Despite sitting in 17th place overall after the first two days of the Class 3A state tournament, the Ankeny Centennial wrestling team made a statement on Thursday at the Casey’s Center.
The Jaguars advanced three wrestlers into Friday night’s semifinals, putting them in some elite company. Only four teams have more semifinalists than Centennial, which has scored 45 points.
Fourth-seeded Cale Vandermark at 126 pounds earned his fourth consecutive trip to the semifinals. Defending state champion Max Dhabolt also advanced at 175 along with 215-pounder Brandon Bogseth, who pulled off one of the bigger upsets of the quarterfinal round.
The No. 7 Bogseth pinned No. 2 Trey Feist of North Scott in 3 minutes 33 seconds. Feist had pinned Bogseth in the semifinals of last week’s district tournament.
“It feels great,” Bogseth said after raising his record to 24-9. “I had a close match with him at districts where the same thing kind of happened. I had him on his back, and there was no call. But this time I stuck it through.”
Feist (23-4) took a 3-0 lead on Thursday with a takedown in the first period. Bogseth escaped midway through the second period, then tossed Feist to the mat about 30 seconds later and pinned him.
“I was looking for him to shoot so I could get my throw in,” Bogseth said.
Vandermark also rallied to win after giving up an early takedown to No. 5 Joey Cahill of Waukee Northwest. He escaped just 8 seconds later, then got his own takedown in the final seconds of the opening period to take a 4-3 lead.
“In my earlier years of wrestling, my coaches said I’d always have a distraught look on my face (when I got taken down) and I wouldn’t get all the way back into the match,” said Vandermark. “But now I look at my coaches and just give them a nod. I just have to be more ready to go.”
Vandermark got another escape and takedown in the second period to post an 8-3 decision. He improved to 35-6 on the season.
“It feels pretty good,” Vandermark said. “I’m not very happy about my performance that match, but I know the performance doesn’t matter here. The win moves you forward, and that’s all that matters.”
The No. 2 Dhabolt recorded his second technical fall in two days. He racked up three takedowns and a pair of four-point near-falls to post a 17-2 victory over No. 7 Gabe Rubino of Waukee Northwest in just 2:16.
“I just went out there and wrestled my match,” said Dhabolt, who lifted his mark to 15-1. “I knew he was going to try to go upper body. Whenever I wrestle him, he usually gives me a rough start and then I just work him down and execute what I practice.”
Dhabolt, a junior, missed much of the season due to an injury before suffering his only loss in the Ed Winger Classic on Jan. 24 at Urbandale, where he dropped a 4-2 decision to Carlisle’s Jaxon Miller in the finals. He has been wanting a rematch ever since.
“I was scared to shoot just because I was getting back into it, but I’m 100 percent right now,” Dhabolt said. “I think I can put it to him, but I’ve got to get there first.”
The No. 1 Miller (42-0) will face No. 4 Barrett Mieras of Linn-Mar (29-2) in Friday’s semifinals. Dhabolt will meet No. 3 Landon Bell of Iowa City Liberty (10-0), who has also missed much of the season.
“I don’t really know who he is,” Dhabolt said.
Vandermark will face No. 1 Eddie Woody of Southeast Polk (36-2) on Friday. He is trying to win his first state title after placing fourth twice and finishing second as a junior.
“He’s been my training partner at Sebolt,” Vandermark said of Woody. “We train together almost every day.”
Vandermark lost to Woody in overtime, 2-1, on Jan. 29.
“It’s going to be a tough one,” Vandermark said. “We know what each other can do. It’s just going to depend on who wants it more.”
Bogseth will meet No. 3 Camden Smith of Dubuque Hempstead (31-2). Smith advanced with a technical fall over No. 6 Ethan Miller of Urbandale.
“I haven’t wrestled him at all, so it’ll be fun,” Bogseth said.
The Jaguars will have a fourth placewinner in No. 3 Ethan Sodergren at 144. He dropped a 12-8 decision to No. 6 Hayden Hutt of Waukee Northwest in the quarterfinals, but then rebounded with a 16-1 technical fall over No. 15 Collin Kruse of North Scott in the blood round to earn a spot on the awards podium for the second straight year.
Sodergren (31-10) will meet No. 7 Stoney Wood of Indianola (38-8) in a fifth-round consolation match on Friday. He can still place as high as third and would reach the 100-victory career mark by doing so.
Centennial’s Ben Rotert was also hoping to become a placewinner at 165, but he was eliminated from the tournament on Thursday. The No. 20 Rotert dropped a 7-0 decision to No. 11 Matthew Phillips of Oskaloosa in a third-round consolation match and finished the season at 16-18.