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WACO’s Maize runner up in IHSAA state championships
WACO sophomore gets second, Sigourney-Keota lands two on podium
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
DES MOINES — It wasn’t to be for Ian Maize.
Maize has dazzled in his first two seasons on the mat and reached the Iowa High School Athletic Association Class 1A state title match for a second straight season. But just like Maize’s first go-around, the final match ended in defeat.
Don Bosco’s Kaiden Belinsky, the No. 1 seed at 113, defeated Maize by technical fall 17-2 in the final. Belinsky got the better of Maize in a title match for the second straight season, after defeating him by sudden victory 6-3 in the 1A 106-pound final last year.
“It feels good to be out there wrestling Saturday night two times in a row,” Maize said. “But, I just have higher expectations for myself.”
Maize fell behind 8-1 after the first period after Belinsky came out the aggressor and had two takedowns and a near fall. Belinsky scored two more takedowns in the second period, while Maize finished the match with just two escape points.
Though his tournament ended in disappointment, Maize showed why he’ll likely be one of the top seeds in the 1A lightweight classes against next season. He recorded a 54 second pin in his first match, then beat No. 7 seed Leyton Elmquist of Audubon by technical fall and No. 3 seed Brady Burton of Westwood by major decision to reach the 113 title match.
“I just got to keep my mental state right,” Maize said. “I just got to keep coming back to practice and all year round keep getting better.”
Sigourney-Keota had the Union area’s other two small school placewinners Saturday. The Savages had a fifth place finisher in Owen Menke at 285, while Ryker Van Den Heuvel finished eighth at 138.
Menke pinned Treynor’s Maverrick Kalb in just 51 seconds to finish fifth. The No. 5 seed in the 285 bracket, Menke had the chance to land in the third place match, but was pinned in 1:12 by No. 2 seed Nick Saxton of Emmetsburg in the consolation semifinals.
Still, the S-K senior ended his high school wrestling career with a podium finish. Menke took a leap forward this postseason after a 1-2 performance at state in 2025.
While Menke ended his strong prep career with Sigourney-Keota on a high, his freshman teammate showed off the team’s birght future. Van Den Heuvel’s finish was 11 spots better than his No. 19 seed.
Van Den Heuvel dropped the seventh place match to No. 9 seed Trace Huisman of Saint Ansgar. While the loss stings, the freshman had some big wins earlier in the tournament, including an upset over No. 7 seed Sawyer Krall of Wapsie Valley in the fourth consolation round.
“That kid's tough, man,” Sigourney-Keota coach and Ryker’s father Cory Van Den Heuvel said. “He can eat I-beams and poop nails; I'm serious. You can set anything in front of him and he will find a way to conquer it. That’s just what he's done since he was running around in diapers, and that's just who he is. So he'll be back.”
