Michael Macias didn’t qualify for state wrestling last year. Now he’s in the semifinals, other 2A notes
After the clock hit zeroes, Michael Macias looked up at the Assumption fans inside Wells Fargo Arena and raised his arms in celebration. They responded by raising their voices, and their cheers made him smile.
“Feels good,” Macias, an Assumption senior, said afterward. “Just a blessing to be here and being able to wrestle.”
Macias scored a takedown late in the second period to secure a 3-1 win over Mount Vernon’s Jackson Jaspers on Thursday in the Class 2A state quarterfinals. The win moves Macias into Friday’s semifinal round at 145 pounds, securing a top-six finish.
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Those words he used — just a blessing to be here — are not by accident.
Macias was the odd man out in a stacked district tournament last year. He finished third behind Camanche’s Eric Kinkaid and Vinton-Shellsburg’s Cooper Sanders, both eventual state finalists (Kinkaid beat Sanders, 5-2, to win the state title that month).
Entering that district weekend, Kinkaid was ranked No. 1 at 145 pounds in Class 2A, Sanders No. 2, and Macias No. 3. They were all in 2A’s District 4 tournament. Only the top two qualified, so someone good was going to stay home.
Macias wrestled Sanders in the first round that weekend. He led 4-2 after scoring takedowns in both the first and second periods. But he gave up 8 points in the third period and lost, 10-6.
Kinkaid then pinned Sanders in the district finals. Macias didn’t even get a chance at a wrestleback. That sat with him all summer long.
“It was on my mind 24/7,” Macias said. “It was pretty hard to get out of my head.”
But rather than dwelling on the missed opportunity — which, in his words, “doesn’t do anything but hold you back” — Macias turned it into fuel for this season. He rewatched the matches he lost a year ago. The wrestling wasn’t the problem. His cardio was.
“I had no gas tank and a lack of muscle,” Macias continued, “so a lot of my offseason was lifting, doing cardio, I picked up boxing along the way. Just running around with my dog like I’m Rocky.
“My whole offseason was conditioning, conditioning, conditioning — to make sure I never gas out again."
The results have paid off. After dropping his first match of the season to Waverly-Shell Rock’s Bas Diaz (who’s the No. 1 seed at 145 in Class 3A, by the way), Macias has rolled to 24 consecutive victories, including back-to-back decision wins here at the Class 2A state tournament where he’s shined later in matches.
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In his second-round win on Wednesday, Macias led 2-1 entering the third, then tacked on two more takedowns in an eventual 7-2 win over Greene County’s Brent Dennhardt. On Thursday, after scoring in the second, he held off a late charge from Jaspers to win.
Macias is now in the state semifinals for the second time in his career, but for the first time since his freshman year. A lot about him has changed since then. He’s savvier now, a wily veteran who knows how heartbreaking tough losses can be. He’ll need that experience, but his gas tank, to take down No. 1 Tucker Stangel (Osage) on Friday.
“I’ll tell you right now, it’s going to be close,” Macias said. “I think it’ll be higher-scoring, something like that. We both have that saucy kind of wrestling style, so I think we’ll score some points.
“Win or lose, I’ll make sure he never wants to wrestle me again. That’s for sure.”
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Osage takes commanding lead in Class 2A Team Race
Osage has grabbed the Class 2A team race by the throat — and there’s still two days to go.
The Green Devils went 7-1 in the quarterfinal round to amass 92.5 points, which is 37 points clear of second-place West Delaware (55.5). The gap between first and second is the same as the gap between second and 27th (Hampton-Dumont-CAL, with 19).
With seven wrestlers in the semifinals and two more in the bloodround, combined with the team points available in Friday’s semifinal and bloodround, it’s not unreasonable to think Osage could mathematically clinch the team title outright sometime Friday.
We’ll crunch those numbers later — but the fight for second place is on.
West Delaware put just one wrestler in the semifinals, but has another seven in the bloodround and can rack up some points in a hurry. Sergeant Bluff-Luton, third with 50.5 points, also has just one semifinalist and another five in the bloodround.
The team to watch here may very well be Notre Dame, Burlington. The Nikes finished Thursday in fourth with 50 points but have three in the semifinals, all of whom are favored, plus two more in the bloodround.
But Class 2A is clearly Osage’s world this year. Everybody else is just living in it.
Weight-by-Weight analysis on the Class 2A quarterfinals
106: Hampton-Dumont-CAL’s Jayson Stevens is into the semifinals as a No. 13 seed after knocking off No. 4 Linden Phetxoumphone, 6-5, in the quarterfinals. His reward? A semifinal matchup against #1 Brayden Bohnsack (Union).
113: The top four seeds held, setting up some fun semifinal matchups between #1 Jace Hedeman (Union) and No. 4 Kaden Weber (Nevada), and No. 2 Colin Cassady (West Liberty) and No. 3 Aiden Smith (Atlantic).
120: These semifinal matchups — No. 1 Carson Doolittle (Webster City) vs. No. 4 Blake Fox (Osage); No. 3 Vinny Mayberry (Glenwood) vs. No. 6 Gavin Jensen (Williamsburg) — are going to be straight fire emoji. Jensen topped No. 4 Ethan Skoglund (Sergeant Bluff-Luton) via third-period fall.
126: The top half of this bracket blew up, setting up a semifinal between Mount Vernon freshman Jase Jaspers, the No. 5, and Wahlert’s Jerren Gille, the #9. On the other side, No. 3 Amare Chaez (South Tama) and No. 2 Derrick Bass (Assumption) muscled through hard-fought wins to reach the semifinals.
132: If the semifinals at 120 don’t get you fired up, these will: No. 1 Kale Petersen (Greene County) vs. No. 5 Nick Koch (North Fayette Valley); No. 3 Anders Kittelson (Osage) vs. No. 2 Matthew Beem (Glenwood). Koch upset No. 4 Bo Koedam (SBL), 6-0. Beem, a returning finalist, survived a scare against Assumption’s Cadyn Wild, where he was nearly pinned in the first and rallied from down 7-5 to win 9-7 in sudden victory.
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138: After the top eight seeds all reached the quarterfinals, the top four all advanced to the semifinals. Greene County’s McKinley Robbins scored three takedowns in a 7-4 win. Tate Slagle scored a second-period reversal in a 2-0 win. Knoxville’s Luke Spaur and Keokuk’s Tate O’Shea cruised in the bottom half of the bracket.
145: Talked plenty about Macias at the top and his semifinal matchup with Stangel, but the other 145 semifinal, between No. 2 Ty Koedam (SBL) and #3 Brady Stille (Decorah) is going to be a fun one, too.
152: Lucas Kral, a sophomore from Garner-Hayfield-Ventura, has knifed his way into the semifinals behind three hard-fought decisions, his latest a 7-2 win over Benton’s Brenden Heying. He’ll get No. 2 Isaiah Fenton (Notre Dame, Burlington) while No. 1 Cooper Sanders (Vinton-Shellsburg) and No. 4 Chase Thomas (Osage) duke it out up top.
160: Independence’s Chase Straw spent his entire senior season wrestling 145. Before districts, he and his coaches decided to bump up to 160. Now he’s in the state semifinals following a 5-4 win over Winterset’s Eduardo Garcia, the No. 14 seed. Straw is now a first-time medalist and a win away from the state finals. Fantastic. By the way, top-seeded Dawson Bond, from Red Oak, needed overtime to beat West Delaware’s Logan Peyton, 3-1, and reach the semifinals.
170: We seem to be on a collision course here. No. 1 Nick Fox (Osage) has won by fall and by major. No. 2 Ethan DeLeon (Heelan) has won by technical fall and 7-2 in the quarterfinals. Would be a great final. DeLeon will have to handle No. 14 Hesston Johnson (Roland-Story) in Friday’s semifinals first.
182: Another potential collision course, as both No. 1 CJ Walrath (ND, Burlington) and No. 2 Jarrett Roos (Sheldon-South O’Brien) have pinned their way to the semifinals.
195: The top four seeds held here, but these semifinal matchups are going to be great ones, with No. 1 Gavin Bridgewater (South Tama) vs. No. 4 Gabriel Christensen (Ballard) and No. 2 CJ Hisler (Webster City) vs. No. 3 CJ Carter (Glenwood). Glenwood, by the way, has three in the semifinals, with Carter, Beem, and Mayberry.
220: Ballard sophomore Henry Christensen scored a late takedown for a 3-2 win over Webster City’s Jaxon Cherry, the No. 3 seed. Now he’ll get Osage’s Barrett Muller, the No. 2 seed and returning state champ. No. 1 Nick Reincke (Dike-New Hartford) has pinned his way through so far.
285: Big Cam Geuther, the No. 1 seed here, has recorded two pins and is West Delaware’s lone semifinalist. The bottom half of this bracket features two bracket-busters, with No. 14 Wil Textor (DNH) vs. No. 18 Russel Coil (CJCT), which is just awesome.
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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
Class 2A Team Scores, after Day Two
Osage, 92.5
West Delaware, 55.5
Sergeant Bluff-Luton, 50.5
Notre Dame-Burlington, 50
Webster City, 45
Glenwood, 44
Mount Vernon, 44
Crestwood, 41.5
Independence, 40
Creston, 37.5
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: This high school state wrestler went from not qualifying to 2A semis
