Five matmen to finish on biggest stage

TRURO — Five boys wrestlers who have turned in outstanding seasons did enough Saturday at a Class 1A district tournament at I-35 High School to earn top-two finishes and advance to this weekend’s state tournament.

The Wolverines’ 106-pounder Josh Nelson, 132-pounder Ty Strode, 190-pounder Caleb Christensen and 285-pounder Ashton Honnold all claimed district championships. At 144 pounds, Keyin Steeve finished as district runner-up to advance.

Jett Christensen battled through a 126-pound bracket that included two ranked wrestlers. He received a wrestleback for true second but finished third.

As a team, the Wolverines were district runners-up with 156.5 points — Earlham won the meet with 180.

“The district tournament always brings all the emotions: the joy and excitement for the kids that qualify and take that next step while also the heartbreak for the kids that fell just short,” Nodaway Valley head coach Brad Honnold said. “I thought all our kids really wrestled well today and left everything on the mat. It was great to see the kids trust the things we talked about and really lay it all on the line even when in some instances the outcome didn’t end in our favor. As a whole, we saved some of our best wrestle for the end of the year, which is what we want.”

Nelson improved to 41-7 with a 6-5 decision over Weston Adams of Mount Ayr in the semifinals after recording a 29-second pin in his opener. In the finals, he scored six late second-period points on a penalty, reversal and four back points to take a 9-3 lead into the third. He added two takedowns and defeated Hudson Cox of Southeast Warren/Melcher-Dallas, a wrestler he lost to earlier this year. Nelson will be the No. 3 seed at state.

“I just wanted to get into my moves and control the matches at my pace,” Nelson said. “The first matches I had, the semifinals match was a good scrap. I wrestled pretty well today. Last year at state was about getting used to the environment, but this year I’m ready to rock and roll.”

Strode enters state ranked seventh, according to IAWrestle, with a 40-5 record. He received a quarterfinal bye and pinned Mount Ayr’s Bryson Martin in 2:44 in the semifinals. In the finals, he recorded takedowns in all three periods and added a second-period escape to earn a 10-0 major decision over Bishop Hammen of Earlham and the district title. He is the No. 7 seed at state.

“I felt I wrestled well today. I may have tried to force things a little too much, but I feel I wrestled good and aggressive,” Strode said. “The Mount Ayr kid I wrestled today threw me into a headlock at POI, so I had to wrestle clean against him. I just needed to stick to my stuff.”

Caleb Christensen and Honnold both improved to 51-0 with district titles.

Caleb Christensen pinned Griswold’s Jaden Jensen in the semifinals to earn a finals matchup with Southeast Warren’s Tucker Dierking. He scored a combined 13 points in the second and third periods to secure a technical fall at 5:35. He enters the state tournament as the No. 2 seed.

“This was my fourth time wrestling (Dierking). I teched him the first time and just majored him the last two times, so it was important to me to get back on the high horse and keep things fast, get to my shots and become dominant in that match,” Caleb Christensen said.

Honnold, the top seed at state and one win away from 200 career victories, defeated Pekin’s Brantyn Sieren in the semifinals and beat Keegan Long of Earlham by 19-4 technical fall in 5:24 in the finals.

“That’s the expectation for me now — going out, wrestling to make sure I’m having fun but also making sure I’m dominant while I do it. That’s just how I wrestle,” Honnold said. “Going into state, nothing changes — it’s just another tournament for me. I want to go out and make sure I’m dominant no matter what tournament it is.”

Steeve improved to 23-10 despite a loss in the 144-pound finals. He reached the championship match with a first-minute pin against Southeast Warren senior Tucker Branson and a fall in 3:23 over East Union’s Joseph Hayes in the semifinals. In the finals, Kacyn Watson of Central Decatur pinned Steeve in 24 seconds. Steeve is the No. 18 seed at state.

“My mentality going into today was to let it fly. It’s the last ride that’s guaranteed. Coming in, I was just like, I was going to enjoy it while it lasts. That’s the mentality I need to keep pushing forward with because it seemed to work today,” Steeve said. “I was really trying to set myself up with a positive coming into my semifinals match, and that really set me up for the day. In the finals, everyone gets caught sometimes.”

Other medalists were Thomas Herrick, fourth at 120 pounds; Matthew Nelson, fourth at 157 and Derek Raasch, fourth at 165.

Coach Honnold commended Nelson, who finishes his senior season 33-27, for his work and career success.

“Matt’s a kid who went through the youth program and has always just kept grinding,” he said. “His final season didn’t end quite like he hoped, but he is the type of kid we love and appreciate. He ends as a four-year varsity letter winner, missed very few practices through his career and did what was asked of him.”

The state tournament is Wednesday through Saturday at the Casey’s Center in Des Moines. Class 1A competes in the 9 a.m. session Thursday and Friday.

State tournament first-round pairings for Nodaway Valley wrestlers are:

106: Josh Nelson (NV) receives a first-round bye and will face the winner of Micah Skogen of Lake Mills vs. Andrew Baker of Westwood, Sloan in the round of 16.

132: Ty Strode (NV) receives a first-round bye and will face the winner of Matthew Donovan of South Winneshiek vs. Ryan Fletcher of Underwood in the round of 16.

144: Keyin Steeve (NV) will face Chance Christensen of Riceville in the first round.

190: Caleb Christensen (NV) receives a first-round bye and will face the winner of Braydon Kusler of Akron-Westfield vs. Drew Munson of Jesup in the round of 16.

285: Ashton Honnold (NV) receives a first-round bye and will face the winner of Lane Meyer of Audubon vs. Jack Sheeder of AC/GC in the round of 16.