Four Ankeny Centennial wrestlers advanced to Friday’s semifinals in a variety of ways at the Class 3A state tournament.
In the process, the quartet moved the fourth-ranked Jaguars closer to a coveted team trophy.
Centennial sits in third place at the midway point of the tournament with 77.5 points, 12 more than fourth-place Indianola. No. 1 Southeast Polk continues to lead the field with 116.5 points, while Bettendorf is in second with 99.
“We fought hard,” said Centennial coach Jay Groth. “We’ve got nine guys alive for (Friday), and I think we can do some more damage. I’m excited.”
Centennial went 4-4 in Thursday’s quarterfinal round at Wells Fargo Arena. The Jaguars got a last-second win from fifth-seeded Cale Vandermark at 113 pounds, two dominant victories from No. 4 Cody Vandermark at 120 and No. 4 Lucas Bruhl at 150, and another pin from No. 3 Max Dhabolt at 144.
Cale Vandermark appeared to be on the verge of a loss when he trailed No. 4 Mac Crosson of Indianola, 1-0, late in the third period. But he got a takedown as the match ended to keep his title hopes alive.
Vandermark said his confidence grew prior to a re-start late in the match.
“Right when my coach screamed and yelled at me to run back to the center and (Crosson) walked back, I knew I had broken him and could get the two (points),” Vandermark said.
It took the referees a few seconds to award the winning takedown to Vandermark, who raised his record to 35-5.
“We watched it on video,” Vandermark said. “I got it (in time).”
Groth called the win “a gut-check match” for Vandermark.
“He got in on a shot with 6 seconds left and finished it with half a second left, I think. That was a good win against a real good kid,” Groth said. “I’m really pleased with Cale wrestling the full 6 minutes because he needed all 6 of them to score that takedown and win the match. That was awesome.”
As Cale celebrated his win, his brother Cody was just getting ready to take the mat for his match. Cody went on to post a 3-0 decision over Mitchell Pins of Dubuque Hempstead, who had lost to Cale in the quarterfinals of last year’s tournament.
“I would say (Cale’s win) definitely fired me up for my match,” said Cody. “I didn’t worry about winning or losing. I just focused on scoring points.”
Cody got only one takedown, but that’s all he needed. He rode Pins for the better part of two periods.
“Cody really dominated,” Groth said.
Cody improved to 34-4 on the season.
“I’m really happy my brother got through, too,” Cale said.
Dhabolt, a freshman, later advanced with a fall over No. 6 Elijah Blewitt of Indianola in 5 minutes 5 seconds. He led by only 3-2 midway through the third period when he somehow put Blewitt onto his back and pinned him.
“Max is so talented, but he’s funky and flexible too,” Groth said. “Most of us sit there and go, ‘Oh no, don’t do that.’ But the next thing you know he’s got a kid on his back, and you wonder how he did that. He’s got great mat awareness, he knows where he’s at all the time, and he doesn’t panic. For a freshman, that’s impressive. It was a great win for him.”
Dhabolt lifted his mark to 33-2.
“It feels good to advance, but I don’t think I wrestled the best. I wasn’t finishing my shots,” Dhabolt said. “He got in on my leg, but I kind of caught him at the end. I trapped his arm with my right leg, and then I put him on his back and pinned him. He wasn’t getting off his back.”
Bruhl followed with a 9-0 major decision over Braylon Griffiths of Ottumwa. The senior earned his third consecutive trip to the semifinals.
“I was pretty confident. It was just another match,” said Bruhl, who is now 21-1. “I didn’t know much about (Griffiths). I had heard a little about him, but I hadn’t seen him wrestle because they hadn’t been at any of our meets this year.”
No. 10 Ethan Sodergren recorded a pair of falls at 126 in the consolation bracket on Thursday. He’ll be joined in the blood round on Friday by the four Jaguars who lost in the quarterfinals–No. 9 Tyler Brennan at 138, No. 4 Isaac Bruhl at 157, No. 9 Ari Ehlts at 165 and No. 7 Mitchell Grider at 215.
Both Cale Vandermark and Lucas Bruhl will now have a chance to avenge losses in last year’s semifinals. Vandermark will meet No. 1 Alexander Pierce of Iowa City West, while Bruhl will face No. 1 Bas Diaz of Waverly-Shell Rock.
Diaz posted a 2-1 decision in overtime a year ago, but Bruhl then won a rematch, 3-1, in the Ed Winger Classic on Jan. 20 at Urbandale.
“Hopefully, it’ll be just like last time,” Bruhl said. “I need to be solid and get to my leg attacks. Getting that next takedown and scoring points will be big.”
Bruhl was on target to be a No. 1 seed until he lost to Justin Avila of Iowa City West at last week’s district tournament. Avila then lost to Levi Trenary of Southeast Polk, 15-9, in Thursday’s quarterfinals.
Trenary’s win helped the Rams take a commanding lead in the team race.
“I knew (Avila) would have a good match with Trenary just because of their styles. They match up well, and I knew that was a toss-up,” Bruhl said. “Obviously, I’d like to get that match back, but I’m looking forward to wrestling Bas and getting to the finals.”
Vandermark dropped an 11-4 decision to Pierce at last year’s tournament. He also lost to Pierce, 4-0, at this year’s district tournament.
“I might not go bottom against him since he got a tilt on me, so I’m going to have to go on my feet and get the first few takedowns,” Vandermark said.
Cody Vandermark will face No. 1 Carter Pearson of Southeast Polk. He was pinned by Pearson in a dual meet last month.
“I just have to take it to him and break him,” said Cody.
Dhabolt will meet No. 2 JahKari Clark of Valley for the third time this season. Clark posted a 5-2 decision in a December dual meet, but Dhabolt then pinned him in the semifinals of the Winger tournament.
“I just have to push the pace the whole time,” Dhabolt said. “Gas him out.”
Here are Centennial’s results from Thursday:
Quarterfinals
113: Cale Vandermark beat Mac Crosson (Indianola), 2-1.
120:Â Cody Vandermark beat Mitchell Pins (Dub. Hempstead), 3-0.
138: Tyler Brennan lost by a technical fall to Carter Freeman (Waukee Northwest), 19-4.
144: Max Dhabolt pinned Elijah Blewitt (Indianola), 5:05.
150: Lucas Bruhl beat Braylon Griffiths (Ottumwa), 9-0.
157: Isaac Bruhl lost to Kael Voinovich (I.C. High), 19-7.
165: Ari Ehlts lost by a technical fall to Jacob Helgeson (Johnston), 17-0.
215: Mitchell Grider was pinned by Holden Hansen (S.E. Polk), 3:04.
Consolation bracket
126: Ethan Sodergren pinned Malachi Clement (Clear Creek-Amana), 2:41; pinned Kash Kiner (Valley), :32.
132: Andrew Roland lost by injury default to Carson Crigger (Waukee), 2:53.
190: Jack Cahill lost to Isaiah Kellow (Indianola), 11-4.
