Des Moines, IA- Day one of the 2024 Boys’ wrestling state tournament is in the books with the quarterfinals set in the championship bracket and the first round of consolation bracket matchups ready to begin, here’s how our local wrestlers from Class 3A performed.

Burlington’s Braxton Hutchinson grabbed the two seed and made quick work of his second-round opponent, Michael Lewis, pinning him in under thirty seconds. Hutchinson will take on Carew Christensen in the 106-pound weight class championship bracket.

Fort Madison saw Nolan Riddle, 157-pound weight class, and Isaac Thacher, 190-pound weight class, advance to the quarterfinal after Riddle defeated Trace Robertson of Clear Creek-Amana and Wyatt Vlasek of Prairie by fall and Thacher rode a first-round bye to a pin of Isaiah Kellow of Indianola.

Riddle will face off against Grant Kress, the #1 seed, while Thacher will take on Danarii Mickel of Ames in the quarterfinal round.

In the 165-pound weight class, Joe Hartman was defeated in the first round. He will wrestle in the consolation bracket.

In the 285-pound weight class, Cory Arnett pinned Vinnie Keller of Clear Creek-Amana in the first round but lost to Dawson Rheingans of North Scott by a 6-2 decision. Andy Crowder will be waiting for Arnett in the consolation bracket.

KILJ will update as the tournament progresses.

Des Moines, IA- Day one of the 2024 Boys’ wrestling state tournament is in the books with the quarterfinals set in the championship bracket and the first round of consolation bracket matchups ready to begin, here’s how our local wrestlers from Class 2A performed.

For Burlington Notre Dame, six of the seven Nikes that qualified advanced to the quarterfinal round. In the 106-pound weight class, Colt Boyles defeated Garrett Kuch of Benton Community and Garrett Pumphrey of Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont by fall. Boyles will face off against Urijah Courter of Nevada in the quarterfinal round.

Carter West took on Kaliber Fry in the second round after a first round bye and pinned him in the fifth minute to advance in the 113-pound bracket. West will look to take down Mitchell Schmauss to advance to the semifinals.

CJ Davis, in the 126-pound weight class, defeated Andon Barrick of Iowa Falls-Alden in the second round by fall after a first round bye. Davis will face off against Landen Davis of Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont.

In the 132-pound weight class, Kaiden Dietzenbach received a bye then took down Lincoln Keeler of Creston by technical fall in the second round, advancing to the quarterfinal. Dietzenbach will look to continue his run against Elijah Kupka.

Dirk Boyles won by major decision over Hewit Brinegar of PCM by major decision in the second round of the 150-pound weight class. Lucas Kral will be Boyles’s opponent in the quarterfinals.

Lastly, Blake Wilson utilized his bye well and took down Owen Klocke of Carroll by a 7-4 decision to advance to the quarterfinal round of the 157-pound weight class. Wilson will face off against #1 Tucker Stangel of Osage.

In the 138-pound weight class, Kael Cook defeated Bradon Briley of Creston by a slim 9-7 decision but couldn’t beat Blake Fox of Osage as he was pinned after 3:27. Cook will meet Deken Sorensen in the consolation bracket.

For Fairfield, Cael McCabe, in the 106-pound weight class, was the only Trojan to remain in the championship bracket after a bye in the first round and a 6-2 decision win over Charlie Boelman of North Polk. McCabe will take on Coy Mehlert in the quarterfinals.

Cason Miller, 157-pound weight class, and Dain Burkhart, 175-pound weight class, each went picked up wins in the opening round but fell in the second round. Both will start day two in the consolation bracket.

Carter Moore, 190-pound weight class, and Dre Smithburg, 215-pound weight class, fell in their first-round matchups. Smithburg will take on Ashtin Willms and Moore will compete against Quinten Polking of Carroll in the consolation bracket.

Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union will be led by Russel Coil in the 285-pound weight class as he took a bye and defeated Evan Sorenson of Atlantic by fall. Coil will face off against Trent Cakerice in the quarterfinal round.

In the 113-pound weight class, Jacob Nelson lost his first-round matchup. Nelson will compete against Lane Travis of Creston in the consolation bracket.

Ty Scorpil was pinned in his second match against Tyce Clarken of Humboldt, sending him to the consolation bracket of the 126-pound weight class.

Kason Dopler, in the 175-pound weight class, picked up a win over Luke Estlund of Webster City by a 10-8 decision. Unfortunately, he would be defeated by Kenny Kerr of North Fayette Valley by fall in the second round.

Kyler Crow of Mediapolis will take on Cyrus Mathes in the consolation bracket of the 165-pound weight class after going 1-1 in the championship bracket.

Washington’s Aaron Boone advanced to the quarterfinals of the 132-pound weight class after defeating Kameron Kremer of Independence by major decision. Boone will take on Kade Blume in the quarterfinals.

KILJ will update as the tournament progresses.

Des Moines, IA- Day one of the 2024 Boys’ wrestling state tournament is in the books with the quarterfinals set in the championship bracket and the first round of consolation bracket matchups ready to begin, here’s how our local wrestlers from Class 1A performed.

In the 106-pound weight class, Reed Laudeman of Pekin fell in his first-round matchup by fall to Max Millage of Earlham. He will take on Kingston Carrigan in the consolation bracket.

For WACO, both wrestlers have advanced to the quarterfinals after receiving byes for the first-round. First, Gage Samo inched past Jensen Dyer by a 3-1 decision to set up a match against Gavin Landers of Denver.

In the 190-pound weight class, Louden Huisenga will face off against Tate Haffner after defeating Drew Lansing by a 7-0 decision.

In the 126-pound weight class, New London’s Gage Burden picked up a round-one victory over Jordan Smith on a thrilling 9-8 decision final. Unfortunately, Jaxon Larson defeated the Tiger by a 7-1 decision. Burden will compete in the consolation bracket with his first match against Brody Kleitsch.

For Wapello, Zach Harbison, in the 138-pound weight class, took down Dallas Tisue of Wapsie Valley by a 7-3 decision to move on to take on Gabriel Brisker of Wilton. Nevertheless, Brisker sent Harbison to the consolation bracket with a win by pin. Harbison will wrestle Sam Myer in the consolation bracket.

In the 150-pound weight class, Matthew Helscher fell by major decision in the first round against Taven Moore of Riverside. Helscher will face off against Jared Rodriguez in the consolation bracket.

KILJ will update as the tournament progresses.

(Photo Courtesy of Chad Edeker)

WACO- Colton Leichty announced his decision to continue his football career at the collegiate level after signing his letter of intent to attend Grand View University in Des Moines.

The three-sport athlete tallied 184.5 tackles, 40.5 tackles for a loss, and 25 sacks on the defensive end for his career; additionally, he hauled in six touchdowns and 322 receiving yards.

Leichty holds the career and season record at WACO in tackles for loss and sacks for 8- man records.

His impressive junior season ended with him capturing the quarterback 17 times as he tallied 27 tackles for loss before the Warriors finished as the state runner-up.

Leichty will be studying accounting at Grand View in the fall.