Ankeny Centennial’s Lucas Bruhl has been waiting 11 months for another opportunity to wrestle Waverly-Shell Rock’s Bas Diaz.
He didn’t let his chance go to waste.
The second-ranked Bruhl posted a 3-1 decision over the No. 1 Diaz to win the 150-pound title in the Ed Winger Classic on Saturday at Urbandale. The senior was named the tournament’s most outstanding wrestler after leading the Jaguars to a third-place finish in the 21-team field.
“This is the match I have wanted all year,” said Bruhl. “I wrestled a solid match and knew if I could take him down I would win. I just have to stick to my style and wrestle hard.”
Bruhl (13-0) had lost to Diaz, 2-1, in the semifinals of last year’s state tournament at 145. He hasn’t lost since.
“That’s a match that has been brewing in Lucas’ head since we lost to (Diaz) in the semifinals in triple overtime,” said Centennial coach Jay Groth.
Bruhl scored the only takedown of the match late in the first period. He nearly got another takedown as the match ended.
“That should help his confidence to know that when he shoots, he scores,” Groth said.
Bruhl pinned No. 7 Caden Leonard of Johnston in just 29 seconds in the semifinals. He then handed Diaz just his second loss in 15 matches this season.
“Iām expecting to see (Diaz) again in a couple weeks and put on a show!” Bruhl said.
Second-ranked Bettendorf won the tournament with 199.5 points, edging No. 3 Fort Dodge by five points. No. 6 Centennial finished with 186.5 points.
“Overall, the team wrestled well. We’re continuing to get closer to where we need to be for the postseason. I’m excited about their progress,” Groth said. “We beat Waukee Northwest, and they’re ranked above us in both rankings. It makes a great case for us that we should be ranked higher.”
The Jaguars had five finalists and crowned two champions. No. 5 Max Dhabolt also won a title at 144 with a 4-1 decision over fellow freshman Parker Casey of Johnston.
Dhabolt (24-2) bounced back from a loss to Southeast Polk’s Garrett Kingery on Thursday.
“As good as Max is, sometimes it’s easy to forget that he’s a freshman,” Groth said. “He may have been looking past the kid from Southeast Polk, but he found out that when you’re good, everybody is gunning for you. He grew from that loss quite a bit.”
Dhabolt avenged one of his two losses by pinning No. 3 JahKari Clark of Valley in 5:13 in the semifinals.
“Staying on my offense led me through the match,” Dhabolt said. “I pushed the pace and gassed (Clark) out.”
The Jaguars got runner-up finishes from No. 3 Cale Vandermark at 113, No. 4 Isaac Bruhl at 157 and No. 10 Mitchell Grider at 215. They all lost to ranked opponents in the finals.
Vandermark (26-4) dropped a 5-1 decision to No. 2 Tyler Harper of Norwalk. Harper improved to 30-0.
Bruhl recorded three consecutive falls before losing for the first time, dropping a 3-1 decision in overtime to No. 7 Cinsere Clark of Valley. He is now 12-1 on the season.
Grider (19-4) lost by a technical fall, 23-8, to No. 1 Dreshaun Ross of Fort Dodge. Ross remained unbeaten at 33-0.
No. 4 Cody Vandermark placed third for Centennial at 120. Ethan Sodergren took fourth at 126, and No. 5 Ari Ehlts finished fifth at 165.
“We had a good day,” Groth said. “I really can’t complain.”
The Jaguars will travel to Waukee Northwest on Thursday for a CIML Conference dual meet against the Wolves.
