Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

The state tournament is here.

The Class 3A state wrestling tournament begins the four-day state wrestling meet at Casey’s Center in Des Moines when it opens on Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m.

There are 39 wrestlers from the Your Prep Sports area competing at the state meet this week including 25 wrestlers in the Class 3A tournament.

West High will send an area-best nine wrestlers to the 3A state meet while City High has six qualifiers and Liberty High and Clear Creek Amana each have five wrestlers competing in the Class 3A meet.

Before the action gets underway on Wednesday afternoon 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 – Jack Litton (18-17) Soph., City High vs. Paxton Sutter (37-7) Fr., ADM

113 – Wyatt Iburg (34-13) Soph., Clear Creek Amana vs. Jaxsen Vestal (16-20), Sr., Southeast Polk

113 – Konstantinos Panos (21-11) Jr., Liberty High vs. Julian Davila (32-6), Soph. Des Moines East

120 – Benjamin Rosen (17-11) Jr., Liberty High vs. Andrew Bedner (22-9) Soph., Ottumwa

120 – Hugo Hughes (33-12) Fr., West High vs. Miguel Astorga (21-16) Jr., Cedar Rapids Xavier

120 – Tytus Steapp (29-17) Fr., Clear Creek Amana vs. Liam Fitzgibbon (32-13) Soph., Pleasant Valley

138 – Malachi Clement (37-13) Jr., City High vs. Jameson Jordan (33-11) Jr., Des Moines Roosevelt

138 – Charles Barnhouse (15-9) Jr., West High vs. Sullivan Baccam (36-11) Jr., Carlisle

144 – Jimmy Milder (21-23) Fr., City High vs. Mandius Volentine (34-5) Soph., Council Bluffs Lewis Central

144 – Owin Koethe (38-13) Fr., West High vs. Luke Lindaman (29-10) Jr., Waterloo West

157 – Brody Schrock (23-20) Soph., Clear Creek Amana vs. Rylan Hilton (24-7) Jr., Indianola

157 – Finn O’Toole (10-22) Sr., Liberty High vs. Greyson Willett (42-8) Jr., Pleasant Valley

165 – Campbell Janis (35-10) Sr., West High vs. Ben Rotert (15-16) Jr., Ankeny Centennial

190 – Aidan Schrock (36-14) Sr., Clear Creek Amana vs. Max Kelly (19-9) Sr., Johnston

215 – Ashten Holmes (22-24) Soph., West High vs. Alex Gassman (23-5) Sr., Western Dubuque

285 – Kane Willey (29-7) Sr., City High vs. Calvin McAvan (17-12) Sr., Dubuque Senior

Area qualifiers/second round opponents

106 – Connor McGonegle (20-4) Jr., Liberty High vs. Braydon Trammer (39-6), Sr., Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln/Samuel White (21-19) Sr., Johnston winner

113 – Chase Williams (27-14) Soph., City High vs. Austen Fry (28-11) Soph., West Des Moines Valley/Cameron Moeckly (16-19) Fr., Ankeny Centennial winner

113 – Diego Robertty (35-1) Fr., West High vs. Nicholas Million (26-9), Soph., Marshalltown/Liam Dunlay (38-16) Soph., Pleasant Valley winner

126 – Alexander Pierce (45-0) Sr., West High vs. Asaiah Martinez-Ruiz (25-9) Sr., Norwalk/Gabe Showers (38-12) Jr., Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln winner

132 – Zyaire Washpun (32-11) Jr., City High vs. Blake Stanford (36-15) Jr., Norwalk/Amos Guanue (9-9) Sr., West Des Moines Dowling winner

157 – Blest Woods (33-8) Fr., West High vs. Greyson Willett (42-8) Jr., Pleasant Valley/Finn O’Toole (10-22) Sr., Liberty High winner

165 – Nolan Dao (32-6) Soph., Clear Creek Amana vs. Matthew Phillips (41-10) Jr., Oskaloosa/Hunter Morrow (22-14) Sr., Davenport North winner

175 – Landon Bell (8-0) Sr., Liberty High vs. Davion Lampkin (17-15) Soph., Pella/Wes Weiford (26-12) Sr., Johnston

285 – Kaden Stitt (37-6) Sr., West High vs. Jareth Navarro (23-19) Jr., Linn-Mar/Mason Hinrichs (31-13) Sr., Waverly-Shell Rock winner

Undefeated Wrestlers

126 – Alexander Pierce (45-0) Sr., West High

132 – Jake Knight (36-0) Sr., Bettendorf

157 – Alex Penzkover (13-0) Soph., Southeast Polk

165 – Max Crosson (31-0) Jr., Indianola

175 – Landon Bell (8-0) Sr., Liberty High

175 – Jaxon Miller (40-0) Sr., Carlisle

215 – Lincoln Jipp (44-0) Sr., Bettendorf

285 – Dreshaun Ross (31-0) Sr., Fort Dodge

Returning State Champions

Current weight class, Wrestler, School, 2025 Championship weight

126 – Eddie Woody, Southeast Polk, 106

138 – Nico DeSalvo, Southeast Polk, 113

132 – Jake Knight, Bettendorf, 120

165 – Mac Crosson, Indianola, 138

150 – Justis Jesuroga, Southeast Polk, 144

175 – Maximus Dhabolt, Ankeny Centennial, 157

175 – Jaxon Miller, Carlisle, 165

285 – Dreshaun Ross, Fort Dodge, 215

First Round Match to Watch

Clear Creek Amana senior Aidan Schrock returns to the state meet after going 1-2 in his state meet debut last season at 165 pounds.

One of those two losses for Schrock last season came in the opening round.

Look for Schrock (36-14) to use that experience to his advantage in an immediate rematch on Wednesday with Johnston senior Max Kelly (19-9) in a 190-pound opener.

Kelley pinned Schrock in the semifinals of the District 7 meet last week on his way to a district runner-up finish while Schrock finished third.

Schrock will get an opportunity to avenge that loss just four days later at the state meet.

The winner of the opening-round match between Schrock and Kelly will face fifth-ranked Kellen Wegner (40-7) of Dallas Center-Grimes in the 190-pound second round.

Second Round Match to Watch

City High sophomore Chase Williams enters the state tournament doing his best wrestling of the season but will face a tough test in his state meet opener.

Eighth-ranked Williams (27-14) won the 113-pound title at the District 6 meet last week and earned an opening-round bye at the state meet.

In the second round Williams will likely get a rematch with seventh-ranked West Des Moines Valley sophomore Austen Fry.

Fry (28-11) faces Ankeny Centennial freshman Cameron Moeckly (16-19) in the opening round and with a win would set up a top-eight second-round matchup with Williams.

Fry won the only meeting with Williams this season via a 13-2 major decision at the J-Hawk Invitational on January 17.

Since that loss to Fry, Williams has won 10 of his last 12 matches and has won 10 of his last 11 with his only loss to top-ranked Diego Robertty of West High.

Wrestler to Watch

West High senior 126-pounder Alexander Pierce has been one of the state’s top wrestlers for the past four seasons.

Pierce will look to put the finishing touches on a brilliant career with an unbeaten state title.

A three-time state finalist, Pierce won a state title as a freshman before finishing runner-up each of the past two seasons.

This season Pierce (45-0) has been dominant and enters the state meet as one of only eight unbeatens in the Class 3A field.

Pierce is the second seed in the 126-pound bracket and if seeds hold would face No. 10 Xavier junior Elliott Gnewuch in the quarterfinals and third-ranked Weston Porter of Council Bluffs Lewis Central in the semifinals.

Pierce is 3-0 against Gnewuch (33-9) this season with a first-period pin and two tech falls including a 21-3 win in 2:40 in the District 2 title match last week.

Porter (34-2) finished third at 113 pounds last season after a runner-up finish at 106 pounds two years ago and is unbeaten against in-state competition this season.

Top-seeded Southeast Polk sophomore Eddie Woody Jr. (34-2) won the 106-pound title last season and is unbeaten against in-state competition this season.

Weight Class to Watch

As always there are plenty of loaded brackets in the 3A tournament.

With a pair of undefeated wrestlers and two returning state champions the 175-pound bracket will be among the best brackets to watch throughout this week

Liberty High senior Landon Bell (8-0) is the third seed in a stacked 175-pound field and expects to be in the state title conversation.

Bell, who finished fifth at 175 pounds last season, enters ranked eighth and is the highest finisher returning from last year’s 175-pound bracket.

Top-seeded Carlisle senior Jaxon Miller (40-0) won the 165 pound title last season and is 82-2 over the past two seasons combined.

Ankeny Centennial junior Maximus Dhabolt (13-1) is the second seed and won the 157-pound title last season.

The lone loss for Dhabolt this season is a 4-2 setback to Miller last month and he is 46-2 the past two seasons.

The Teams

District Champions (state qualifiers)

Linn-Mar (11); West High (9); Waverly-Shell Rock (12); Southeast Polk (14); Indianola (13); North Scott (11); West Des Moines Dowling (12); Waukee Northwest (9)

Area Teams (State qualifiers)

City High (6); West High (9); Liberty High (5); Clear Creek Amana (5)

2025 Top Five Team Finishers – 1. Southeast Polk 259.5; 2. Bettendorf 142.5; 3. Indianola 127.5; 4. Carlisle 126; 5. Johnston 114

Last Five Team Champs

2025 – Southeast Polk

2024 – Southeast Polk

2023 – Waverly-Shell Rock

2022 – Southeast Polk

2021 – Waverly-Shell Rock

What to Watch in the Team Race

Southeast Polk ran away from the field last season on its way to its second consecutive 3A title and third in the past four seasons and enter as the favorites to claim a third consecutive 3A crown.

The Rams qualified all 14 wrestlers for the state meet and have eight wrestlers ranked in the top four including five top-ranked wrestlers.

Last year’s runner-up Bettendorf and third-place finisher Indianola are both among the teams expected to be chasing Southeast Polk.

Second-ranked West Des Moines Dowling has 12 qualifiers including four wrestlers ranked in the top three.

Keep an eye on seventh-ranked West High.

The Trojans were 10^th a year ago but should push for a top-three finish this season with five ranked wrestlers including four that are ranked in the top six.

Freshman Diego Robertty is ranked first at 113 pounds and Pierce is ranked second at 126 pounds.

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