Des Moines — Marcel Lopez became the 30th wrestler in Iowa High School history to win gold four times, as the SIU-Edwardsville recruit and New London Tiger completed an unblemished 55-0 senior season with a 5-3 decision over Riverside’s Jace Rose Saturday night.
Lopez has now won titles at 106, 113, 120 and 126.
He has not lost since his sophomore season and ends his decorated prep career 207-4.
He got the scoring started quickly in the finals, nabbing a takedown in seven seconds.
Lopez then rode out Rose in the first period and then nearly all of the second, helping guide his decision win.
The win also helped New London earn eighth place in the 1A team race with 60.5 points.
In Class 2A, Blaine Frazier saved the best for last.
In his third trip to the state finals, Frazier finally got over the hump defeating Greene County’s McKinley Robbins in a 5-3 decision. Robbins beat Frazier in last year’s finals.
The win was the capstone of a 53-0 year and a career that saw him win a total of 205 matches.
Frazier’s win helped add onto the tally, with Notre Dame leading the team race, but it wasn’t until C.J. Walrath’s 182-pound finals that Nikes would clinch their first team title.
Walrath’s late takedown and subsequent ride out of Iowa State recruit Fernando Villaescusa (Gilbert) gave the Nikes a 6.5 point lead which second place Osage could not catch.
Like Frazier, Walrath ended his season without a loss.
In the nightcap, WACO’s Jonah Clark dropped an 8-1 decision to Jared Thiry of Don Bosco, for a runner-up finish.
Clark ousted top-ranked and top-seeded West Hancock Matthew Francis in the semifinals, handing him his first loss of the season.