Conditioning helps Westphal-Edwards in overtime semifinal win

When Washington High School's Tristin Westphal-Edwards made a state championship his goal, he knew he would have to be in peak condition to achieve that lofty ambition.

After winning his first two matches at 182 pounds at the Iowa High School Athletic Association state wrestling tournament Feb. 14-16, Westphal-Edwards faced his toughest match when he went up against ADM Adel's Nolan Harsh during the Class 2A semifinals at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Harsh brought a 39-3 record into the bout and a new problem for Westphal-Edwards.

'The semifinal match was challenging because the kid he had to wrestle was so tall,” Washington coach Brent Van Weelden said. 'The kid was 6-foot-3. Tristan is not a big kid for 182 so someone that is that tall is a little bit unusual. Wrestlers that tall have different skills that he was not accustomed to. I told him he had to finish fast.”

Fast did not happen for Westphal-Edwards, but he perservered anyway despite the match going into an extra period.

'It was tough. It was definitely a tough one,” Westphal-Edwards said. 'Because he was so tall whenever I got to his legs it was hurry up and finish my shot. When I get to a single, I like to work on the mat and come around but stay on the mat and finish. With this kid, I had to go through him or lift him up to get him off of his feet. He was so long that he could just scoot around me. It was definitely a tight match.”

Neither wrestler scored in the first round.

Harsh started down for the second period and got an escape within 13 seconds, but Westphal-Edwards took a 2-1 lead with a takedown. He started down for the third round.

'It was a match that was very important, obviously, so I had to score points and I do that best on my feet,” Westphal-Edwards said. 'I know that he was really good on top. It was important for me to try to get out from under as soon as possible.”

He had a 4-1 lead but gave up three points in the last 30 seconds.

'He caught one of my wrists and he got a takedown,” Westphal-Edwards said. 'Actually I did not think that he had even got the two count, but I saw the ref throw up the two and I thought, ‘oh man, oh no.' So let's go t overtime.”

A lesser wrestler may have been frustrated to give up those points so close to the end of the third round, but in the words of a state champion, 'It was not frustrating I guess because if you let it frustrate you then you're going to break yourself. I was just motivated to win. It is what it is. This is what it is time to do.”

Having to go into an extra period was where that conditioning came through.

'A lot of the kids we scouted didn't have matches that went the whole six minutes,” Van Weelden said. 'The way I look at that as a coach, I try to put together as tough schedule as I can. I try to find matches that will test our upper level kids. I think the matches you wrestle in tournaments helps prepare you for state.”

Westphal-Edwards went through those matches without a loss.

'I don't know if being undefeated going into state is the best thing because you don't want your first loss of the season to be at state,” Van Weelden said. 'He had several tough matches during the season and that helped prepare him.”

The overtime period, or sudden victory, has both wrestlers start in the neutral position, which is facing each other on their feet. The period lasts just 1 minute.

'I was confident I could get to his legs and beat him with a takedown,” Westphal-Edwards said. 'So that's what I did.”

He certainly did. He ended the match in less than 30 seconds into the overtime and had a day to rest until he wrestled for a state championship.

'After the match I was bummed out about it, definitely bummed out about (giving up three points in the last 30 seconds),” Westphal-Edwards said. 'It was something that I knew I could not let happen. If I let that happen, there's a chance things could go wrong. Luckily, it went in my favor this time. But I knew I had to work on not letting my wrist get in too tight and working hands quicker. That was something that I worked on after the match and went back and watched film on.”

The overtime was his second match Friday. All he had left was one match Saturday night against a kid that was seeded first to Westphal-Edwards' No. 2 seed. One match, one win away from a state title.

Read Friday's Evening Journal for details on Westphal-Edwards' championship win.