Chapman, Ahrens still in the hunt for gold

DES MOINES — All wrestlers are still alive after day one of the state wrestling tournament Wednesday at the Wells Fargo Arena.

With the extended format, the tournament went from three days to four days so no consolation rounds were wrestled day one.

In round one, Max Chapman (285), Austin Evans (144) and Christian Ahrens (120) had a bye as top-eight seeds.

Sophomore Lane Travis  (113) and senior Lincoln Keeler (132) both won their first round bouts after going down early.

Ryan Cassady, the 15 seed, took Travis, the 18 seed, down less than a minute in, but Travis escaped and went on to win 10-5.

Keeler, the 17 seed, also won an upset over the 16 seed. He was taken to the mat early by Wyatt Johnson of Cherokee Washington. Johnson earned two back points before Keeler got a reversal and a three-point nearfall. Keeler won the bout 8-4.

Also winning in round one were Milo Staver (157), Will Bolinger (165) and Quinten Fuller (215).

Staver won in a 9-4 decision and Bolinger with a fall in the second period.

Fuller’s match came down to the wire, the score 1-1 with 30 seconds left. Fuller earned the takedown and the win to advance.

Falling in the first round were Brodrick Phelps, Brandon Briley and Jagger Luther.

In the second round, Ahrens kicked things off with a pin over Tanner Paustian of Woodward-Granger.

Travis, Fuller and Staver faced two and three seeds, all losing their bouts.

Keeler also had a tough opponent, the 132 favorite, Kaiden Dietzenbach of Burlington, Notre Dame.  During the match, Keeler was evaluated for concussion, but was able to resume before he fell in a 16-1 technical fall.

Bolinger was taken down by the seven seed from Wahlert, Dubuque in a technical fall.

Evans lost in an upset to Tucker Wheeler of PCM, Monroe, the opponent he had just defeated at districts. Evans went up 5-0, but Wheeler came back to score six unanswered.

Chapman won his bout with a 26-second pin, extending his streak to nine consecutive pins.

Seven-seed Chapman faces two-seed Paul Ballard in the quarterfinals while four-seed Ahrens takes on five-seed Emmitt Newton.

The other nine need to win to stay alive.