Southeast Polk defeats nationally ranked Bettendorf to claim 3A dual title

The #1 Southeast Polk Rams (#8 nationally) took care of business today as they finished on top of the 3A bracket with a 34-28 win over the #20 nationally, and #2 state ranked Bettendorf Bulldogs in the final dual of the season. The squads boast 18 of IA Wrestle’s 3A rankings, including six of the #1 ranked wrestlers in the state’s largest class.

The Rams opened their tournament with a 72-9 smashing over #8 Dowling Catholic. They followed that with a 56-12 win over #4 Cedar Rapids Prairie in the semifinals, only dropping matches at 182 by fall, and 138 when #2 Keegan Shaw had to medically forfeit in his match against #3 Josh Wenger. That set up a showdown with Bettendorf for all the marbles.

Bettendorf opened the dual with a big fall at 132 when #2 Paul Glynn beat #8 Zach Barnes. Shaw then came back to win for the Rams 6-2, just hours after his medical forfeit to give Southeast Polk their first win. #1 Fredy Stroker majored #2 Aaron Meyer at 145 #3 Jacob Woodard added a decision at 152, and #1 Dayton Racer picked up a fall to push Bettendorf to a 19-3 lead. Southeast Polk’s upperweights then responded going off for six straight wins including falls from #3 Ethan Andersen at 220 and #1 Jake Marnin at 285. Following #9 Gauge Perrien‘s pin for the Rams at 106, #1 Jack Wagner picked up a 6-4 victory over #2 Nathan Lendt at 113. #1 Jacob Schwarm followed his teammate with a pin to make the score 31-28 heading into to the final match between #1 Nolan Hellickson and #2 Jackson Gallagher at 126. Hellickson secured the victory with his 7-1 decision, which capped the dual off 34-28.

3A #StateDual15 Champs. @IAwrestle https://t.co/rXzIHPTEEF

— Tony Hager (@hagertony) February 19, 2015

1st Place Match
#1 Southeast Polk defeated #2 Bettendorf 34-28.
3rd Place Match
#6 Cedar Rapids, Jefferson defeated #4 Prairie, Cedar Rapids 59-6.
5th Place Match
#8 Dowling Catholic, WDM defeated #3 Johnston 33-25.
7th Place Match
#7 North Scott, Eldridge defeated #5 Valley, West Des Moines 61-15.

#6 Cedar Rapids Jefferson pulled two upsets on the day on the way to their third place finish. Jefferson opened the day with a 33-19 win over the #3 Johnston Dragons. After dropping the first two matches, Jefferson responded by winning four out of the next five matches to take the lead 12-9. Jefferson then put together another string of four out of the next five matches, and #3 Branden Baker closed things out with a forfeit to advance to the semifinals against Bettendorf. There they lost 44-29 to the Bulldogs, which setup a dual with one of their rivals, Prairie. During the season Jefferson won a close 34-28 win at Cedar Rapids Prairie, but this time it was all J-Hawks as they put a 59-6 beating on their southern rival – although the Prairie Hawks rested quite a few of their regular starters in the dual.

#8 Dowling Catholic also pulled a pair of upsets to win the 5th place match over #3 Johnston. After a rough start to the day against the eventual champion Rams, Dowling rebounded to defeat #5 West Des Monies Valley 60-12, only dropping matches to #4 Spencer Hutchinson at 106, Tristan Cobb at 132, and Ben Campos at 220. In the 5th place match Dowling the downed the #3 seed Johnston 33-25, despite losing five of the last six weights to the Dragons.

Taking 7th place was #7 North Scott  as they dropped #5  West Des Moines Valley 61-15 for their only dual win on the day. Tristan Cobb and Noah Carr were able to keep their team in the dual as Valley won two of the first five matches, but North Scott went on a seven match streak in the upperweights to put the dual out of reach. Spencer Hutchinson added a fall for Valley at 106, but North Scott’s impressive nine fall performance was just too much for Valley.