wyatt Heying (16-6) Sr., Spencer
157 – Ben Haughey (33-15) Sr., Clear Creek Amana vs. No. 9 Rylee Brown (34-16) Jr., Fort Dodge
165 – Aidan Schrock (24-13) Jr., Clear Creek Amana vs. Marek McNamara (26-11) Sr., Cedar Rapids Xavier
165 – Marshall Sheldon (28-16) Fr., City High vs. No. 8 AJ Pontier (8-3) Sr., Indianola
175 – Clayton Isham (24-19) Sr., Clear Creek Amana vs. No. 9 Jesse Egli (33-11) Jr., Fort Dodge
175 – Mason Tilley (29-12) Sr., City High vs. David Theisen (22-10) Sr., Western Dubuque
190 – Dylan Schrock (32-16) Jr., Clear Creek Amana vs. No. 9 Mason Roethler (10-7) Sr., Johnston
190 – Blaine Heick (29-9) Jr., City High vs. Brayton Gipple (18-12) Sr., Bondurant-Farrar
285 – Randale Kelly (32-17) Sr., West High vs. Jaxen Hoag (27-25) Soph., LeMars
Area qualifiers/second round opponents
113 – No. 2 Alexander Pierce (44-2) Jr., West High vs. Elliott Gnewuch (24-7), Soph., Cedar Rapids Xavier/Damien Yeoman (33-17) Fr., Fort Dodge winner
120 – No. 4 Kendall Kurtz (36-5) Sr., City High vs. Max Panosh (18-18) Jr., Cedar Rapids Kennedy/Benjamin Rosen (24-11) Soph., Liberty High winner
120 – No. 6 Matthew Tran (40-12) Soph., West High vs. Hudson Ritzert (25-17) Fr., Pella vs. Sylvester Kotoe (13-5) Soph., Waterloo West winner
132 – No. 10 Cale Nash (36-6) Sr., Clear Creek Amana vs. Teagan Kendall (23-26) Jr., Cedar Rapids Prairie vs. No. 8 Hayden Hutt (28-10) Fr., Waukee Northwest winner
138 – No. 4 Cole Krutzfeldt (40-4) Sr., West High vs. Camron Bennett (38-9) Soph., Des Moines East/Grayson Sutter (25-13) Jr., ADM winner
144 – No. 6 Nolan Howell (42-8) Sr., Clear Creek Amana vs. Trenton Byers (34-8) Fr., Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln/Blake Lee (24-19) Sr., Norwalk winner
150 – No. 3 Justin Avila (45-3) Sr., West High vs. Germaine Ngoma (28-17) Sr., Cedar Rapids Xavier/Cole Hemmingsen (20-11) Jr., Dallas Center-Grimes winner
175 – No. 4 Landon Bell (22-4) Jr., Liberty High vs. Mekyver Hagarty (26-13) Jr., Waverly-Shell Rock/No. 7 Dane Melchior (32-8) Sr., Cedar Rapids Xavier winner
215 – No. 8 Raphael Etuma (32-11) Jr., City High vs. Karver Sutton (28-17) Sr., ADM/Kade Krause (14-16) Soph., West Des Moines Dowling winner
285 – No. 8 Kane Willey (25-5) Jr., City High vs. No. 7 Nick Darling (28-6) Sr. Johnston/Dylan Forney (27-17) Sr., Ottumwa winner
Undefeated Wrestlers
113 – Nico DeSalvo (34-0) Soph., Southeast Polk
126 – Christian Castillo (39-0) Sr., Ames
138 – Mac Crosson (28-0) Soph., Indianola
150 – Jabari Hinson (45-0) Sr., Ames
215 – Jean Ngoma (35-0) Sr., Cedar Rapids Xavier
215 – Dreshaun Ross (16-0) Jr., Fort Dodge
Returning State Champions
Current weight class, Wrestler, School, 2024 Championship weight class
113 – Nico DeSalvo, Soph., (Southeast Polk) 106
132 – Carter Pearson, Sr., (Southeast Polk) 120
132 – TJ Koester, Sr., (Bettendorf) 126
144– Koy Davidson, Sr., (Fort Dodge) 138
157 – Bas Diaz, Sr., (Waverly-Shell Rock) 150
175 – Jacob Helgeson, Sr., (Johnston) 165
215 – Dreshaun Ross, Jr., (Fort Dodge) 215
First Round Match to Watch
Freshman 132-pounder Rex Edmonds has been a major bright spot for Liberty High this season and is one of three Lightning underclassmen to qualify for the state meet.
Edmonds (29-8) has enjoyed a strong debut season that included a fourth-place finish at the Mississippi Valley Conference meet and a third-place finish at last week’s district meet.
The freshman will have his hands full in his state meet debut against Cedar Rapids Xavier senior Jack Foster (29-12).
Foster was runner-up at the MVC tournament and the district 8 tournament last week in Waverly.
Second Round Match to Watch
With 14 career state tournament matches in three career appearances Clear Creek Amana senior Cale Nash is a state tournament veteran.
The first four-time state qualifier in Clear Creek Amana history will attempt to do something he’s never done on Wednesday.
With a second-round win on Wednesday Nash (36-6) can secure a spot in the state quarterfinals for the first time.
Nash is 8-6 in 14 career matches at state after going 5-2 on his way to a seventh-place finish at 120 pounds last season.
However, he’s never been past the second round of the championship bracket.
Nash will attempt to change that when he faces the winner of the opening-round match between Cedar Rapids Prairie junior Teagan Kendall (23-26) and eighth-ranked Hayden Hutt (28-10) of Waukee Northwest.
Wrestler to Watch
West High junior Alexander Pierce is seeking a third appearance in a state title match and second state title this season.
The 106-pound champion as a freshman Pierce finished runner-up at 113 pounds last season.
After starting the season at 120 pounds, Pierce (44-2) has gone 16-0 since dropping to 113 pounds in January and enters as the number two seed in the 113-pound bracket opposite top-ranked Nico DeSalvo (34-0) of Southeast Polk.
Pierce owns a 121-6 career record and has been as impressive as ever this season posting 27 pins among his 44 victories this season.
Pierce has wins over the top four seeds on the bottom half of the 113-pound bracket this season.
He won a 12-4 major decision over seventh-ranked Waverly-Shell Rock freshman Kipton Lewis who is a potential quarterfinal opponent.
Pierce also has wins over fifth-ranked Dylan Munson of Cedar Rapids Prairie and third-ranked Weston Porter of Council Bluffs Lewis Central who are both potential semifinal foes.
Weight Class to Watch
With four area wrestlers competing the 120-pound bracket will be one that draws a lot of eyes from the Iowa City area.
Fourth-ranked City High senior Kendall Kurtz (36-5) is the highest ranked area 120-pounder and enters his final state meet seeking the best finish of his career.
Kurtz was eighth at 113 pounds last season and has taken things to another level this season
Kurtz brings a 19-match winning streak to Des Moines after winning Mississippi Valley Conference and district titles in his last two tournaments.
Sixth-ranked West High sophomore Matthew Tran (40-12) earned a first-round bye and is capable of working his way onto the state medal stand for the first time.
Clear Creek Amana junior Jose Mendiata (30-26) faces Karson Pulver (28-12) of Pleasant Valley in the opening round while Liberty High sophomore Benjamin Rosen (24-11) will face Cedar Rapids Kennedy junior Max Panosh (18-18) in an opening-round match.
Kurtz has wins over all three of the other Your Prep Sports area 120-pound qualifiers including a 5-4 win over Tran in the MVC tournament championship match earlier this month.
The Teams
District Champions (state qualifiers)
Southeast Polk (14); Bettendorf (9); North Scott (10); Waverly-Shell Rock (10); Johnston (12); Ankeny Centennial (9); Indianola (10); Waukee Northwest (12)
Area Teams (State qualifiers)
Clear Creek Amana (11); City High (9); West High (5); Liberty High (4)
2024 Top Five Team Finishers – 1. Southeast Polk 221.5; 2. Bettendorf 160; 3. Fort Dodge 119; 4. Ankeny Centennial 110.5; 5. Waverly-Shell Rock 107
Last Five Team Champs
2024 – Southeast Polk
2023 – Waverly Shell-Rock
2022 – Southeast Polk
2021 – Waverly Shell-Rock
2022 – Waverly Shell-Rock
What to Watch in the Team Race
Southeast Polk returned to the top of 3A last season and is the favorite to claim a second consecutive title and third in the past four seasons.
The top-ranked Rams qualified all 14 wrestlers for the state meet and have 13 ranked wrestlers including six top-ranked wrestlers and 11 wrestlers ranked in the top three at their weight.
It should be a crowded group of teams battling for the final two top-three spots.
Defending runner-up and second-ranked Bettendorf has nine qualifiers and five top-three ranked wrestlers and is the leader of the pack chasing Southeast Polk.
Waverly-Shell Rock has won three of the last five titles and is always a team to watch and keep an eye on up and comers Indianola and Carlise.
City High was 10th a year ago and has nine qualifiers and West High was 16th last season but could climb this year with four of its five qualifiers ranked in the top six.
With 11 qualifiers including a pair of top-10 ranked wrestlers Clear Creek Amana will look to improve on its 26th place finish and 33 points from a year ago.
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