Des Moines, IA- Championship Saturday is now set for the 2026 Iowa High School Athletic Association’s State Wrestling Tournament as each weight class has been whittled down to the best eight wrestlers.
Here’s how our local athletes fared.
Class 1A
106-Pound Weight Class
Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union’s #8 Justin Knipfer had a rough day two as he fell to #1 Ty Martin of Don Bosco in the quarterfinals and in the consolation bracket could not keep up with #13 Kaleb Gordon of Jesup, falling by a 12-8 decision. Knipfer finished the season with a 31-7 record.
113-Pound Weight Class
#19 Dakota Aney of Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union started the day with a win by fall over #11 Nathan Benedix of Woodbury Central but was eliminated in the fourth round of the consolation bracket by #7 Leyton Elmquist of Audubon by a 13-7 decision. Aney went 29-9 for the season.
With only one goal in mind, WACO’s #2 Ian Maize dominated his quarterfinal matchup against Elmquist with a victory by technical fall and his semifinal showdown against #3 Brady Burton of Westwood, taking it by major decision. The Warrior is now poised for a rematch of last year’s state championship bout against #1 Kaiden Belinsky of Don Bosco Saturday night.
120-Pound Weight Class
WACO’s #12 Rydge Sterna fell to #20 Mason Fogt of Hudson in the third round of the consolation bracket. He finished his freshman season with a 38-14 record.
157-Pound Weight Class
Wapello’s #6 Cohen Wolford and #3 Caleb Swedin of GTRA combined for 41 points in the quarterfinals and it was Swedin that escaped with the 21-20 decision victory. Wolford would bounce back wo defeat #10 Caleb Skogen of Lake Mills by an 11-4 decision in the consolation bracket.
In another close match, Wolford found himself on the wrong end of another close decision, losing to #7 Sam Dominick of Woodbury Central by a 10-8 decision. He will wrestle for 7th place today against #9 Jaxon Gordon of Riverside.
175-Pound Weight Class
#22 Trevor Phillips of Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union fell to #14 William Lawson of Pocahontas Area in the second round of the consolation bracket by a 7-1 decision. He finished the season with a 27-15 record.
Class 2A
113-Pound Weight Class
In one of the bigger upsets of the tournament, #2 Kohen Dietzenbach of Burlington Notre Dame lost to #7 Rike DeWitt of Williamsburg in the quarterfinals by a 7-1 decision. He would take out his frustration in the next two rounds of the consolation bracket, beating #6 Garrett Pumphrey of Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont by technical fall and #10 Kaleb Brown of West Liberty by major decision to roll into the consolation semfinals.
Dietzenbach will wrestle #1 Ethan Humphrey of West Branch with the winner moving on to the 3rd place match.
120-Pound Weight Class
Burlington Notre Dame’s #5 Rowan Berndt started his day with a sudden victory upset over #4 Atlee Dewitt of Alburnett to advance to the semifinals. Nevertheless, he was unable to find that magic in the semifinals, losing to #1 Dylan Williamson of Van Meter by a 4-2 decision.
Elsewhere, Mt. Pleasant’s #14 Levi Evans was handling business in the consolation bracket as he picked up three victories, including two upsets to advance to the consolation semifinals. He will collide with Berndt with the winner moving on to the 3rd place match.
126-Pound Weight Class
Burlington Notre Dame’s #5 Ryan Rose fell to #4 Adrian Phetxoumphone of Clarion-Goldfield-Dows in the quarterfinals by technical fall. Unfortunately, he was unable to regain his footing as #9 Jon Gonzales of West Marshall eliminated him by a 7-4 decision. Rose finished the season with a 39-9 record.
132-Pound Weight Class
#5 Colt Boyles of Burlington Notre Dame lost to #4 Linden Phetxoumphone of Clarion-Goldfield-Dows in the quarterfinals yesterday by major decision. Boyles would respond by collecting a major decision victory and 2-1 decision victory over the next two rounds to set up a matchup against #3 Carter Schmauss of Crestwood in the consolation semifinals.
138-Pound Weight Class
#11 Jared Glendening of Burlington Notre Dame finished 0-2 after losing by major decision #3 Liam Adflinger of Wilton in the quarterfinals. After Washington’s #7 Caleb Greiner pinned #17 Kyson Jalas of Spirit Lake Park, the Nike and Demons faced off with Greiner collecting the major decision victory.
That victory guaranteed a podium finish for Greiner, but he improved that to a top-six finish with a 13-6 decision victory over #10 Calden Latch of Roland-Story. He will wrestle #4 Kaydin Jones of Union with the winner advancing to the 3rd place match.
150-Pound Weight Class
#4 Kael Cook of Burlington Notre Dame had the lead by points early in the third period, but #5 Kameron Kremer of Independence took his shot and defeated Cook by fall. The Nike would manage a technical fall win over #9 Cael Cotter of North Polk yet was upset by #8 Croix Gudenkauf by a 7-1 decision.
Cook will look to finish in 7th place against #6 Aiden Hippen of Clear Lake.
165-Pound Weight Class
#17 Joey Glendening of Burlington Notre Dame lost his first match of the day to #10 Cooper Gates of West Branch by major decision. Glendening finished the season with a 40-8 record.
175-Pound Weight Class
Southeast Iowa got a show in the semifinals last night, as Fairfield’s #6 Dain Burkhart upset #3 Ayden Antonelli of Anamosa in the quarterfinals in a 9-5 decision victory, while #2 Kyler Crow of Mediapolis dominated 7 Blake Mather of West Delaware for a victory by technical fall.
Those victories would pit the Trojans against the Bulldog in the semifinals. Crow would venture out to 7 to 1 lead in the second period, but Burkhart roared back with five points and cut the deficit to three. However, Crow would prove to be too much as he rode an 11-8 decision victory to the championship match.
Crow will look to end his high school career with a state championship when he takes on #1 Christian Dunning of Clear Lake tonight.
Burkhart will attempt to bounce back against #5 Kasen Tyler of Decorah in the consolation semifinals.
190-Pound Weight Class
Washington’s #10 Blaine Rees took down #15 Lohen Tank of NH/TV by a 5-3 decision to start his day but fell to #3 Thomas Sexton of Decorah by technical fall to end his day. Rees collected a 35-8 record for the year.
215-Pound Weight Class
#19 Ren Watson of Fort Madison lost his first match of the day to #11 Carter Eddy of Independence in a 7-0 decision shutout. Watson finished the season with a 43-10 record.
285-Pound Weight Class
#19 Baylor Ferreira of Fort Madison lost to #12 Gable Eddy of Independence yesterday by a 9-5 decision. He finished the year with a 24-15 record.
More Information
KILJ will be providing updates for Championship Saturday! KILJ would like to thank all of our tournament sponsors for allowing us to cover the 2026 Boys’ Wrestling State Tournament.