The Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa was home to one of the most dramatic state tournament races that any state has ever seen. Three of the nation's top sixteen teams put it on the line for the title in the Hawkeye State. Despite the absence of 2010 state runner-up Grady Gambrall at 135 pounds, No. 9 Iowa City West still entered as a slight favorite over No. 12 Bettendorf and three-time defending champions No. 16 Waverly-Shell Rock.
Heading into the championship matches, Bettendorf held a five point lead on Waverly-Shell Rock (148-143) with Iowa City West another point behind (142). Starting the last session in third, the Trojans had competitors in four of the first five weights. They split those matches, with one of those wins being a head-to-head final against Bettendorf. No. 9 Phillip Laux (103) and Jack Hathaway (125) won titles, while Kegan Wakefield (119) and Dakota Bauer (130) fell to nationally ranked opponents. Hathaway's win was a 6-1 victory over No. 19 Connor Ryan.
At that point, Iowa City West had a 150-148 lead over Bettendorf, and Waverly-Shell Rock was in third with 143 points. However, the Go-Hawks had three remaining finalists, including one head-to-head with Bettendorf at 285 pounds. That match represented Bettendorf's last chance to score points, as they only had two finalists -- Connor Ryan having already lost at 125 to Hathaway. The first of the Waverly-Shell Rock finalists was Jordan Rinken (140), who had scored a key 4-2 overtime victory over No. 20 Elijah Sullivan of Iowa City West in the semifinal round. However, he was upset 3-1 in overtime by Brian Warren (Des Moines North/Hoover). No. 10 Cody Caldwell (152) would win his third state title with a 9-3 decision over Trey Lewis (West Des Moines Valley) to set the match for all the marbles.
Heading into 285 pounds, Iowa City West still led Bettendorf by two (150-148), but Waverly-Shell Rock had 147 points. Therefore, the winner of the 285 pound match between two-time state champion No. 4 Cody Krumwiede (Waverly-Shell Rock) and defending state champion Brodie Berrie would take home the team title trophy as well. In that match, Krumwiede earned the 10-0 major decision to secure a third state title for himself, and the fourth in a row for the Go-Hawks.
Davenport Assumption (125-1/2) won the Class 2A title upending defending champion Denver-Tripoli (98-1/2) and Ballard Huxley (97) by close to 30 points, while Logan-Magnolia (86) ended the seemingly perpetual vise grip that Don Bosco (74-1/2) has had on the Class 1A title.
For access to all brackets, results, and team standings for all three classes: https://www.iahsaa.org/wrestling/2011%20Tournament/11wrresults.html
Power programs hog titles in Illinois Class 2A
Three of the best programs in all of Illinois, and also the nation as a whole, compete in the medium-school classification in Illinois. Among the fourteen weight class champions, twelve came from No. 14 Marmion Academy, No. 21 Crystal Lake Central, and No. 30 Montini Catholic.
Five Cadet wrestlers won titles -- No. 16 Johnny Jimenez (103), No. 12 Jered Cortez (112), George Fisher (119), No. 3 Ben Whitford (130), and Bryce Brill (135). Jimenez defeated both No. 3 Barlow McGhee of Rock Island and returning Class 3A placer Cameron Kennedy from Richmond-Burton by 3-0 scores in his last two matches. Cortez avenged last weekend's loss to Kevon Powell of Montini Catholic with a 6-2 victory in the final to earn the rubber match victory and a state gold medal. Fisher avenged a loss from last weekend as well with a 5-2 victory over Alphonso Vruno of Sandwich in the final.
Four Tigers wrestlers earned state titles -- Trevor Jauch (140) and No. 8 Joey Kielbasa (152) became three-time champions, No. 4 Austin Marsden (215) won his second, while No. 2 Gage Harrah (189) earned a maiden state title. Kielbasa beat No. 7 Stephen Robertson of Montini Catholic 8-3 in overtime to avenge a loss in the Dvorak final; this match placed a pair of wrestlers seeking their third state title against one another.
Finally three Bronco wrestlers earned state titles -- Frank Baer (145), Dimitri Willis (160), and Ross Ferraro (285). Willis upset two-time state champion Dylan Reel of Washington 3-1 in overtime in the semifinals for the key victory of his championship run. That was Reel's first loss at the state tournament, as the junior had won titles the two previous years. Rounding out state champions in Class 2A was No. 7 (at 130) Zane Richards of Carbondale at 125 pounds and AJ Messenger of Yorkville at 171 pounds.
For full Class 2A brackets: http://www.ihsa.org/activity/wr/2010-11/web/2abrk.htm
More Land of Lincoln nuggets
The Class 3A competition at 125 pounds featured four undefeated wrestlers to start the proceedings. However, at the end of the show on Saturday night, only No. 17 Danny Sabatello (Stevenson) finished the season unblemished. Steve Galiardo (Chicago St. Patrick) was the first to go down, losing 8-6 in overtime to Trent Atkins (Cary Grove) in the opening round. Galliardo's tournament came to an end without a wrestleback match when Atkins lost 1-0 in the quarterfinal. Down in the lower half of the draw, No. 11 Eddie Klimara (Providence Catholic) upended Nick Drendel (West Aurora) 7-2 in the semifinal match. This result set up the rematch of last year's final at 119 pounds where Sabatello upset Klimara. The same exact result happened this year, Sabatello winning his second state title by a 4-3 decision.
The anticipated three state champions at 171 pounds were reduced to two when No. 2 Jahwon Akui (Chicago St. Rita) was precluded from competing due to a disciplinary problem at school earlier in the week. However, two of the nation's elite juniors still were left to duke it out in No. 15 Sam Brooks (Oak Park River Forest) and Steve Congenie (Villa Park). Heading into the finals, the pair of wrestlers had combined for five pins in their six matches -- only Brooks had a match that went the distance, a 3-2 semifinal victory over Dustin Ventimiglia (Belleville West). The championship match resulted in a 15-8 upset victory for Congenie, which makes him a two-time state champion.
Other highlights saw No. 17 Lucas Smith (Wheeling), No. 9 Josh Marchok (Schaumburg), and No. 7 Jack Allen (Hinsdale Central) cap off undefeated seasons with a state championship. Smith earned an 8-0 major decision over No. 19 Brian Murphy (Glenbard North) at 140 pounds, Marchok won the title with a pin in the final at 215 pounds, and Allen defeated No. 11 Chris Lopez (Carl Sandburg) 5-2 in the 285 pound final.
For full Class 3A brackets, check out http://www.ihsa.org/activity/wr/2010-11/web/3abrk.htm. Also contested was the Class 1A tournament, its brackets are here: http://www.ihsa.org/activity/wr/2010-11/web/1abrk.htm
Losing is unacceptable in the Hoosier State
The Indiana State Wrestling Championships are essentially a single elimination tournament. Though placement is conducted out to eight wrestlers, one must win their opening round match to place; quarterfinal losers place fifth through eight, and semifinal losers wrestle for third place. In fitting fashion, there were nine undefeated state champs and another four that had just one loss.
Finishing the season as undefeated state champions were Nathan Boston (Lawrence North) at 103 pounds, Mason Todd (Pendleton Heights) at 112, Neal Molloy (Danville) at 130, No. 1 Jason Tsirtsis (Crown Point) at 140, No. 9 Eric Roach (Crown Point) at 145, Chad Welch (Castle) at 160, No. 17 Drake Stein (Princeton) at 171, and Trey Reese (Indian Creek) at 215.
Joining his twin brother as a state champion was Doug Welch (Castle) at 152 pounds; unlike Chad, Doug lost one match during the course of the season. Like teammate Reese, Ethan Raley (Indian Creek) won a state title at 135 pounds; however, he also lost one match during the season. The other two state champions to finish the year with just one loss were No. 18 Jared McKinley (Perry Meridian) and Garrett Goldman (Bloomington North). The worst record for a state champion this year was 45-4, and that was possessed by 285 pound champion Jeremiah Harvey (Culver Community School).
For full bracket: http://www.ihsaa.org/dnn/Portals/0/Boys%20Sports/Wrestling/2010-11/1011StateBrackets.pdf
Other state tournaments this past weekend
Alabama
http://www.trackwrestling.com/predefinedtournaments/VerifyPassword.jsp?tournamentId=1464009 (6A, 5A, 1A-4A)
Colorado
http://www.trackwrestling.com/predefinedtournaments/VerifyPassword.jsp?tournamentId=1536009 (Class 5A, 4A, 3A, 2A)
Delaware (Dual Meet)
http://www.doe.k12.de.us/infosuites/students_family/diaa/files/14_Brackets.pdf (Division I, II)
Florida
http://www.fhsaa.org/sports/wrestling (3A, 2A, 1A)
Georgia
http://www.ghsa.net/congratulations-2010-2011-ghsa-traditional-wrestling-champions (5A, 4A, 3A, 2A, 1A)
Kentucky
http://www.khsaa.org/wrestling/2011/state/khs2011home.htm
Missouri
http://www.mshsaa.org/Activities/Info/Wrestling.aspx (Class 4, 3, 2, 1)
Nebraska
Class A: http://www.nsaahome.org/textfile/wrest/classa.htm
Class B: http://www.nsaahome.org/textfile/wrest/classb.htm
Class C: http://www.nsaahome.org/textfile/wrest/classc.htm
Class D: http://www.nsaahome.org/textfile/wrest/classd.htm
Nevada
http://www.niaa.com/sports/wrest/2009-10/files/TPB-WR (4A, 3A, 2A)
New Mexico
http://www.trackwrestling.com/predefinedtournaments/VerifyPassword.jsp?tournamentId=1439009 (Class 5A, 4A, 3A)
North Dakota (Class A, B)
Individual: http://www.metrotournament.com/2011StateWrestling/IndividualBrackets.html
Dual Meet: http://www.metrotournament.com/2011StateWrestling/DualBrackets.html
Tennessee
http://tssaa.org/2010Champions/StateWrestling/home.htm (Division I, II)
Virginia
http://www.vhsl.org/athletics/wrestling_boys/wrestling_tournament_information (Group AAA, AA, A)
Washington
http://wiaa.com/subcontent.aspx?SecID=319 (4A, 3A, 2A, 1A, 1B/2B)
State tournaments this coming weekend
Individual Bracket: Arkansas, Delaware, Idaho, Kansas, National Prep, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
Dual Meet: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Michigan
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