Jack Wignall and Jay Groth both walked away from Wells Fargo Arena on Saturday with their heads held high.
The respective coaches for the Ankeny and Ankeny Centennial wrestling teams had plenty of reasons to be proud of their teams’ performances over the last four days. They also had bright futures to be excited about.
Fourth-ranked Centennial placed fourth in the Class 3A state tournament with 110.5 points. The Jaguars matched the 2018-19 team for the highest finish in school history.
“We had a great year, and they’re a great group of kids,” said Groth, whose team had six placewinners among its 11 qualifiers. “I’m looking forward to next year now.”
Ankeny, meanwhile, finished 14th with 67.5 points. The Hawks put four of their nine qualifiers on the awards podium.
“You always want more,” said Wignall. “I would have loved to have Ben Walsh place (at 106 pounds), and I’d really like to have Ben Hansen win his last match. But we had a good tournament, and I’ll be excited to get going for next year.”
No. 1 Southeast Polk easily captured the Class 3A crown with 221.5 points. No. 2 Bettendorf was second with 160.
Centennial was in third place heading into the championship round on Saturday night, but No. 3 Fort Dodge claimed three individual titles and moved ahead of the Jaguars for the third-place trophy. The Dodgers finished with 119 points.
“We knew Fort Dodge had some hammers there in the finals,” Groth said. “We probably needed to win three of the four third-place matches to have a better chance of securing a (top-three) spot, but we didn’t. But the guys all fought hard. I can’t complain about the fight today.”
Centennial got a third-place finish from third-seeded Max Dhabolt at 144, while No. 5 Cale Vandermark at 113, No. 4 Cody Vandermark at 120 and No. 4 Lucas Bruhl at 150 each placed fourth. The Jaguars also got a sixth-place finish from No. 9 Ari Ehlts at 165 and an eighth-place finish from No. 7 Mitchell Grider at 215.
“We did really well,” said Dhabolt. “I’m proud of everybody, and I’m excited about the future.”
Ankeny got fourth-place finishes from No. 5 Truman Folkers at 126 and No. 4 Hansen at 144. No. 11 Isaac Wignall placed fifth at 113, and No. 13 Perez Perez also finished above his seed by finishing eighth at 132.
“Isaac came back (from a semifinal loss) to get fifth, and Perez was able to place as well,” said coach Wignall, who is Isaac’s uncle. “That’s what you come down here for–to get on the podium.”
Dhabolt posted a 4-3 decision over Hansen in a Jag-Hawk battle for third place. Hansen nearly got a takedown as the match ended that would have allowed him to prevail.
“I was pretty worried,” Dhabolt said. “I stopped wrestling for like the last 5 seconds. He threw me, but I didn’t think it was (a takedown) because I had him all the way jacked up. But (the Ankeny side) thought it was.”
Dhabolt earned the highest finish by a Centennial freshman since Ben Monroe placed second in 2017. He finished with a 35-3 record.
“It feels good,” Dhabolt said. “I credit (my success) to all my training partners. Everybody at Sebolt, and I got the Bruhls (Lucas and Isaac) on this team.”
Groth joked about Dhabolt’s growing reputation as the potential future state champion stood nearby.
“Max gave me gray hairs all year long,” Groth said. “But like I’ve said many times, he never panics and wrestles tough. He’s listening to me saying good things about him right now, so I can’t say anything bad. But I don’t have anything bad to say. He’s a good kid.”
Hansen ended his career as a four-time placewinner. He finished the season at 31-5, with two of the losses coming to Dhabolt.
“It was so close (to a takedown),” Wignall said. “You have a guy like Ben who has put so much time and work in. I was just very privileged to have him on our team for the last four years. What a great kid in every aspect of the word.”
Like Hansen, Lucas Bruhl and Cody Vandermark also ended their careers with fourth-place finishes. Vandermark (35-6) dropped a 5-4 decision in the third-place match to No. 3 Dru Ayala of Fort Dodge.
“The top four kids at 120 are phenomenal,” Groth said. “They’re all very good wrestlers.”
Ayala became only the fifth Dodger to place fifth or better four times at state. One of the others was Centennial assistant Brad Bruhl, the father of Lucas and Isaac.
Lucas Bruhl (21-3) dropped a 3-1 decision in his third-place match to No. 2 Nolan Fellers of Bondurant-Farrar, the son of Adam Fellers, another ex-Fort Dodge standout. Bruhl took an injury timeout during overtime, then Fellers got the winning takedown shortly after the match resumed.
“That was a loaded weight class,” Groth said. “I think Lucas probably tore or pulled his hamstring there while he was trying to counter Fellers’ shot.”
Still, Bruhl became a three-time placewinner.
“It’s definitely a heartbreaker. It’s a tough one,” Bruhl said of the loss. “But it’s been a great year with these guys. Going to state duals is always fun. Being on a team like this–they’re not only good athletes and good wrestlers but they’re great people, too. It’s been fun.”
Bruhl had a lot of fun earlier when he rolled to a 12-4 major decision over No. 3 Justin Avila of Iowa City West in a consolation semifinal. Avila handed Bruhl his first loss, 3-2, in last week’s district final.
“It was a good one to get back,” said Bruhl, who plans to play baseball at North Iowa Area Community College. “I just had to get to my leg attacks and stay on his head. I knew he was just going to be circling away, so I wanted to keep it as close as possible. I needed to put the points on and get that win.”
Cale Vandermark placed fourth for the second straight year. The sophomore dropped a 6-2 decision in his third-place match to No. 4 Mac Crosson of Indianola.
Vandermark (36-7) had scored a last-second takedown to beat Crosson, 2-1, in Thursday’s quarterfinals.
“(Crosson) got that one back,” Groth said. “He definitely wanted to get it back.”
Ehlts (35-11) dropped a 4-2 decision to No. 7 Wesley Anderson of Waukee in his fifth-place match. Grider (27-9) suffered a 3-2 loss in his seventh-place match to No. 9 Jean Ngoma of Cedar Rapids Xavier, who got the only takedown with about 30 seconds left.
Folkers, a junior, became a two-time placewinner for the Hawks. He outlasted No. 3 Maximus Riggins of Southeast Polk, 4-2, in overtime in a consolation semifinal.
“It was a good tournament for Truman,” Wignall said. “That’s the first time he’s beaten Max in 12 years of wrestling.”
Folkers (29-8) dropped a 10-0 major decision to Riggins in the finals of the Johnston tournament in December. A few weeks later, he narrowed the gap considerably in a 3-1 loss to Riggins in a dual meet against the Rams.
“That was a close one at the dual,” Folkers said. “I just knew I had to get to my offense more and score more points. Take more attacks and finish the match.”
The win earned Folkers a rematch against No. 4 Ryker Graff of Waverly-Shell Rock in the third-place match. Graff had posted a 2-1 win in overtime in Thursday’s quarterfinals, and he defeated Folkers again on Saturday, 4-0.
“He just caught my arm and held it there the entire time. I couldn’t really do anything,” Folkers said. “But I still did better than last year (when I finished sixth).”
Isaac Wignall dropped a 2-0 decision to Indianola’s Crosson in a consolation semifinal. He then rebounded with a 14-2 major decision over No. 6 Ashton Grace of Ottumwa in the fifth-place match.
“I’m pretty happy,” Isaac said. “I was trying to get top four–that was my goal–but fifth is fine.”
Wignall (20-8) also recorded a major decision over Grace, 14-1, in Wednesday’s second round.
“(That win) gave me way more confidence going into today’s match than the last time,” he said.
Perez dropped a 1-0 decision to No. 6 Tyler Lee of Cedar Rapids Prairie in his seventh-place match. He finished the season at 27-18.
Here are all of Saturday’s results:
Consolation Semifinals
113: Cale Vandermark (AC) pinned Ashton Grace (Ottumwa), 4:23; Isaac Wignall (A) lost to Mac Crosson (Indianola), 2-0.
120: Cody Vandermark (AC) beat Evan Simpson (Cedar Falls), 5-0.
126: Truman Folkers (A) beat Maximus Riggins (S.E. Polk), 4-2 (OT).
144: Ben Hansen (A) pinned Mason Lucas (Carlisle), 1:09; Max Dhabolt (AC) beat Alex Bumba (C.R. Prairie), 13-5.
150: Lucas Bruhl (AC) beat Justin Avila (I.C. West), 12-4.
165: Ari Ehlts (AC) was pinned by Lincoln Jipp (Bettendorf), 3:19.
3rd-Place Matches
113: Cale Vandermark (AC) lost to Mac Crosson (Indianola), 6-2.
120: Cody Vandermark (AC) lost to Dru Ayala (Fort Dodge), 5-4.
126: Truman Folkers (A) lost to Ryker Graff (Waverly-Shell Rock), 4-0.
144: Max Dhabolt (AC) beat Ben Hansen (A), 4-3.
150: Lucas Bruhl (AC) lost to Nolan Fellers (Bondurant-Farrar), 3-1 (OT).
5th-Place Matches
113: Isaac Wignall (A) beat Ashton Grace (Ottumwa), 14-2.
165: Ari Ehlts (AC) lost to Wesley Anderson (Waukee), 4-2.
7th-Place Matches
132: Perez Perez (A) lost to Tyler Lee (C.R. Prairie), 1-0.
215: Mitchell Grider (AC) lost to Jean Ngoma (C.R. Xavier), 3-2.
