Champions crowned on final day of Iowa state wrestling

By Dana Becker | Photos by Matthew Putney 

Fourteen individuals in each of the three classifications, along with three teams, were all crowned as state champions on Saturday night as the Iowa state wrestling championships concluded in front of a sold-out crowd inside Wells Fargo Arena. 

The team races turned out to be decided early, as Waverly-Shell Rock (Class 3A), Osage (2A) and Don Bosco (1A) all finished atop the standings. All three were also crowned dual state champions earlier this year.

Here is a look at the final day of state wrestling:

1A: History once again for Don Bosco

Only two programs in the long and storied history of Iowa high school wrestling have finished atop the team standings five consecutive seasons. Waterloo East did it first, but Don Bosco has now done it twice.

The Dons put the finishing touches on their fifth consecutive traditional gold early as Cole Frost, Jaxon Larson, Myles McMahon, Andrew Kimball and Jared Thiry secured medals during the consolation rounds.

That left Saturday night as a chance to celebrate and add even more hardware with Kaiden Knaack, Kyler Knaack, Jared Thiry and Mack Ortner competing in the finals.

Only Kyler Knaack came out on top, as the other three settled for runner-up finishes. Knaack concluded his season 40-2, handing West Hancock’s Kellen Smith his first loss in the finals, 1-0.

“People thought maybe this was the year we would drop off a little bit, but we had a lock of kids step up and get better,” Don Bosco head coach Chris Ortner said. “Guys on JV last year placed this year and that is what it takes. All the credit goes to them.

“This is unbelievable. There is a lot of pride in the school and the program, and it just means an awful lot to a lot of people.”

Wilton placed second and Alburnett third in the team standings. Both had a second-place finisher, as Wilton’s Mason Shirk was the 106-pound runner-up and Rowdy Neighbor from Alburnett did the same at 113.

Lisbon’s Brandon Paez left one final mark on his incredible resume, winning gold at 120 with a first period fall. Paez finished the season unbeaten at 53-0. Nashua-Plainfield’s Garret Rinken did the same a weight class later, earning a major decision to go 51-0 as a senior.

Underwood’s Gable Porter won his third title with a first period fall, while teammate Blake Allen won gold just moments later as a junior.

In a battle of unbeatens at 160, Wyatt Reisz from Logan-Magnolia downed New London’s Dominic Lopez in sudden victory, 6-4. Reisz finished his senior season 52-0, while Lopez - who set the career wins record earlier in the tournament - went 57-1.

Sigourney-Keota’s Reanah Utterback made history, becoming just the second girl to medal at the boys state tournament. Utterback, a sophomore and two-time qualifier, was eighth at 106 pounds.

Utterback opted to compete against boys instead of girls this winter, finishing 37-11 overall on the year. She went 2-3 at state after receiving a bye in the first round.

2A: Osage now the golden Devils

Feel free to rename the Osage Green Devils to the Osage Golden Devils after this state wrestling season. Legendary head coach Brent Jennings put together a perfect winter, as Osage claimed both the state dual and traditional team titles.

Blake Fox, Tucker Stangel and Nicholas Fox gave the Green Devils three more trophies to bring home, winning individual titles, while Anders Kittleson was a runner-up. A freshman, Blake Fox topped Vinny Mayberry of Glenwood, 8-2, to finish the year 51-2.

Stangel concluded his season 40-0 with a 7-6 decision over Sergeant Bluff-Luton’s Ty Koedam, while Nicholas Fox won 3-1 to hand Sioux City Heelan’s Ethan DeLeon his first loss and finish 49-2.

Along with those four, Chase Thomas finished third, Max Gast and Mac Muller were fourth, and Barrett Muller placed sixth.

Greene County seniors Kale Petersen and McKinley Robbins secured another state title each to go along with unbeaten seasons. Petersen was crowned the 132-pound champion and Robbins the same at 138, as they went a combined 60-0 on the year.

Notre Dame, Burlington’s Isaiah Fenton and CJ Walrath also did just that, as Fenton won the 152-pound title and Walrath claimed gold at 182.

Sometimes the focus can be directed so much on the championship side that you miss some incredible performances in the consolation rounds. Notre Dame, Burlington’s Kaiden Dietzenbach was one of those.

Dietzenbach, who had his state title hopes dashed with a loss in the first round as the No. 1 seed at 126 pounds, reeled off six consecutive wins on the backside to claim third place honors.

3A: No stopping Waverly-Shell Rock yet again

For the fourth time in the last five years, Waverly-Shell Rock flexed its dominance and depth, holding off the likes of Southeast Polk, Bettendorf and Linn-Mar to claim the team title.

The Go-Hawks earned a total of seven medals led by first place finishes from unbeaten future Iowa wrestler Ryder Block, Bas Diaz, unbeaten Danny Diaz and a runner-up by Jake Walker.

Ryker Graff placed fourth with Ethan Bibler and McCrae Hagarty taking sixth for Waverly-Shell Rock.

Hagarty, who is headed to Iowa State after a standout career, was injured during state duals. He was forced to medically forfeit his final two matches after walking off the mat in the semifinals due to his injured shoulder.

Despite not having a finalist, Southeast Polk made its run in the consolation rounds, as the Rams picked up nine medals. Carter Pearson, Maximus Riggins and Brent Slade each finished third, Cooper Martinson was fourth, Holden Hansen and Harrison Gibson finished fifth, Antonio Loving was sixth, Justis Jesuroga seventh and Nicklas Martin eighth.

Iowa City High’s Ben Kueter became just the seventh Iowa prep to finish unbeaten in his high school career, winning a fourth title and improving to 39-0 on the year. Kueter joins Dan Gable, Jeff Kerber, Dan Knight, Jeff McGinness, Eric Juergens and John Meeks on the elusive list.

The future Hawkeye, and reigning U20 world champion, won all 39 matches this season by either fall or technical fall. He is the 32nd four-time champion and finished 111-0 with 74 pins.

In one of the featured finals, Iowa City High’s Gabe Arnold secured a 2-1 victory in overtime over Linn-Mar’s Tate Naaktgeboren. Both are headed to college in the fall to continue their careers, as Arnold has signed with Iowa and Naaktgeboren Iowa State.

Arnold finished things off with an escape and rode Naaktgeboren out for the final 30 seconds to complete a 41-0 season.

Johnston sophomore Jacob Helgeson also secured a perfect season, finishing 43-0 and as the 152-pound champion with a 3-2 win.

Fort Dodge’s Dreshaun Ross won an all-freshman 195-pound title with an 8-1 victory over Denarii Mickel of Ames. Ross joins a list that includes current Division I wrestlers Brody Teske, Drake Ayala and Drew Bennett as champions for the Dodgers.