Ankeny Centennial’s Cale Vandermark exercised a few demons on Saturday.
The fourth-ranked junior won the 120-pound title in the Don Miller Invitational at Fort Dodge and earned the Tim Ascherl/Brent Helmkamp outstanding wrestler award after leading the Jaguars to a fifth-place finish in the 14-team field.
“I was honored to have earned such an esteemed award named after two remarkable wrestlers,” said Vandermark.
Vandermark posted a 4-1 decision over No. 2 Alexander Pierce of Iowa City West to capture his third consecutive Miller title. He raised his record to 14-0 on the season.
Vandermark had lost to Pierce, 11-4 and 5-2, in the semifinals of the state tournament the last two years. Pierce, who won a state title in 2023 before placing second as a sophomore, committed to Virginia last month.
“The key to beating Pierce for me was constant pressure and pace and also mentally, believing in myself and my wrestling skills,” Vandermark said. “This was the first time I have beaten him since grade school. It was a big deal to see all the hard work I have put in, and the growth I have made as a wrestler.”
Centennial coach Jay Groth wasn’t surprised by Vandermark’s victory.
“Cale is a workhorse. He does everything, and he does it all right,” Groth said. “He trained at Sebolt Academy since the season got over last year, and that’s helped him a lot. He lifts hard, he trains hard, he’s got a motor that doesn’t stop, and he’s just got a lot more confidence. He’s much improved on the mat, and he really wore (Pierce) out. He wrestled him this fall in a tournament down in Kansas City and lost to him, 1-0, in double overtime. But we watched the film and talked about some things, and he’s not afraid of anybody. He’ll probably see Pierce two more times before the state tournament.”
Centennial crowned two other individual champions in No. 3 Max Dhabolt at 157 and Jacob Hand at 165. The Jaguars finished with 154 points.
Humboldt won the tournament with 217.5 points. Algona was the runner-up with 204.5.
“Our guys that were there wrestled well. We had some good matches,” Groth said. “We just decided to limp into that tournament and not take the guys that are banged up a little bit. Right now, we’ve just got to get healthy and recover a little bit.”
Dhabolt cruised to his second straight crown, recording a technical fall and a pair of falls. He pinned Tate Slagle of Algona–who is ranked No. 7 in Class 2A–in 2 minutes 39 seconds in the finals.
Dhabolt improved to 14-0.
“Max beat a kid that’s a Fargo all-American and a state placewinner, too,” Groth said. “They felt each other out during the first period, but then Max saw an open window and with him it doesn’t have to be open for very long. He feels it and put the kid on his back and pinned him. He does what he does.”
Hand pinned his way to the title, notching three consecutive falls. In the finals, he pinned teammate Jackson Anonson in 3:54 to lift his record to 12-3.
Anonson, who was wrestling unattached, saw his first varsity action of the season.
“That doesn’t happen very often where you have two of your kids face each other in the finals,” Groth said. “Jacob was down 3-1 when he got the takedown and put Jackson on his back. It was a good showing from our two kids at that weight.
“This is the biggest senior class I’ve ever had, and it’s a great group. It’s good to have that kind of depth. I wish they were spread out a little more, but I can’t complain,” he added.
Centennial got a runner-up finish at 150 from No. 3 Isaac Bruhl, who dropped a 4-1 decision in overtime to No. 4 Justin Avila of Iowa City West. Avila got the only takedown of the match to hand Bruhl just his second loss in 13 matches.
Avila had lost to Bruhl’s brother, Lucas, in each of the last two state tournaments.
“That was a great match,” Groth said. “The two kids that Zeke has lost to–Avila and Jabari Hinson of Ames–were both better in the moment, but they’re not better than Zeke. He can definitely beat them.”
No. 8 Ryan Smith placed fourth for the Jaguars at 175. Ben Rotert took fifth at 190, while Nolan Bennett at 144 and Dirk Winkel at 285 each finished sixth.
The Jaguars will return to action on Jan. 4 at the Valley Duals.
“Our schedule gets pretty tough after the break,” Groth said.