Timm places third at 138-pounds in Class 1A

DES MOINES — Aidan Timm’s run to a third-place finish at 138 in Class 1A at the State Wrestling Tournament almost never was.

The Belle Plaine junior, along with two state qualifying teammates, were diagnosed with a skin infection late in the season.

The infection sidelined Timm for 2 1/2 weeks, preventing him from competing in the conference tournament.

Odds were that Timm would be ready come districts, but there was always a chance that would not be the case.

“I didn’t know if I was going to be in good enough condition to wrestle, so I just kept running and also lifted,” Timm said.

Timm stayed in great enough shape, dominating in his three wins at districts.

Wrestling at 138 was something new for Timm. He unselfishly dropped a weightclass to give his teammate, Will Sankot, a better opportunity to qualify.

“The Sankot twins both wanted to go, and it was a harder shot at 150 (for Will), so I cut down,” said Timm. “Having them here wrestling made the experience even more fun than last year.”

Fast forward to Saturday. The Plainsmen wrestler was fresh off a semifinal loss by fall to Alburnett’s Preston Klostermann.

Timm bounced back in a big way — with a second-period fall in the consolation semifinals, advancing him to the match for third.

Timm won by fall again, this time in the first period.

Woodbury Central’s Gavin Wiig had Timm’s leg up in the air, but Timm was able to gather enough strength to roll Wiig to the ground.

Timm then locked the head for the fall.

“I just kept battling through, and I didn’t quit,” Timm said after bouncing back from the semifinal loss.

Timm’s first state medal will be a bronze.

“We knew the potential, and his abilities were there all year,” Belle Plaine coach Brandon Heying said. “We never doubted him, and we’ve been telling him all tournament, ‘you’re the most dangerous wrestler here.’”

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Plants brothers place fourth and eighth

The Plants brothers of Montezuma, Brett and Braxton, earned their first state medals Saturday.

Braxton started off the day in the consolation semifinals, defeating the four-seed Carter Wright.

The win advanced Braxton to the third-place match where he was defeated by Don Bosco’s Kyler Sallis, giving the Braves junior a fourth-place finish at 215.

Brett Plants placed eighth at 190.

There to witness it all was head coach, and father, Mike Plants.

“It’s been a fantastic week of wrestling, and they both put it all out there,” Mike Plants said. “It’s just absolutely awesome to see them medal and peak at the right time this year.”

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Hoyt earns first medal

Iowa Valley’s Chance Hoyt wrapped up a fifth-place finish in his state debut in Class 1A at 150.

Hoyt, the 14-seed, won the fifth place match via a medical forfeit.

“I was just glad to get here and to get on the podium. It feels amazing,” Hoyt said. “It shows all the work I’ve done in the off-season and during the season.”

Having teammates to enjoy the experience with helps. Chance had his brother Mason and teammate Nolan Kriegel at the tournament with him.

“It was great to be up here with my close friends and brothers,” said Hoyt. “They were always there pumping me up.”

Raiders set total medalists record

Nile Sinn wrestled in the finals session Saturday evening, but four other Raiders were in seventh place matches in the early afternoon.

Riker DeWitt had the lone win, and the freshman finished a great season with a seventh-place medal.

Cael Moore, at 190, and Trenton Davies, at 285, capped off great careers as first-time medalists, in eighth.

Carson Grier had to forfeit his match due to an injury suffered Friday night. He also finished eighth.

Grier, only a junior, has the potential to be back at state next year and place higher.

“If somebody would have told me at the beginning of the year we’d have 11 state qualifiers and five placewinners, I would have been ecstatic,” Williamsburg coach Grant Eckenrod said.

“I’m extremely proud of what they’ve done, and you always want more as a competitor, but I will never take away from what these kids accomplished this weekend.”

An impactful senior class has left its mark on the program.

“Our seniors took us to a whole new level this year and led us,” said Eckenrod. “We’re going to say goodbye to these seniors and thank them for all they’ve done.”

But the Raiders also saw a wave of success from younger guys, making the future exciting.

“I wish next year started next week,” Eckenrod said. “The seniors have showed our young kids how it’s supposed to be done and do things the right way. I think that’s going to carry over to them.”

To top it all off, having five total medalists in a single state tournament is a Raiders’ program record.

The Raiders finished ninth in the team race with 76 points.

Area recap

In total, nine of 21 area wrestlers medaled at this year’s state tournament.

Sixteen of 21 qualifiers will return next season, bringing a lot of promise for a lot of area qualifiers potentially next season.

Six of seven area teams had qualifiers. By the numbers, Williamsburg led with 11, then Belle Plaine and Iowa Valley with three, Montezuma two and HLV-TC and BGM one.

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Saturday Area results

(# denotes seed)

CLASS 1A

138 — Consolation semifinals: #6 Aidan Timm (Belle Plaine) pinned #13 Gage Burden (New London), 2:39; Third place: Aidan Timm pinned #7 Gavin Wiig (Woodbury Central),: 57

150 — Consolation semifinals: #4 Kolt Knaack (North Tama) pinned #14 Chance Hoyt (Iowa Valley), 1:41; Fifth place: Chance Hoyt medical forfeit #2 Teague Smith (West Hancock)

190 — Seventh place: #12 Dax Youngblut (Jesup) dec. #14 Brett Plants (Montezuma), 4-1

215 — Consolation semifinals: #7 Braxton Plants (Montezuma) major dec. #4 Carter Wright (Woodbury Central), 11-3; Third place: #3 Kyler Sallis (Don Bosco) major dec. Braxton Plants, 16-5

CLASS 2A

106 — Seventh place: #8 Riker DeWitt (Williamsburg) pinned #10 Mitchell Williams (Crestwood), 4:25

150 — Championship: #1 Shane Hanford (West Marshall) dec. #6 Nile Sinn (Williamsburg), 4-2

190 — Seventh place: #8 Rhett Hedrick (Ballard) pinned #7 Cael Moore (Williamsburg),: 33

215 — Seventh place: #12 Trevor Bailey (Iowa Falls-Alden) medical forfeit #10 Carson Grier (Williamsburg)

285 — Seventh place: #6 Aaron Richtsmeier (Clear Lake) major dec. #13 Trenton Davies (Williamsburg), 13-5