Don Bosco, Reanah Utterback, more make history at Class 1A state wrestling championships
The Class 1A state wrestling tournament saw a lot of history this week.
Before Saturday night’s finals even began, Reanah Utterback capped her special week by finishing eighth at 106 pounds. She is just the second Iowa girl ever to medal at the boys state wrestling tournament, joining Megan Black, who took eighth for Eddysville-Blakesburg-Fremont in 2012.
In that same medal round, Don Bosco secured the team championship, its fifth in a row. The mighty Dons are the first school in state history to win five consecutive traditional state team titles two separate times, previously winning five straight in 2006-10. Waterloo West is the only other school to win five team titles in a row, doing so from 1942-46.
Come Saturday night, more history unfolded.
Lisbon’s Brandon Paez (120) and Underwood’s Gable Porter (132) both capped their careers as four-time finalists and three-time champs. Logan-Magnolia’s Wyatt Reisz (160) joined them as three-time champs. So did Columbus Catholic’s Max Magayna (170), who is now in position to win a fourth.
Another Underwood wrestler, Blake Allen, won a state title, joining his younger sister, Molly, who won a girls state title earlier this year. They are just the second brother-sister combo to win a state wrestling title in the same year, joining Robert and Jannell Avila, who both won in 2020.
Iowa’s small-class state wrestling tournament was a four-day competition littered with historic moments.
Don Bosco secures rare 5-peat in Class 1A state wrestling
Don Bosco’s state team title is also the 15th in school history, which ranks third in the state. The Dons have won 11 of those team crowns in the last 17 years.
This week, the Dons piled up 165 points, finishing 26 points ahead of second-place Wilton (139). Don Bosco finished with nine total medalists, including four finalists and one champ, Kyler Knaack at 152 pounds.
Wilton countered with eight medalists of its own. Just one, Mason Shirk at 106, made the finals, but six of its eight medalists finished fifth or better, which helped them finish comfortably as the runner-up for the third time in school history (they previously took second in 1995 and 1998).
Nashua-Plainfield used some Saturday night success to jump into third-place for the final team trophy of the competition. Jayden and Garret Rinken won titles at 106 and 126, respectively, giving Nashua-Plainfield 112 total points — a half-point ahead of fourth-place Alburnett (111.5).
Weight-by-Weight analysis from the Class 1A state wrestling finals
106lbs: #1 Jayden Rinken (Nashua-Plainfield) dec. #6 Mason Shirk (Wilton), 8-2
Jayden Rinken lived up to his billing as the 1-seed here. After a scoreless first period, Rinken reversed Shirk and scored two backs out of the sequence for a 4-0 lead, then they traded reversals before the third, giving Rinken a 6-2 lead. A late takedown in the third iced it.
113lbs: #2 Cael Morrow (Akron-Westfield) dec. #4 Rowdy Neighbor (Alburnett), 10-2
Cael Morrow’s second trip to the state finals results in a state title. He scored two takedowns in the first period, another in the second, plus a reversal in the third.
120lbs: #1 Brandon Paez (Lisbon) pinned #3 Teague Smith (West Hancock) in 1:59
It took Lisbon’s Brandon Paez exactly two minutes to record the fall and win his third state title. The future Northern Iowa wrestler caps his career as a four-time finalist and three-time champ.
126lbs: #1 Garret Rinken (Nashua-Plainfield) maj. dec. #6 Dawson Schmit (Wapsie Valley), 13-3
Northern Iowa recruits win two in a row in Iowa’s smallest class. After Paez’s pin, Garret Rinken joins him, as well as younger brother Jayden, atop the podium. He scored six takedowns for a major decision to win his second state title — and to ensure Nashua-Plainfield finished third in the team race.
132lbs: #1 Gable Porter (Underwood) pinned #2 Tanner Arjes (North Butler-Clarksville) in 1:11
Gable Porter needs all of 71 seconds to pin Arjes for his third state title. The Virginia recruit finishes as a four-time state finalist — one of many this year — with a 131-2 career record. He is a legendary figure in Underwood wrestling history.
138lbs: #1 Blake Allen (Underwood) dec. #2 Collin Holm (South Winneshiek), 3-1 (SV)
Blake Allen gives Underwood a second champ after scoring a takedown quickly in sudden victory to beat Holm, 3-1. Allen also joins his sister Molly as a state champion wrestler — Molly’s a two-timer, as well as a 16U women's freestyle national champ — making them the second brother-sister state champion combo in state history, joining Robert and Jannell Avila, who both won titles in 2020.
145lbs: #1 Mikey Baker (West Sioux) dec. #2 Kaiden Knaack (Don Bosco), 5-2
Mikey Baker became the fourth West Sioux wrestler, ever, to win a state wrestling title, joining Len Liston, Adam Allard (a three-timer), and Kory Van Oort. Baker used takedowns in the second and third period to beat Knaack.
152lbs: #3 Kyler Knaack (Don Bosco) dec. #1 Kellen Smith (West Hancock), 1-0
Third time is the charm for Kyler Knaack. After losing to Smith twice in the regular season — by scores of 4-2 and 3-1 in sudden victory — Knaack escaped in the second and rode out Smith in the third for a hard-fought 1-0 victory to win his first state title.
160lbs: #1 Wyatt Reisz (Logan-Magnolia) dec. #2 Dom Lopez (New London), 6-4 (SV)
A matchup that lived up to the billing. Lopez set the state record for career wins earlier this week — a mark that now stands at 221 — and was in deep on a shot in the initial overtime period, but Reisz, who has over 200 career wins himself, slipped out of defending the shot and scored two at the gun in sudden victory. Reisz goes out a three-time state champ.
170lbs: #1 Max Magayna (Columbus Catholic) tech. fall #2 Jace Nelson-Brown (Emmetsburg), 16-0
Max Magayna cruises to a third state title with a 16-0 technical fall over Nelson-Brown. Magayna went pin-pin-pin to reach the finals, and will get the chance to become a four-timer next year.
182lbs: #1 Carson Hartz (Columbus Catholic) maj. dec. #15 Caden Ballou (Midland), 11-1
One of the stories of the tournament was Midland senior Caden Ballou, who reached the finals as the 15-seed after not qualifying for state last year and not placing at state the year before. That story did not get a fairytale ending, as Carson Hartz rolled up four takedowns to become Columbus Catholic’s second champ on Saturday.
195lbs: #1 Jackson Dewald (Westwood) dec. #2 Josh Glendening (Mediapolis), 3-1 (SV)
In his third trip to the state finals, Jackson Dewald finally wins his first title, scoring a takedown midway through the sudden victory to become just the third Westwood champ, joining Clark Ulven, who won in 1979, and Jeff Harrison, who won three from 1998-00.
220lbs: #3 Mason Knipp (Columbus Catholic) dec. #1 Jared Thiry (Don Bosco), 3-1 (SV)
Mason Knipp gave Columbus Catholic a third champ on Saturday by scoring a takedown midway through sudden victory to upset top-seeded Jared Thiry, a defending state champ. Knipp slipped through a headlock attempt near the edge and covered Thiry for two to win.
285lbs: #1 Wyatt Smith (Lisbon) dec. #3 Mack Ortner (Don Bosco), 1-0
Lisbon’s Wyatt Smith used a second-period escape and a full third-period rideout to win 1-0 over Ortner and cap his senior season with a perfect 51-0 record.
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
Final Class 1A Team Scores
Don Bosco, 165
Wilton, 139
Nashua-Plainfield, 112
Alburnett, 111.5
Columbus Catholic, 100.5
Lisbon, 97
Underwood, 81.5
West Hancock, 76.5
Emmetsburg, 76
Logan-Magnolia, 74.5
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa high school wrestling's Class 1A state tournament full of history
