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McCabe, Miller show out at state
Fairfield finishes final wrestling weekend with pair of Top-4 finishers
DES MOINES — It was quite the feat for Fairfield High School to put five names on the 2024 state wrestling brackets. Maybe more impressively, two of those five Trojans finished Top-4.
Sophomore Cael McCabe and junior Cason Miller proved they weren’t settling for just a berth at the state meet. The Trojan duo each finished on the podium for the first time in their respective careers.
McCabe proved he deserved a Top-2 seed in the Class 2A, 106-pound bracket. The Trojan sophomore ran through the bottom side of the bracket with three decision wins leading him to be one of the first six athletes to compete for a state championship during Saturday night’s grand finals.
After a bye in the opening round, McCabe beat North Polk’s Charlie Boelman 6-2 in the second round, outlasted Union, La Porte City’s Coy Mehlert 3-2 in the quarterfinals, and knocked out Nevada’s Urijah Courter in Friday’s semifinals to earn his spot on the biggest stage.
“It means a lot,” said McCabe, who was making his second appearance at Wells Fargo. “I would have liked to be on the top of that podium, but it's alright.”
McCabe was eventually beaten by the top seed, undefeated Klayten Perreault of Mount Vernon. Perreault got a first period takedown and rode that momentum to a 7-1 decision to win the state title.
“It's good experience,” said McCabe. “I'll be ready for next year.”
Miller had quite a different road to Saturday’s action. After beating West Marshall’s Dillon McMorran on an 11-0 major decision in Round 1, Miller fell in a nail-biter against Algona’s Taevyn Zinnel, dropping his second match of the weekend 2-1.
The Trojan junior pinned West Lyon’s Gage Blauwet in 3 minutes, 15 seconds to win his first consolation match. He beat Decorah’s Brody Hanson 10-6 in the next round, setting him up for a rematch against Notre Dame’s Blake Wilson, the same opponent who beat him one week earlier at the district meet.
Not only did Miller earn revenge by beating Wilson via a thrilling 3-1 sudden victory win, but he followed that by earning veangence against Zinnel, pinning him in 3:24 knock him back to the seventh-place match.
On Saturday, Miller outlasted Karson Kolbet of New Hampton/Turkey Valley 2-1 in the consolation semifinals. He then fell in his last match, dropping the third place bout to Taylor Mahler of Hampton-Dumont-CAL 3-0.
Still, it was Miller’s highest finish, and first podium, in his three years at state wrestling.
“It's something that I haven't even processed yet,” Miller said. “We didn't even think I was going to be able to wrestle this year, and for all of this to come true has been something crazy.”
Miller, who has been battling a lower body injury for the better part of the last year, says he’s already looking forward to the next time around.
“It really sets the bar high, but there's three more spots up there,” Miller said. “The goal next year is to be up there on top.”
The other three Trojans battling this weekend finished with one win between them. Dain Burkhart went 1-2 at 175 pounds, winning a wildmatch against Braylen Bieber of Independence 4-2 via sudden victory. Carter Moore (190) and Dre Smithburg (215) each went 0-2.
“It's always kind of a roller coaster, but the real stress for a coach is districts,” said Fairfield head coach Steve Miller. “Up here, it's on those kids. They've really got to get that competitive mindset to come up here in perform.”
Coach Miller said seeing this kind of success in February shows his program is in a good place, especially considering his two Top-4 finishers will be back next winter.
“If you make it outside the first two days, you're beating some dudes,” Coach Miller said. “I'm extremely proud of all of our guys who came up here and wrestled their butts off.”
