Osage steamrolls the Class 2A field, clinches fifth state wrestling team championship

The population of Osage, up in northeast Iowa, is between 3,000 and 4,000. The vast majority of them are probably here in Des Moines this week — or at least it feels like it, with all the pockets of green shirts scattered all over Wells Fargo Arena on Friday.

They came to watch the Green Devil wrestlers dominate, and the demolition started early and has continued often this week — so much that Osage clinched the Class 2A state team championship just over midway through Friday’s semifinal round.

Yes, with a day still to go in this four-day competition, Osage has locked up the fifth state team title in school history, and its second in four years. The Green Devils have piled up 144.5 points behind four finalists and eight total medalists and will take a gigantic lead into Saturday.

The four finalists:

• Blake Fox (120), a supremely-talented freshman who beat Webster City’s top-seeded Carson Doolittle, 4-3, on a late third-period reversal in the semifinals;

• Anders Kittelson (132), a junior and now two-time state finalist who connected on a re-shot in the third for a 3-1 win over Glenwood’s Matthew Beem, a returning finalist;

• Tucker Stangel (145), who brilliantly outmaneuvered a Assumption’s dangerous Michael Macias for a 7-2 semifinal win;

• and Nick Fox (170), who is now just the third four-time state finalist in Osage history, joining Mark Schwab, a four-time champ from 1982-85, and Trent Goodale, a four-time finalist (and three-time champ) from 1998-01.

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The other four medalists — Chase Thomas (152), Max Gast (160), Barrett Muller (220), Mac Muller (285) — are all alive for third, so the 55-point lead Osage will take into Saturday morning could grow by the time Saturday night’s finals are over.

As such, the race for second is on, with Notre Dame-Burlington, West Delaware, and Mount Vernon leading the charge. They currently sit 2-3-4 behind Osage, with 89.5, 81.5, and 80 points, respectively. Notre Dame-Burlington has three finalists and four total medalists. West Delaware and Mount Vernon both have one finalist, but West Delaware has four total medalists while Mount Vernon has six — and three are still alive for third.

Osage coach Brent Jennings thought this year’s team could be one of the best he’s ever coached in his nearly 30 years. The Green Devils have lived up to that billing, even with a few hiccups this week. Their 10 qualifiers have produced a 25-7 overall record with 10 pins … and, again, there’s still another day to go.

The Green Devils were always going to be the team to beat in 2A this week, but they were so good that they wrapped up the team crown a day early — which is probably why the green shirts were in full throat all day Friday inside Wells Fargo Arena.

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Weight-by-Weight analysis from the Class 2A state wrestling semifinals

106: Couple of sophomores highlight this first bout. Union’s Brayden Bohnsack finished eighth at 113 a year ago, but has recorded two pins and a major to reach the finals down a weight. He’ll get NDB’s Carter West, who’s back in the state finals after finishing second a year ago.

113: Union goes two-for-two after Jace Hedeman outlasts previously-unbeaten Kaden Weber (Nevada) in a hard-fought 7-5 decision. Hedeman will wrestle for his second state title — against Atlantic’s Aiden Smith, who diced up the bottom half of this bracket with two pins and an 11-2 semifinal major over West Liberty’s Colin Cassady.

120: Osage freshman Blake Fox scored a late reversal to stun top-seeded Carson Doolittle, 4-3, to advance to the finals. He’ll get Glenwood’s Vinny Mayberry, who scored a takedown midway through the second period to beat Williamsburg’s Gavin Jensen, 3-1, in the other semifinal.

126: With a 5-1 win over Wahlert’s Jerren Gille, Jase Jaspers became the first Mount Vernon freshman to reach the state finals since … ready for this? … Greg Randall, who was a four-time state champ from 1979-82. Pretty cool. In Jaspers’ way is Assumption senior Derrick Bass, who gritted out back-to-back 1-0 wins in both the quarters and semifinals to advance. Jaspers is now 41-4 this season, and two of those losses have come to Bass.

132: Greene County’s Kale Petersen, a future Hawkeye, scored four takedowns and rolled through North Fayette Valley’s Nick Koch via 13-4 major. He’ll get Osage’s Anders Kittelson, who connected on a re-shot in the third period for a 3-1 win over Glenwood’s Matthew Beem, who was a returning state finalist.

138: McKinley Robbins gives Greene County two finalists after a quick 64-second pin over Algona’s Tate Slagle in the semifinals. He’s also now a four-time state finalist, and will have to beat Keokuk’s Tate O’Shea on Saturday night to win his second title.

145: Tucker Stangel became Osage’s third finalist after scoring two takedowns in the first and another in the third in a 7-2 win over Assumption’s Michael Macias. On the other side, Sergeant Bluff-Luton’s Ty Koedam won via overtime fireworks, taking Decorah’s Brady Stille to his back in the tiebreakers for a 7-1 win.

152: There should be plenty of fireworks in this final, between Vinton-Shellsburg’s Cooper Sanders, who dispatched Osage’s Chase Thomas 9-2, and Notre Dame-Burlington’s Isaiah Fenton, who outlasted Garner-Hayfield-Ventura’s Lucas Kral, the 10-seed, in a 9-7 barnburner in the other semifinal.

160: Osage’s Max Gast nearly stunned Red Oak’s top-seeded Dawson Bond. Match was tied 3-3, but Bond scored two on the edge late in the third to win, 5-3. He’ll face Crestwood’s Cole Butikofer, who took down Independence’s Carter Straw, 11-1, ending Straw’s magical run through the front side (he had wrestled 145 all year, then bumped to 160 for districts and reached the state semifinals; pretty cool).

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170: Nick Fox’s 10-2 major decision over Forest City’s Kellen Moore was the official clincher, mathematically, for Osage’s team title. But he’ll have his hands full in the finals with Heelan’s Ethan DeLeon, a Nebraska recruit who edged Roland-Story’s Hesston Johnson, the 14-seed, by a 5-3 decision.

182: The Ballard bombers went on a run from 182 through 220 in the semifinals. It started with Brody Sampson’s 3-2 win over Sheldon’s Jarrett Roos, the 2-seed here. His reward, though, is top-seeded CJ Walrath, a returning state champ for Burlington-Notre Dame who carved up his first three opponents by a combined 46-11 to reach the finals once again.

195: Ballard’s second finalist, Gabe Christensen, rallied from a 3-0 hole to beat top-seeded Gavin Bridgewater, 6-3, scoring takedowns in the second and third period. He’ll face Glenwood’s CJ Carter, who’s now a two-time state finalist after scoring four takedowns to beat Webster City’s CJ Hisler, 9-4.

220: Ballard’s third finalist, Henry Christensen, stormed into Saturday night as the 6-seed. His semifinal triumph was a little anticlimactic, as he advanced over Osage’s Barrett Muller, the returning state champ, after Muller had to injury default. Here’s hoping he’s OK. Christensen will face top-seeded Nick Reinicke of Dike-New Hartford in Saturday’s finals.

285: Cam Geuther, West Delaware’s top-seeded heavyweight, beat Independence’s Korver Hupke, 3-0, to advance to the state finals. Geuther beat Hupke three times this year, and this victory sent him to the state finals. He’ll face Dike-New Hartford’s Wil Textor, who won his last three matches by a combined four points — including two in overtime! — to reach the finals as the 14-seed.

Cody Goodwin covers wrestling and high school sports for the Des Moines Register. Follow him on Twitter at @codygoodwin.

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Class 2A Team Scores, after Day Three

1. Osage, 144.5

2. Notre Dame, Burlington, 89.5

3. West Delaware, 81.5

4. Mount Vernon, 80

5. Sergeant Bluff-Luton, 71.5

6. Ballard, 70

7. Glenwood, 70

8. Greene County, 64

9. Webster City, 59

10. Union, 58

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Osage wrestling is Class 2A's Iowa high school state team champion