Week 10 Iowa high school wrestling notebook

News and notes from around Iowa prep wrestling this week

Osage's Tucker Stangel 

By Dana Becker | Photo by Ginnie Coleman 

In Iowa, the date of wrestling districts is one that everybody has circled on their calendars. 

And for the first time, all three classifications statewide gathered at their respective sites for districts. Class 1A and 2A switched from starting with sectionals and advancing to districts, to straight to districts, just like 3A has done for years.

The Top-3 qualifiers at each of the eight 3A districts qualified for state, which begins Wednesday in Des Moines from Wells Fargo Arena. For 1A and 2A, the first and “true” second place finishers at each weight advanced.

The state tournament features 24 wrestlers at each weight in each class, with the Top 8 receiving a bye. Winners will compete just once over the four-day event, with the championships taking place Saturday night in front of another sold-out crowd.

Southeast Polk, the defending 3A traditional champions who finished second at state duals to Waverly-Shell Rock, racked up 249 points to win the Norwalk district. The Rams advanced 11 wrestlers including champions Carter Pearson, Wil Oberbroeckling, Maximus Riggins, Logan Trenary, Trevor Oberbroeckling, Brent Slade, Holden Hansen and Harrison Gibson.

Speaking of Waverly-Shell Rock, the Go-Hawks had little trouble at the Cedar Rapids Jefferson district, scoring 279.5 points. Individuals champions included Ryker Graff, Zane Behrends, Ryder Block, Bas Diaz, Danny Diaz, Zander Wedemeier, Cole Thompson, McCrae Hagarty, Caden Wetherell and Jake Walker, while Alex Hornyak and Ethan Bibler qualified as runners-up.

Bettendorf showed why they are a legit threat to Southeast Polk and Waverly-Shell Rock, winning its own district with 284.5 points. Jayden Luna, Jake Knight, Timothy Koester, Cody Trevino, Jayce Luna, Lincoln Jipp, Tycho Carmichael, Elijah Mendoza and Jordan Roberts all won titles, with Armon Williams, Cooper Agosta, Ronan Numkena and Aiden Lee advancing as second place finishers.

Fort Dodge’s Sam Davidson, Dru Ayala, Max Bishop, Koy Davidson, Damarion Ross and Dreshaun Ross each won titles, with Kane Butrick, Rylee Brown and Cal Hartman claiming seconds to qualify.

Three-time defending state champion Ben Kueter spent just under three minutes on the mat in claiming his fourth district title. Kueter, the future University of Iowa Hawkeye, improved to 35-0 for Iowa City High and will begin his chase for title No. 4 on Wednesday.

Osage, Don Bosco bringing plenty to Des Moines

Defending state dual champions Osage (Class 2A) and Don Bosco (1A) will each have large contingents inside Wells Fargo Arena as they look to add traditional titles.

The Green Devils had no trouble winning the district title in Iowa Falls, as Tysen Stangel, Blake Fox, Anders Kittelson, Tucker Stangel, Chase Thomas, Max Gast, Nicholas Fox, Cole Jeffries, Barrett Muller and Mac Muller were all qualifiers. Tucker Stangel improved to 36-0 with a fall and a technical fall at 145 pounds.

Don Bosco did the same at the English Valleys district with 267 points to finish well ahead of Belle Plaine and North Mahaska. Cole Frost, Jaxon Larson, Myles McMahon, Kaiden Knaack, Kyler Knaack, Jacob Thiry, Landon Fernandez, Jared Thiry and Mack Ortner all won titles, with Kanaan Delagardelle and Andrew Kimball placing second.

Utterback adds name to history books

Sigourney-Keota’s Reanah Utterback made history at districts this past weekend. While many of her fellow female wrestlers competed at the recent sanctioned girls state championships, she focused on making it to the IHSAA championships again.

And that is exactly what she did.

Utterback became just the third two-time IHSAA state qualifier, joining Megan Black and Jasmin Luedtke. Black secured a state medal in her second appearance back in 2012.

The sophomore will takes a 36-9 record to state.