Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

The state wrestling meet has arrived.

The Class 2A state wrestling tournament gets underway at 6 p.m. on Wednesday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

There are four Solon wrestlers representing the Your Prep Sports area at the four-day Class 2A tournament that concludes with the championship session on Saturday at 5:15 p.m.

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

138 – Charlie Karam (37-17) Sr., Solon vs. Kalvin Hayes (41-13) Soph., Atlantic

175 – Jackson Feuerbach (37-15) Sr., Solon vs. Austin Boege (31-7) Jr., Nevada

Area qualifiers/second round opponents

144 – No. 10 Jordan Schmidt (26-13) Sr., Solon vs. No. 4 Ben Walsh (44-10) Jr., Sergeant Bluff-Luton/Braeden Nees (25-19) Sr., Gilbert winner

215 – No. 3 Lucas Feuerbach (43-3) Soph., Solon vs. Gunner Martwick (33-21) Jr., Creston/No. 12 Parker Jordan (34-11) Jr., Oskaloosa winner

Undefeated Wrestlers

113 – Urijah Courter (39-0) Soph., West Marshall

132 – Jace Hedeman (51-0) Sr., Union

144 – Jase Jaspers (43-0) Jr., Mount Vernon

150 – Shane Hanford (42-0) Sr., West Marshall

175 – Zayvion Ellington (51-0) Sr., Sergeant Bluff-Luton

175 – Christian Dunning (50-0) Jr., Clear Lake

175 – Kyler Crow (38-0) Jr., Mediapolis

Returning State Champions

Current weight class, Wrestler, School, 2024 Championship weight class

120 – Brayden Bohnsack, Sr., Union, 113

126 – Gage Spurgeon, Soph., Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont, 120

190 – Austin Scranton, Sr., Anamosa, 175

First Round Match to Watch

Solon senior Charlie Karam (37-17) returns to the state tournament for the second consecutive season seeking his first state tournament win.

Karam went 0-2 in his state meet debut a year ago and will try to stay on the front side of the bracket when he faces Atlantic sophomore Kalvin Hayes (41-13) in an opening-round match at 138 pounds on Wednesday.

Karam is coming off a runner-up finish at the District 12 tournament last Saturday and has won 10 of his last 13 matches.

Second Round Match to Watch

Solon senior Jordan Schmidt (26-13) looked like the dominant wrestler that he had been while earning state medals the past two seasons last Saturday on his way to a 144-pound district title.

A four-time qualifier Schmidt was seventh two seasons and fifth a year ago and owns an 8-6 record in 14 career state tournament matches.

The Coe College recruit will get a test right out of the gate on Wednesday as Schmidt faces the winner of the opening-round match between fourth-ranked Sergeant Bluff-Luton senior Ben Walsh (44-10) and Braeden Nees (25-19) of Gilbert.

Walsh won an 11-1 major decision over Schmidt in the semifinals of the Herb Irgens Invitational on January 25 in Ida Grove.

Schmidt is 8-3 since that January tournament in Ida Grove after a 3-0 effort at the 2A, District 12 meet last week.

Wrestler to Watch

Lucas Feuerbach has quickly emerged as a legit title contender in what has already been a stellar sophomore season.

Feuerbach went 2-2 in his state meet debut last season at 215 pounds and has been impressive this season while earning a second consecutive state tournament appearance.

Feuerbach (43-3) brings a 20-match winning streak into the state tournament, a streak that dates back to mid-January.

Two of the three losses for Feuerbach this season came in December to Class 3A state qualifiers Jean Ngoma of Cedar Rapids Xavier and Camden Smith of Dubuque Hempstead.

The lone loss to 2A competition for third-ranked Feuerbach was a 10-6 loss to No. 5 Jeryn Funke of West Delaware on January 16.

Feuerbach avenged that loss with a second-period pin of Funke in the finals of the WAMAC Conference tournament.

Third-seeded Feuerbach will face the winner of Gunner Martwick (33-21) of Creston and No. 12 Parker Jordan (34-11) of Oskaloosa in the second round.

Feuerbach could face Funke or second-seeded Henry Christensen of North Polk in the semifinals.

Weight Class to Watch

The Class 2A 175-pound bracket is the lone bracket with three unbeaten wrestlers and should be one of the most entertaining to watch all week.

Top-seeded Zayvion Ellington (51-0) of Sergeant Bluff-Luton, third seeded Christian Dunning (50-0) of Clear Lake and fourth seed Kyler Crow (38-0) of Mediapolis all enter the state meet with unblemished records.

Second-seeded Brock Mulder (44-1) of Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley has just one loss and should be right in the title mix with the three unbeatens.

Solon senior Jackson Feuerbach (37-15) will try to make some noise in the strong 175-pound bracket in his second consecutive state tournament appearance.

Feuerbach dropped both matches in his state tournament debut last season and will be looking for his first career win at state when he faces Nevada junior Austin Boege (31-7) in the opening round on Wednesday.

The Teams

District Champions (state qualifiers)

Humboldt (4); Williamsburg (11); Clarion-Goldfield-Dows (9); Mount Vernon (9); Hampton-Dumont-CAL (6); Sergeant Bluff-Luton (11); Winterset (9); Davenport Assumption (9); West Delaware (10); Independence (10); Burlington Notre Dame (11); Algona (11)

Area Teams (State qualifiers)

Solon (4)

2024 Top Five Team Finishers – 1. Osage 128.5; 2. Mount Vernon 110; 3. Union 95; 4. Burlington Notre Dame 79.5; 5. Creston 78

Last Five Team Champs

2024 – Osage

2023 – Osage

2022 – Burlington Notre Dame

2021 – West Delaware

2020 – Osage

What to Watch in the Team Race

Two-time defending champion Osage is now in Class 1A leaving the 2A field the most open of any title chase this weekend.

Top-ranked Burlington Notre Dame was fourth a year ago and is one of several teams that could put themselves in title position.

Burlington Notre Dame matched Williamsburg, second-ranked Sergeant Bluff-Luton and 2A dual state champ Algona with 11 qualifiers.

Last year’s runner-up Mount Vernon has nine qualifiers and three top-two ranked wrestlers and could work into the mix along with WAMAC squads West Delaware and Independence.

Union, Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont and Clarion-Goldfield-Dows could all be in trophy contention with strong weeks in Des Moines.

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