money Waverly-Shell Rock seizes Class 3A team lead midway through, but race is far from over
The Class 3A team race began to take serious shape on Thursday night, after the quarterfinal matches and a couple of consolation rounds at the state wrestling championships at Wells Fargo Arena.
Waverly-Shell Rock will take a sizable lead into Friday. The Go-Hawks piled up 101 team points to sit atop the large-class heap. They are 15.5 points clear of second-place Southeast Polk (85.5) and third-place Bettendorf (77.5).
Much of Waverly-Shell Rock’s point production came from their heavy-hitters, as six Go-Hawk wrestlers reached the semifinals, the most of any 3A team. Of the six, only one, Ryker Graff at 113 pounds, is on pace to out-place his seed (he’s the No. 5). Four others are in the bloodround — win, you’re a state medalist; lose, you’re not.
So Waverly-Shell Rock is in good position midway through this tournament, but this thing is far from over.
Southeast Polk may be 15.5 points behind, but four Rams wrestlers reached the semifinals and another eight are in the bloodround. That many medalists will keep them in this race — especially if they continue to climb and place high through Friday and Saturday.
Bettendorf took some hits during Thursday’s early consolation rounds, but ultimately pushed eight wrestlers into Friday, four in the semifinals and another four in the bloodround. They had two wrestlers seeded No. 2 lose, which hurts, but they’re still within striking distance if they can rebound on Friday and Saturday.
This team race should fully crystallize Friday, but how remains to be seen. The Go-Hawks have a firm grip on the wheel and can solidify that control with another strong session. The Rams have numbers on their side, but still need to perform to get back in it and Bettendorf’s margin-for-error is now practically non-existent.
Even more, there are others outside the top three with slim odds, but still worth monitoring.
Linn-Mar sits fourth with 73 points, Johnston is fifth with 65.5, and both have four semifinalists. Iowa City High, eighth with 63, also put four in the semifinals and could climb quickly. Ankeny and Centennial, tied for sixth with 65.5 points, both have two in the semifinals and five in the bloodround.
So much could still happen on Friday.
Which is part of the fun, right?
Wednesday’s opening rounds allowed each team to position itself for a run. Thursday was the first true lap in this four-day race. Friday is all-important, with major team points up for grabs. Saturday morning offers the final chances before the champions are crowned on Saturday night.
Buckle up, if you haven’t already. Thursday was fun. Friday is expected to be even better.
Weight-by-Weight analysis from the Class 3A state quarterfinals
106: Southeast Polk’s Carter Pearson, the No. 1 seed, has recorded two pins en route to the semifinals. Ankeny Centennial’s Cale Vandermark provided the main highlight here, scoring a late takedown to force overtime at 4-4, then scoring another nine seconds into sudden victory for a 6-4 win over No. 3 Mitchell Pins (Hempstead).
113: An excellent set of semifinal matches here. No. 5 Ryker Graff (WSR) registered a 4-1 win over No. 4 Aiden Serrano (Carlisle) and will get No. 1 Dru Ayala (Fort Dodge) in the semifinals. On the other side, a pair of All-Americans will meet in No. 3 Connor Fiser (Bondurant-Farrar) and No. 2 Jake Knight (Bettendorf).
120: Waukee Northwest’s Koufax Christensen and Prairie’s Blake Gioimo will meet in a rematch of last year’s 113 state final (Christensen won, 1-0). On the other side, Indianola’s Bowen Downey, the No. 2 seed, gets Bettendorf’s TJ Koester, another returning champ.
126: Southeast Polk’s Max Riggins used a big move in the second period in a 9-4 win over No. 2 Cody Trevino (Bettendorf). He’ll advance to face No. 3 Jabari Hinson (Ames). Up top, North Scott’s Ayden Golden, the No. 12 seed, continued his cinderella run with a 13-7 win over No. 4 Nate Bierma (Valley). He’ll get City High’s Cale Seaton, the No. 1, on Friday.
132: Great set of semifinals on tap here, with No. 1 Carter Freeman (Waukee NW) vs. No. 5 Kael Kurtz (City High) and No. 2 Jayce Luna (Bettendorf) vs. No. 3 Brayden Parke (Linn-Mar).
More:Recap: Day 2 of Iowa high school state wrestling tournament sets semifinals across all classes
138: Nolan Fellers, a freshman at Bondurant-Farrar, rallied from a 4-1 deficit to win 10-6 over Fort Dodge’s Koy Davidson, a returning state finalist, to punch his ticket to the semifinals. Gave up two early takedowns, then rallied with three of his own. Impressive win for a young guy. His reward is top-seeded Ryder Block on Friday.
145: Another freshman, Carlisle’s Jaxon Miller, wins 4-1 over Bettendorf’s Tycho Carmichael, the No. 2, and advances to the semifinals. Miller scored a takedown in the second period and a reversal in the third to land one win away from the state finals. On the other side of the bracket, Ankeny Centennial’s Lucas Bruhl scored late for a 7-4 win over an always-explosive Justin Avila from Iowa City West.
152: All the top seeds held here, which will make for an exciting set of semifinals. Up top: Johnston’s No. 1 Jacob Helgeson gets Bettendorf’s No. 4 Elijah Mendoza. Down below: Ankeny’s No. 2 Jace Anderson, a first-time semifinalist, gets Linn-Mar’s No. 3 Grant Kress.
160: Linn-Mar’s Grant Boddicker was the story here on Wednesday, reaching the quarters as the No. 20 seed, but Valley’s Cinsere Clark sent Cinderella home early with a 5-1 win to advance to the semifinals, where he’ll face Fort Dodge’s Damarion Ross. On the other side, No. 2 Josiah Schaetzle (Hempstead) will wrestle No. 3 Danny Diaz (WSR) in a rematch from a preseason exhibition in September (Schaetzle won, 4-3, in overtime).
170: Controversy here. Midway through the first period, Southeast Polk’s Brent Slade was called for an illegal slam against Lewis Central’s Braylon Kammrad, resulting in Kammrad, the No. 10 seed, advancing to the semifinals and Slade, the No. 2, falling to the wrestlebacks. Big-time team-race implications there. If Kammrad can wrestle, he’ll get Johnston’s Kaia Fox, the No. 11 who used back-to-back 2-1 wins to reach the semifinals.
182: We’re on a collision course here, with City High’s Gabe Arnold as the No. 1 seed and Linn-Mar’s Tate Naaktgeboren as the No. 2. Arnold has recorded a pin and a technical fall. Naaktgeboren has recorded back-to-back pins.
195: The seeds held, which makes for some interesting semifinals. Waverly-Shell Rock’s McCrae Hagarty, the No. 1 and a two-time champ, is laboring through a shoulder injury and will face Ames freshman Danarii Mickel, the No. 4. In the other half, Fort Dodge freshman Dreshaun Ross, the No. 3, advanced with a pin and 11-4 decision and will meet Southeast Polk’s Harrison Gibson, the No. 2 who’s recorded a pin and a major.
220: Iowa City High’s Ben Kueter has recorded two pins in a combined 26 seconds — a 14-second fall in the second round, and a 12-second fall in the quarterfinals. On the other side, Southeast Polk’s Tomas Loving, the No. 14 seed, has reached the semifinals after a 4-2 tiebreaker overtime win over Pleasant Valley’s No. 6 Rusty VanWetzinga.
285: The seeds held here, too. Norwalk’s Maddux Borcherding-Johnson, the No. 1, is now a four-time semifinalist who is seeking his first finals appearance, gets Ames’ No. 4 Kyler Hall. In the bottom half, Waverly-Shell Rock’s Jake Walker, a two-time state finalist, gets Dowling’s No. 2 Carson Hagan in a rematch of the Ed Winger finals — which Hagan won 3-2.
Cody Goodwin covers wrestling and high school sports for the Des Moines Register. Follow him on Twitter at @codygoodwin.
2023 Iowa high school state wrestling championships
Class 3A Team Scores, after Day Two
Waverly-Shell Rock, 101
Southeast Polk, 85.5
Bettendorf, 77.5
Linn-Mar, 73
Johnston, 65.5
Ankeny, 65.5
Ankeny Centennial, 65.5
Iowa City High, 63
Carlisle, 59.5
Fort Dodge, 58.5
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Class 3A State Wrestling: Waverly-SR leads SEP, Bettendorf after Day 2
