It was a rough Friday afternoon for both the Ankeny and Ankeny Centennial wrestling teams.
The two squads combined to go 0-for-6 in the semifinals of the Class 3A state tournament at Wells Fargo Arena.
“That blood round has come back to haunt us for the second year in a row,” said Centennial coach Jay Groth. “We didn’t have a very good one last year either. We’ve got to figure it out what we need to do to get in the right frame of mind to compete on Friday, but we’ll get there.”
The fourth-ranked Jaguars dropped from third place at the start of the day into seventh with 84.5 points. No. 1 Southeast Polk continues to lead the field with 185.5 points, followed by No. 2 Bettendorf with 132.
Ankeny, meanwhile, fell from 15th place into 17th with 52.5 points.
“Our kids are wrestling as hard as they can right now,” said Ankeny coach Jack Wignall.
Three of the semifinalists lost to the same opponents that they fell to in last year’s semifinals, including Ben Hansen of Ankeny. The fourth-seeded Hansen dropped a 15-5 major decision to No. 1 Kane Naaktgeboren of Linn-Mar (Marion) at 144 pounds.
“It seems like he can lock up a cradle from anywhere,” said Hansen, who will still become a four-time placewinner. “It’s tough when I’m in there on the shots and try to stay in good position but work toward the finish at the same time.”
Centennial’s Cale Vandermark at 113 and Lucas Bruhl at 150 also lost to familiar foes.
The No. 5 Vandermark dropped a 5-2 decision to No. 1 Alexander Pierce of Iowa City West. He lost to Pierce a year ago, 11-4, and also lost to him at last week’s district tournament, 4-0.
“I was starting to get to his legs, and that’s the first time I’ve done that,” said Vandermark. “I just couldn’t finish there.”
The No. 4 Bruhl suffered a 7-2 loss to No. 1 Bas Diaz of Waverly-Shell Rock. Diaz got a two-point near fall in the second period, then closed out the match with a four-point move as Bruhl tried desperately for a takedown to win the match.
“That one was very frustrating,” Groth said. “Diaz is strong, and he stalls a lot and he sells it well. He doesn’t get called for it as often as he should, but we know that and we’ve got to make things happen and we just didn’t get it done today.”
Centennial’s Cody Vandermark at 120 and Max Dhabolt at 144 also lost in the semifinals along with Ankeny’s Isaac Wignall at 113.
The No. 4 Vandermark dropped a 9-1 major decision to No. 1 Carter Pearson of Southeast Polk. Pearson is one of five finalists for the Rams, who have essentially locked up the team race and are 39.5 team points from surpassing Waverly-Shell Rock’s record (225 points in 2008) for most team points scored in state tournament history.
The No. 3 Dhabolt dropped a 3-2 decision to No. 2 JahKari Clark of Valley. The two wrestlers had split a pair of earlier matches this season.
Clark scored the only takedown with about 30 seconds left to break a 1-1 tie.
“We’re going to have six placewinners. It’s been a great year,” Groth said. “The kids have wrestled hard all year long. They wrestled hard today, but we just didn’t win those matchups. A lot of them will be back next year so we’re going to keep moving forward.”
Like Dhabolt, the No. 11 Wignall is making his state tournament debut. He was pinned by No. 2 Tyler Harper of Norwalk in 1 minute 25 seconds.
“We knew those semifinal matches were going to be tough,” said coach Wignall, Isaac’s uncle. “We really thought maybe Isaac had a shot, but that kid did the same thing in the semis last year to another kid. He gave up the pin last year, and this year we got caught. So good for (Harper).”
Both Ankeny and Centennial fared better on Friday in the consolation bracket, where the two teams combined to win six of 12 matches.
No. 5 Truman Folkers recorded a pair of wins at 126 to secure a top-six finish for the Hawks. No. 9 Ari Ehlts accomplished the same feat for the Jaguars at 165.
Folkers overcame a 5-2 deficit against Matthew McCrea of Bondurant-Farrar in the blood round.
“Truman about didn’t win that one,” Wignall said. “That was close.”
Folkers used a five-point move late in the match to post a 7-5 decision.
“I hit a fireman’s (carry) and caught his head and got a cradle and just kept it locked up until the end,” said Folkers.
Folkers then followed with a 7-0 decision over Carter Siebel of Pleasant Valley in a fifth-round consolation match.
“I felt really good,” Folkers said. “I lost a really close one (in the quarterfinals), and I felt confident coming back on the back side. I just needed to be more offensive and score more points.”
Ehlts, meanwhile, did not allow a single point in his two matches. He rolled to a 12-0 major decision over Hale Rhodes of Mason City in the blood round, then followed with a 4-0 decision over No. 5 Colin Falck of Cedar Rapids Kennedy.
“It feels really good to get on the (awards) stand and climb higher,” said Ehlts. “I just need to keep scoring more.”
Ehlts had lost to Falck, 3-0, in the district final.
“Ari wrestled really well on the back side,” Groth said. “That’s the third time he’s wrestled (Falck) this year. He beat him early in the season and then lost to him at districts, but he got him today. Good for him. That was some good stuff.”
Centennial’s Mitchell Grider at 215 and Ankeny’s Perez Perez at 132 will both wrestle for seventh place on Saturday after winning their matches in the blood round. The No. 7 Grider posted a 3-1 decision over Mason Roethler of Johnston, while the No. 13 Perez got a takedown in overtime to post a 4-2 decision over Mitchell Murphy of Dubuque Hempstead.
“Perez gutted it out,” Wignall said.
The consolation semifinals will begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday. Bruhl will face No. 3 Justin Avila of Iowa City West, giving him a chance to avenge a 3-2 loss in last week’s district final.
Hansen is seeking his highest finish at the state tournament. He placed sixth a year ago after finishing eighth as a freshman and sophomore.
“The next best thing is always what I need to do, so I just have to flush (this semifinal loss) and move on,” Hansen said.
Hansen could eventually face Dhabolt in the match for third or fifth place. Dhabolt beat Hansen in overtime, 13-6, during the regular season.
“I always want to get matches back,” Hansen said. “If I just stay cool and collected like I have so far this tournament, I feel like my chances are pretty good.”
Another Jag-Hawk matchup could materialize at 113, where Cale Vandermark and Wignall could also meet for third or fifth place. Wignall beat Vandermark, 6-5, last month.
“I plan to win my next match and then go from there,” said Vandermark, who will face Ashton Grace of Ottumwa in a consolation semifinal. “I want to make the gap wider against (Indianola’s Mac) Crosson since I needed that last-second takedown (to beat him in the quarterfinals), but I’d also like (the matchup against Wignall). He got me when we had our cross rivalry dual, but the pressure’s off now so I just plan on getting a couple of wins.”
Here are all of Friday’s results:
Semifinals
113: Cale Vandermark (AC) lost to Alexander Pierce (I.C. West), 5-2; Isaac Wignall (A) was pinned by Tyler Harper (Norwalk), 1:25.
120: Cody Vandermark (AC) lost to Carter Pearson (S.E. Polk), 9-1.
144: Ben Hansen (A) lost to Kane Naaktgeboren (Linn-Mar), 15-5; Max Dhabolt (AC) lost to JahKari Clark (Valley), 3-2.
150: Lucas Bruhl (AC) lost to Bas Diaz (Waverly-Shell Rock), 7-2.
Blood Round
106: Ben Walsh (A) lost to Elijah Hyet (Dub. Hempstead), 9-4.
126: Ethan Sodergren (AC) lost to Nate Fish (Linn-Mar), 6-4; Truman Folkers (A) beat Matthew McCrea (Bondurant-Farrar), 7-5.
132: Perez Perez (A) beat Mitchell Murphy (Dub. Hempstead), 4-2 (OT).
138: Tyler Brennan (AC) lost to Nolan Howell (Clear Creek-Amana), 3-1.
157: Isaac Bruhl (AC) lost to Wyatt Vlasek (C.R. Prairie), 8-6.
165: Ari Ehlts (AC) beat Hale Rhodes (Mason City), 12-0.
215: Mitchell Grider (AC) beat Mason Roethler (Johnston), 3-1.
5th-Round Consolations
126: Truman Folkers (A) beat Carter Siebel (Pleasant Valley), 7-0.
132: Perez Perez (A) lost to Justis Jesuroga (S.E. Polk), 3-2.
165: Ari Ehlts (AC) beat Colin Falck (C.R. Kennedy), 4-0.
215: Mitchell Grider (AC) lost to Evan Franke (Muscatine), 9-4.
