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‘We are very excited to get this season rolling!’: Hawks return 6 state qualifiers

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Ankeny coach Jack Wignall congratulates Perez Perez on his 4-2 overtime victory against Mitchell Murphy of Dubuque Hempstead in the blood round of last year’s state tournament that allowed Perez to become a placewinner for the first time. Perez, who went on to place eighth in Class 3A at 132 pounds, is one of three returning placewinners and six returning qualifiers for the Hawks. (Photo by Drue Wolfe)

The strength of the Ankeny wrestling team will be at the lower weights.

The Hawks return six of their nine state qualifiers from a year ago, and five of them competed at the five lowest weights.

“I think that we have several guys on our team that can win state titles, like our three placewinners and potentially some others as well,” said Ankeny coach Jack Wignall. “We are just getting finished up with our wrestle-offs and figuring out how to get everyone in the lineup.”

Ankeny placed 14th in the Class 3A state tournament last season with 67.5 points. The Hawks posted dual-meet records of 3-5 in the CIML Conference and 9-10 overall.

Ankeny’s Truman Folkers battles Ethan Sodergren of Ankeny Centennial during a 126-pound match in a dual meet at Centennial last year. Folkers, who went on to place fourth at the state tournament, is a three-time qualifier and a two-time placewinner. (Photo by Drue Wolfe)

Senior Truman Folkers, a three-time state qualifier, is the team’s top returnee. He needs 15 wins to reach the 100-victory career mark.

As a sophomore, Folkers placed sixth at 113 to help the Hawks to a 10th-place finish. He took fourth at 126 and posted a 29-8 record last year, when he won a title at the Jack Mendenhall Invitational and later captured a district crown.

Folkers used a five-point move late in the match to post a 7-5 decision over Matthew McCrea of Bondurant-Farrar in the blood round at state, allowing him to become a two-time placewinner. He later outlasted Maximus Riggins of Southeast Polk, 4-2, in overtime in a consolation semifinal, which avenged a 10-0 loss in the finals of the Frank Baltzley Invitational at Johnston and gave him his first-ever win over Riggins.

Senior Perez Perez and junior Ben Walsh are both two-time state qualifiers. The other returning qualifiers are senior Jack Dorfler and sophomores Isaac Wignall and Aiden Winkie.

Ankeny’s Perez Perez looks for an opening against Justis Jesuroga of Southeast Polk during a 132-pound match at last year’s state tournament. Perez posted an 8-4 decision over Jesuroga in the second round. (Photo by Drue Wolfe)

Perez placed eighth at 132 as a junior, when he finished with a 27-18 record. He became a placewinner for the first time with a thrilling victory in the blood round, getting a takedown in overtime to post a 4-2 decision over Mitchell Murphy of Dubuque Hempstead.

Perez earlier went 5-1 with three falls at the Battle of Waterloo. He helped the Hawks to an 11th-place finish among 32 teams.

Dorfler, meanwhile, went 15-13 at 285. He is coming off a successful season on the football field, where he earned first-team all-district honors as an offensive lineman.

“Our seniors have taken a very active role in leadership and are very much reshaping our team culture,” Wignall said. “They have set the following goals: earn a trophy in both individual and duals state, place top three in every tournament we wrestle in this year as a team, have 14 kids qualify (for state), and win 90 percent of our duals.”

Ankeny’s Isaac Wignall works for a takedown against Max Panosh of Cedar Rapids Kennedy during a 113-pound match at last year’s state tournament. Wignall recorded a 15-0 technical fall in the opening round and went on to earn a fifth-place finish as a freshman. (Photo by Drue Wolfe)

Wignall placed fifth at 113 as a freshman. He posted a 20-8 record.

Wignall reached the semifinals before falling to eventual champion Tyler Harper of Norwalk. He later posted a 14-2 major decision over Ashton Grace of Ottumwa in the fifth-place match, which nearly matched his 14-1 major decision over Grace in the second round.

Walsh, who has qualified twice at 106, owns a career mark of 54-31. He earned runner-up honors at the Dan Gable Donnybrook last year.

Winkie qualified for state at 120. He finished with a 20-18 mark.

Ankeny’s Aiden Winkie battles Jaymeson VanderVelde of Council Bluffs Lincoln during a 120-pound match at last year’s state tournament. Winkie posted a 20-18 record as a freshman. (Photo by Drue Wolfe)

The Hawks will travel to Valley on Thursday for their season opener. The two teams met twice at the end of last season, with Ankeny posting a 46-15 win in the conference dual meet before beating the Tigers again, 51-27, in the opening round of a regional dual. 

Ankeny will then compete in the Dan Gable Donnybrook on Friday and Saturday at Coralville.

“I am looking forward to seeing how our team takes shape,” Wignall said. “We have a lot of guys who have been on the mat for four to six years. With wrestling, for most kids, there is no shortcut to getting better; it is simply putting the time in during the offseason. I am excited to see all of our guys get after it. Guys like Eddie Salgado, Ben Walsh, AJ Rouh, Brady Claeys, Jacob Schlee and Andrew Haase are all upperclassmen and will very much  impact our team. We have some very talented, hard-working underclassmen as well–guys like the younger Perez Perez, Aiden Winkie, Ryleigh Egeberg and Cameron Anderson. We also have three good freshmen that will see the lineup. Calvin Rathjen is very good as is Jensen Kildow and Ethan Makovec.

“We are very excited to get this season rolling!” he added.

Ankeny’s Jack Dorfler controls Aiden Lee of Bettendorf during a 285-pound match at last year’s state tournament. Dorfler finished with a 15-13 record. (Photo by Drue Wolfe)