West Branch Sends Two to Quarterfinals on Strong Opening Day at State Tournament
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
DES MOINES – After picking up a state medal as a freshman in 2023 Cooper Gates saw his sophomore season as a chance to climb the podium.
Instead, Gates missed the medal stand in his return to the Class 1A state tournament last winter.
With the memory of last year’s disappointment as motivation Gates is back at Wells Fargo Arena chasing more hardware.
Gates (36-4) opened his state tournament with a 4-2 win over No. 11 Owen Milder of Wilton in a 165-pound second-round matchup on Wednesday afternoon.
“I didn’t get what I wanted last year and I had to use that as motivation for this season,” Gates said. “It was definitely a big motivator.”
The second-round win by Gates was part of a strong opening day for West Branch which sits 11th in the Class 1A team standings with 21.5 points after the opening session.
West Branch won all four of its opening-round matches and sent Gates and sophomore 106-pounder Ethan Humphrey to the quarterfinals with second-round wins.
Gates was a big part of the strong opening day.
He finished eighth at 152 pounds in his state meet debut as a freshman.
Last season Gates went 1-2 at the state tournament and was outscored 17-5 in two losses while missing out on a state medal.
“It really humbled me honestly,” Gates said. “I was going into sophomore year thinking I was all hot stuff and everything and I show up and got my butt whooped at the state tournament and I just had to use that as motivation for this year.”
Eighth-ranked Gates took a big step toward a medal on Wednesday with his third win of the season over Milder.
Gates scored a takedown on the edge of the mat in the final seconds of the opening period and added a third-period escape in the 4-2 win.
“I knew that was going to be a big factor in the match, whoever got the first shot in that first period was going to win the match,” Gates said. “I got the first shot.”
Gates will face defending state champion and top-ranked Kyler Knaack (42-0) of Don Bosco in the quarterfinals on Thursday in a session that begins at 1:30 p.m.
He will be joined in the quarterfinals by Humphrey (20-2) who needed just 46 seconds to pin Lincoln Huck of Nashua-Plainfield.
“It’s just you and that one another guy, nothing else,” Humphrey said. “You just have to stay focused on that.”
Humphrey was eighth last season at 106 pounds and is seeking to climb the podium in his return trip.
Fifth-ranked Humphrey will face No. 11 Jack Gogel (46-6) of Lisbon in the 106-pound quarterfinals on Thursday in a session that begins at 1:30 p.m.
“State champion,” Humphrey said of his goal. “I had a little adversity at the beginning of the season with an injury but I came back from that better than ever.”
Logan Christoffel, Cash Hatfield, Keaton Gates and Tate Frantz all won opening-round matches before falling in the second round.
Christoffel won his 132-pound opener 10-3 over Landan Frost of Wapsie Valley before falling to Kanaan Delagardelle of Don Bosco.
Cash Hatfield won his opener at 144 pounds 7-2 over Aiden Hellman of Don Bosco before falling to Dylan Stein of Lenox in the second round.
Keaton Gates pinned Sam Raymond of Council Bluffs St. Albert in 3:13 in the opening round and lost to No. 7 Reece Klostermann of Alburnett in the second round.
Frantz won a 22-6 tech fall over Aaron Cordell of Logan-Magnolia in the opening round and fell to eighth-ranked Ryan Wirtz of Emmetsburg in the second round.
Class 1A State Tournament
At Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines
Team scores (Top 10; area teams) – 1. Don Bosco 58.5; 2. Alburnett 44.5; 3. Wilton 37; 4. Hinton 34; 5. Woodbury Central 31; 6. Osage 29.5; 7. Riverside 28; 8. Jesup 27.5; 9. Lisbon 24.5; 10. Lake Mills 23.5; 11. West Branch 21.5
Individual Results
Opening Round (area athletes)
132 – Logan Christoffel (West Branch) dec. Landan Frost (Wapsie Valley) 10-3
144 – Cash Hatfield (West Branch) dec. Aiden Hellman (Don Bosco) 7-2
150 – Keaton Gates (West Branch) pinned Sam Raymond (Council Bluffs St. Albert) 3:13
175 – Landen Schnuelle (South Winneshiek) dec. Leren Fernandez (Regina) 1-0
190 – Tate Frantz (West Branch) tech. fall Aaron Cordell (Logan-Magnolia) 22-6
215 – Peyton Hackett (Kingsley-Pierson) pinned Porter Shetler (Regina) 4:21
Second Round (area athletes)
106 – Ethan Humphrey (West Branch) pinned Lincoln Huck (Nashua-Plainfield) :46
132 – Kanaan Delagardelle (Don Bosco) pinned Logan Christoffel (West Branch) :58
144 – Dylan Stein (Lenox) major dec. Cash Hatfield (West Branch) 9-1
150 – Reece Klostermann (Alburnett) dec. Keaton Gates (West Branch) 9-3
157 – Jake Hiland (Bellevue) major dec. Will Aitchison (Regina) 17-3
165 – Cooper Gates (West Branch) dec. Owen Milder (Wilton) 4-2
190 – Ryan Wirtz (Emmetsburg) tech. fall Tate Frantz (West Branch) 15-0
Did you enjoy this subscription free article? Help keep Your Prep Sports free by donating.
