The 2024 Iowa boys’ wrestling state tournament is upon us, and nine local grapplers will be looking to bring home some hardware from Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.
That includes Washington’s Aaron Boone, who is making his second straight trip to the Class 2A state championships. The junior has gone 42-1 this season and has been ranked inside the top five most of the season at 132 pounds.
Boone is looking to build on the sixth-place medal he earned at 120 lbs last year at state. He’ll face either Kameron Kremer of Independence or Gage Miller of Aplington-Parkersburg in the second round Wednesday morning after receiving a bye as the number three seed.
Also in Class 2A, Columbus/Winfield-Mount Union has four wrestlers seeking to bring home the big prizes. Leading that group is Ty Scorpil, who is coming off a district championship at 126 lbs. The senior is 43-4 and will have a first-round bye as the eight seed.
Fellow senior Russell Coil earned the three seed at 285 lbs and also gets a bye to await either Tayte Peterschmidt of Anamosa or Evan Sorensen of Atlantic. While no longer undefeated after losing the district finals, Coil is still in the middle of a dominant season with a record of 45-1.
While Scorpil waits on the winner between Tycen Clark of Humboldt and Beckett Hagen of Carroll, sophomore teammate Kason Dopler has a first-round date Wednesday morning at 175 lbs against Luke Estlund of Webster City. Dopler went 36-10 this season and was a runner-up at districts.
Columbus/WMU junior Jacob Nelson is 40-9 so far at 113 and will try to add to his silver medal from districts with some big wins at state, starting with a first-round bout against Jayden Mara of Waukon.
Meanwhile, four wrestlers will hit the mat for the first round of the Class 1A tournament Wednesday night. Among that group is WACO’s Louden Huisenga, who is a perfect 34-0 at 190 lbs. The junior has the two seed and will face either Levi Young of Treynor or Drew Lansing of Wapsie Valley in the second round.
Warriors junior Gage Samo also has a first-round bye as the seven seed at 113 after going 32-7 and will take on either Isaac Dominick of Ogden or Jensen Dyer of Martensdale-St Marys.
Highland’s Luke Guseman also gets a bye into the second round at 120 after a 16-5 season that included a district championship. The Husky senior awaits the victor between Connor McLaughlin of Denver and Gabe Johnson of Southwest Iowa.
Lone Tree’s Brock Nebergall will look to continue a brilliant breakout season when the 14-15 freshman takes on Brayden Maeder of Southwest Valley in the first round at 113. Class 1A bouts will begin Wednesday evening at 6 o’clock, while 2A wrestling starts Wednesday morning at 9.
Keep it tuned to KCII all week long and check the live results page as it’s updated at KCIIradio.com for the latest from this year’s state wrestling championships.