Eleven area wrestlers begin their march toward realizing state championship dreams today when they take the mat at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines for the individual state tournament.

In class 2A, Washington Demon senior Ayden Frazer will begin his tournament at 182lbs against senior and No. 1 Adam Ahrendsen of Union LaPorte City. Frazer has an overall record of 20-7, Ahrendsen is unbeaten at 19-0.

Mid-Prairie will have three wrestlers in Des Moines including 35-9 senior Ben Meader at 182lbs who opens against 32-7, No. 7 ranked senior Austin Roos of Benton Community. Cael Garvey will be on the mat for the Golden Hawks at 195lbs. The 34-4 Mid-Prairie junior begins action against fellow junior, seventh ranked Matthew Wirtz of Emmetsburg. Golden Hawk senior Josh Wallington will wrestle at 220lbs. He puts his 38-3 record on the line against 22-2 junior Kain Nelson of Clarion Goldfield.

Columbus has the highest ranked area wrestler in action. Lane Scorpil is in Des Moines, fresh off of his district title with a 37-1 overall record and No. 2 ranking. His tournament starts against 32-12 junior Tytan Guerrero of Williamsburg. Scorpil spoke at the district meet last weekend in Mt. Pleasant about his performance and goals in Des Moines. “You never really go into a match looking for something specific. Go off of what they give you based on ties and the match. I will take this week in the room to do some things to get better, working on more movement. My goal is to be a state champ.”

Fellow Wildcat Chance Malone will be in Des Moines in the 285lb bracket. The senior has a 36-3 overall record and he will square off with junior Nick Bronstad of Okoboji who is 33-12 on the year.

In the class 1A tournament the Highland Huskies have 106lb sophomore Easton Schlabaugh competing with a 39-6 record. He will take the mat in his opening match against No. 5 Tegan Slaybaugh of Adair County/Guthrie Center, a 35-8 freshman. Highland’s Bryce Thompson is in the 113lb weight class at state. The senior enters the tournament ranked No. 5 with a 32-3 overall record. He will take on sophomore Zach Williams of Council Bluffs St. Albert with a 30-12 mark for the season.

Sigourney-Keota has a pair of Cobras in action today with junior Cade Molyneux at 170lbs with a 23-11 record. He will meet No. 5 Dahson DeJong, a 40-3 senior from Sibley-Ocheyedan. Cade Striegle begins his tournament at 195lbs today. The SK junior with a 34-13 record faces No. 9 ranked, 36-4 senior Blake Brocka of Tripoli.

WACO senior Landon Provino will compete at 285lbs. He opens the tournament with a 5-6 record against No. 1 ranked, 33-0 Chet Buss of North Butler. KCII will have hourly updates from the state wrestling tournament in Des Moines with the latest results.