Iowa high school wrestling state tournament: Day 3 results, team scores (2/16/2024)

The penultimate day at the Iowa high school wrestling state tournament presented plenty of raw emotion and intrigue.

As the team races intensified, each of the 14 weight divisions across all three classifications saw their final pairings come to fruition.

The championship round takes place Saturday night inside Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, and as we have all week, SBLive will provide coverage throughout.

Here is a recap of Friday’s action:

2A: Green Devils seeing gold as tournament winds down 

After briefly surrendering the lead to Union LaPorte City, defending champion Osage showed its strength by reclaiming first place heading into Saturday.

The Green Devils will have four wrestlers going for state titles, while another chases a medal on the consolation side. Osage has 112.5 points with Mount Vernon in second followed by Union LaPorte City, Burlington Notre Dame and Creston.

Defending champion Blake Fox is among those in the finals, as he moved to 49-1 with a 2-1 decision over Cadyn Wild from Davenport Assumption at 138 pounds. Joining him will be Anders Kittleson at 144, defending champ and now four-time medalist Tucker Stangel at 157 and Mac Muller at 285. All three are unbeaten and earned pins in the semifinals.

Mount Vernon has two left headed for the finals in Klayten Perreault and Jase Jaspers, while Jace Hedeman of Union LaPorte City chases his third title in three years. Joining him will be teammates Brayden Bohnsack and Caleb Olson.

Webster City’s Carson Doolitle (left) is moving on to Saturday’s finals. (Photo by Britt Kudla)

Humboldt freshman Broedy Hendricks, who won multiple titles on the state and national scene before joining the high school ranks, downed Osage’s Max Gast at 165 and will square off with Dubuque Wahlert’s Colin Young for the crown.

Kade Blume, a two-time state champion for Roland-Story who was banned for his junior season due to a hazing incident, will meet Kaiden Dietzenbach of Burlington Notre Dame in the 132-pound finals.

3A: Built Ram tough

Southeast Polk secured another 3A traditional team title Friday, entering the final rounds with 185.5 points. This marks the sixth title in 12 years for the Rams, who will leave with 10 individual medals in all.

Bettendorf is in second with the battle for third likely to come down to the wire. Fort Dodge holds a four-point lead over Waukee Northwest with Waverly-Shell Rock, Indianola, Ankeny and Carlisle all bunched up behind them.

The semifinal round featured some stunning outcomes, including at 175 pounds. Three-time state champion Maximus Magayna was upset by Asa Hemsted of Carlisle, 7-5. Maganya, who won his titles competing for Waterloo Columbus, was looking to join an exclusive list of four-time winners.

Instead, Hemsted will take on Fort Dodge’s Damarion Ross, a repeat state finalist and one of three Dodgers looking to hoist the crown. Ross is joined by former state runner-up Koy Davidson and defending champion Dreshaun Ross, his younger brother.

The Rams have Nico DeSalvo, Carter Pearson, Logan Trenary, Brent Slade and Holden Hansen all in the finals, with five others competing for medals. DeSalvo, a freshman, has knocked off fellow ninth-grader Jack Wallukait of West Des Moines Dowling and top seed Dylan Munson of Cedar Rapids Prairie at 106.

Pearson is unbeaten and now aligned with Bettendorf’s Jake Knight in a marquee showdown at 120 pounds Saturday night. Knight went 46-1 last year to win gold and is 34-1 this season.

Joining Knight from Bettendorf in the finals will be Timothy Koester and Jayce Luna.

Carter Freeman from Waukee Northwest survived a 6-5 decision vs. Bettendorf’s Cody Trevino to reach his fourth state finals. The three-time champion, who has committed to the University of Northern Iowa, will battle Davidson at 138 pounds.

Koufax Christensen gives the Wolves another finalist as the future Oklahoma Sooner seeks a third title to conclude his career.

1A: Don Bosco lined up for title

Four Don Bosco wrestlers secured spots in the finals on Saturday night as the Dons built a comfortable lead over Wilton and Alburnett for team gold.

Don Bosco sits atop the standings heading into the final rounds with 151.5 points. Wilton is second with 120 followed by Alburnett with Underwood and West Hancock a distant third and fourth.

Hayden Schwab, a freshman and the son of University of Northern Iowa head coach Doug Schwab, Dawson Youngblut, defending champion Kyler Knaack and Kaiden Knaack will all compete for individual state titles.

Schwab, a perfect 37-0 on the season, continued his dominating run at 106 pounds with a major decision in the semifinals. Youngblut moved to 37-1 with a slim 3-1 decision vs. Brody Brisker of Wilton, while Kyler Knaack won via fall and Kaiden Knaack earned a 6-4 sudden-victory over Kile Bucknell from Jesup.

Wilton will bring Liam Adlfinger and Mason Shirk into the finals with five others set to medal.

–Dana Becker I @SBLiveIA