Waverly-Shell Rock beats Southeast Polk in another thrilling Class 3A state duals final

CORALVILLE — A lot of things were different about the state duals championship this year.

There was, first and foremost, a new location. After more than a decade at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, the Iowa High School Athletic Association moved the state dual championships here to Xtream Arena.

There was, most importantly, a new date. The IHSAA moved the entire dual postseason so that it no longer clashed with the individual tournament schedule. The state duals championships were previously held the day before the traditional state tournament.

But while a lot of the surrounding details about this year’s state duals tournament had changed, a few things stayed the same — like the winners (at least in two of the three classes).

In Class 3A, Waverly-Shell Rock stormed from the 3-seed to the top of the podium, taking down both second-seeded Bettendorf, 36-28, and top-seeded Southeast Polk, 36-33, to win a third-consecutive, and seventh overall, large-class state duals title.

In 1A, Don Bosco took out both Nashua-Plainfield, 43-27, and a red-hot Wilton squad, 36-25, to win a third straight small-class state duals championship and their fifth crown in the last six seasons.

A new champ was crowned in 2A, as top-seeded Osage unseated four-time defending champion West Delaware, 37-28, in a down-to-the-wire thriller. The Green Devils are state duals champs for the first time since 2006, and the fifth time in school history.

With around 4,000 fans, unofficially, packed into Xtream Arena throughout Saturday, Iowa’s top high school programs put on a show, setting the stage for what’s expected to be another exhilarating postseason, as district tournaments are set for next weekend.

Here’s how the 2023 state duals champions were crowned:

Waverly-Shell Rock rises over Bettendorf, Southeast Polk

The Go-Hawks used fast starts in both the semifinals and finals to take down both Bettendorf and Southeast Polk — the two teams who are likely to be their primary adversaries in the traditional state tournament in two weeks.

Against the second-seeded Bulldogs, a young-yet-talented team this season, Waverly-Shell Rock clinched the semifinal showdown by simply winning eight of the first 10 matches. The Go-Hawks scored four pins and also won a trio of key swing matches:

• at 145 pounds, top-ranked Bas Diaz won 3-1 over second-ranked Tycho Carmichael;

• at 170, Robert Poyner outlasted Armon Williams in a wild 12-9 match;

• and at 182, Zander Wedemeier scored three takedowns in the third period to pull away from Cooper Agosta, 16-9.

In the other semifinal, Southeast Polk downed Ankeny, 42-20, setting up the fifth-straight large-class state duals final between the Rams and the Go-Hawks. Southeast Polk won in 2019 and 2020 while Waverly-Shell Rock won in 2021 and 2022.

The Go-Hawks again used a fast start to take the rubber match, storming out to a 20-0 lead on pins from Ryder Block (138) and Bas Diaz (145) and Ethan Bibler’s technical fall at 152. The Rams made it 24-10 at the halfway mark, but just like the last two years, a key win in the heavy weights propelled Waverly-Shell Rock to victory.

The last two years, it’s been Layne McDonald keying Waverly-Shell Rock to titles — so much that he was nicknamed “ram killer” by his coaches and teammates. McDonald pinned Southeast Polk’s Kalob Runyon in 2021 to lead the Go-Hawks to a lopsided 59-12 win. Last year, he pinned Cooper Martinson in a 30-26 triumph.

On Saturday, it was sophomore Caden Wetherell, with an 8-1 win at 220 over Harrison Gibson, a returning state medalist who bumped up from 195 and then cost the Rams a team point afterward for unsportsmanlike conduct. Wetherell gave the Go-Hawks a 27-9 lead, putting them in firm control with six matches to go.

“I just thought, if I stick to the basics, I’ll do great,” said Wetherell, who was at Wells Fargo Arena last year when McDonald pinned Martinson. “As soon as I started scoring, I believed in myself more and more. From there, I knew that I had it.”

Jake Walker’s pin at 285 meant the Rams needed to pin out for gold. Ryker Graff, a one-time Southeast Polk wrestler who moved to Waverly-Shell Rock last summer, ensured that wouldn’t happen. His 3-2 win over Wil Oberbroeckling at 113 pounds mathematically clinched the dual for the Go-Hawks.

“It was definitely electric,” said Graff, who also clinched the Junior Greco-Roman national duals title for Team Iowa last July. “They say diamonds are made from pressure. I guess that’s where I get it from.

“We’re peaking at the right time. These guys were all fired up and we were ready to go.”

Osage cruises into 2A final, wins thriller over West Delaware

Osage has long been viewed as the team to beat in Class 2A this season, and made good on that expectation by winning the 2A state duals championship — but it required some fight in Saturday night’s final to rip the title from West Delaware.

The Green Devils won eight of 14 matches to win 37-28 over the Hawks, who sought a fifth straight 2A state duals crown, but the dual wasn’t formally clinched until Anders Kittelson pinned Ryan Hilby in the second-period of the final match.

“I was prepared for that,” Kittelson said. “I was confident and ready to go. Yeah, there might be some pressure, but pressure builds diamonds. You have to come up big in those moments. Just go out there and have fun. When I’m having fun, I’m fine.”

Osage won four of the first five matches — a technical fall from Tucker Stangel (145), pin from Nick Fox (170), and two gutsy 3-2 wins by Chase Thomas over Brent Yonkovic at 152 and Max Gast over Logan Peyton at 160 — but West Delaware won five of the next seven, including three by fall, to come within 29-28 with two matches remaining.

There, Blake Fox, a seasoned freshman, bumped to 126 and downed Jax Miller, 6-0, teeing up Kittelson to finish the job. The junior built a 10-3 lead before pinning Hilby on the edge in 3:01.

“Couldn’t let the environment get the best of me,” Kittelson said. “I trusted in my abilities. I visualizes those moments. I want to be an individual state champ, so I visualize those big moments. That helped me stay calm.

“We were confident coming in. We know we’re the best team. We have so many hammers in the lineup that are going to go out and make some noise in the individual tournament. We’re want to take both of them.”

Don Bosco tops Wilton in exciting 1A tournament

What was maybe the most anticipated final — at least to this writer — was the one that, mathematically, ended first.

Don Bosco continued their 1A reign with a 36-25 finals victory over Wilton. The Dons won eight of the first nine weights, including four by fall, to put the Beavers away with five matches still to go.

Wilton charged into Saturday night’s final by winning a riveting 36-33 semifinal over third-seeded Alburnett. The Pirates led 21-9 after six matches, but Wilton rolled up four consecutive pins, plus a 5-2 decision from Mason Shirk at 106, to lead 36-21. Alburnett needed three pins to win, but got just one, sending the Beavers to the final.

There, Don Bosco smothered Wilton, the same way they smothered Nashua-Plainfield, the eventual third-place finishers, in the semifinals — and the same way they hope to continue to smother the rest of the Class 1A field at Wells Fargo Arena later this month.

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

2023 State Duals Championships

Class 3A: Waverly-Shell Rock 36, Southeast Polk 33

• 138 - Ryder Block (WSR) pinned Trevor Oberbroeckling (SEP) in 4:29

• 145 - Bas Diaz (WSR) pinned Garrett Kingery (SEP) in 3:02

• 152 - Ethan Bibler (WSR) tech. fall Wyatt Gibson (SEP), 23-8

• 160 - Danny Diaz (WSR) dec. Nicklas Martin (SEP), 8-3

• 170 - Mike Slade (SEP) pinned Zander Wedemeier (WSR) in 0:58

• 182 - Holden Hansen (SEP) maj. dec. Cole Thompson (WSR), 10-2

• 195 - McCrae Hagarty (WSR) maj. dec. Antonio Loving (SEP), 14-4

• 220 - Caden Wetherell (WSR) dec. Harrison Gibson (SEP), 8-1*

• 285 - Jake Walker (WSR) pinned Cooper Martinson (SEP) in 5:03

• 106 - Carter Pearson (SEP) pinned Taylor Kibbee (WSR) in 2:39

• 113 - Ryker Graff (WSR) dec. Wil Oberbroeckling (SEP), 3-2

• 120 - Justis Jesuroga (SEP) pinned Alex Hornyak (WSR) in 2:58

• 126 - Maximus Riggins (SEP) by forfeit

• 132 - Logan Trenary (SEP) by forfeit

  • *Southeast Polk was deducted a team point after the 220-pound match for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Class 2A: Osage 37, West Delaware 28

• 138 - Carson Turnis (WD) dec. Darren Adams (OSG), 7-3

• 145 - Tucker Stangel (OSG) tech. fall Blake Mather (WD), 24-9

• 152 - Chase Thomas (OSG) dec. Brent Yonkovic (WD), 3-2

• 160 - Max Gast (OSG) dec. Logan Peyton (WD), 3-2

• 170 - Nicholas Fox (OSG) pinned Cruz Timmerman (WD) in 0:11

• 182 - Garrison Gillihan (WD) maj. dec. Ledger Nehls (OSG), 11-2

• 195 - Will Ward (WD) pinned Cole Jeffries (OSG) in 1:08

• 220 - Barrett Muller (OSG) over Grant Northburg (WD) by injury default in 4:00

• 285 - Cameron Geuther (WD) dec. Mac Muller (OSG), 2-1

• 106 - Tysen Stangel (OSG) by forfeit

• 113 - Brayden Maury (WD) pinned Garrett Tusler (OSG) in 0:21

• 120 - Carson Less (WD) pinned Conner Nelson (OSG) in 0:51

• 126 - Blake Fox (OSG) dec. Jax Miller (WD), 6-0

• 132 - Anders Kittelson (OSG) pinned Ryan Hilby (WD) in 3:01*

  • *Osage was deducted a team point after the 132-pound match for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Class 1A: Don Bosco 35, Wilton 26

• 138 - Myles McMahon (DB) dec. Trae Hagen (WIL), 7-5

• 145 - Kaiden Knaack (DB) pinned Hayden Hill (WIL) in 4:48

• 152 - Kyler Knaack (DB) pinned Damian Pestle (WIL) in 0:54

• 160 - Andrew Kimball (DB) pinned Owen Milder (WIL) in 3:45

• 170 - Jacob Thiry (DB) dec. Gatlin Rogers (WIL), 10-5

• 182 - Kaden Shirk (WIL) maj. dec. Dax Youngblut (DB), 12-1

• 195 - Landon Fernandez (DB) dec. Kane Willey (WIL), 10-6

• 220 - Jared Thiry (DB) pinned Aiden Hewitt (WIL) in 0:54

• 285 - Mack Ortner (DB) dec. Alexander Kaufmann (WIL), 3-1

• 106 - Mason Shirk (WIL) dec. Kanaan Delagardelle (DB), 4-2

• 113 - Austin Etzel (WIL) dec. Cole Frost (DB), 9-7 (SV)

• 120 - Gabriel Brisker (WIL) dec. Jaxon Larson (DB), 8-6 (SV)

• 126 - Brody Brisker (WIL) pinned Payton Regenold (DB) in 1:59

• 132 - Jordan Dusenberry (WIL) by forfeit

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: 2023 State Duals: Waverly-Shell Rock, Osage, Don Bosco all win titles