Washington, Fairfield send 4 each to state

WASHINGTON — Qualifying for the state wrestling tournament is no easy task, as anyone who followed the 2021-22 campaign would understand. Last year, Fairfield’s Cason Miller was the only Union area big school state qualifier.

On Saturday, not only did the Trojans add three wrestlers to the state list, but Washington went from zero qualifiers in 2022 to four of their own.

Among those making a state tournament debut is Fairfield freshman Cael McCabe. The Trojans’ 113 pounder not only punched his ticket, but did so with a district championship.

McCabe put himself in great position with two early wins. He pinned Washington’s Jace Sanders in 1 minute, 10 seconds in the quarterfinal round, and advanced to the championship match with a 7-0 decision against Kade Martin of Davis County.

In a tough championship battle with Notre Dame’s Kael Cook, McCabe caught Cook late in a period to earn some key points in a 5-1 victory.

“I don't even know what happened, really,” McCabe said. “I kind of blinked, and the next thing I know, I had him on his back with like 10 seconds left.”

Miller had to battle to three wins in order to make his way back to Des Moines, and the second of those was one of the best matches of the night. After pinning Washington’s Lane Schrock, in 2:38, to advance past the 145-pound quarterfinals, Miller sneaked past Notre Dame’s Blake Wilson 3-1 in the tiebreaker to get into the championship.

“We knew it was going to be a tough match, and that I would have to wrestle the whole match,” Miller said. “It came down to the end of it, and that's where I really performed.”

But for Miller, the journey was far from over. He fell by pinfall in the first place match, and had to wrestle for true second after Mt. Pleasant’s Bowen Davis earned a 3-2 win over Schrock in the consolation semis and a 3-1 win over Isaac Messamaker of Centerville in the third place match.

In the battle for true second, Miller held off Davis 4-2, earning him a second state berth in two years.

“There's a lot of pressure going into it,” Miller said. “It feels really rewarding.”

Due to early-round byes, Fairfield’s Dre Smithburg (220 pounds) and Brandon Brinkschroeder (285) each needed to win just one match to earn a trip to Wells Fargo.

In the 220-pound bracket, Smithburg took care of Davis County’s Parker Moore with a semifinal pinfall in 1:37. Smithburg lost the first place match 9-2, but didn’t need to wrestleback.

At 285 pounds, Brinkschroeder pinned Keokuk’s Aiden Plowman in less than a minute, planting him in 54 seconds to earn a spot in the first place match. Despite an 8-4 loss in the championship, Brinkschroeder also took second in what was just a three-man bracket.

A combination of an unlucky district and a shoulder injury led to Washington’s Aaron Boone missing out on the 2022 state tournament, but the Demon sophomore wasn’t going to miss out on 2023.

Boone dominated the first two rounds in the 120-pound bracket, pinning Centerville’s Ryan McDanolds and beating Keokuk’s Rylee Moore on a 15-7 major decision to make the championship.

In the title bout, fourth-ranked Boone outlasted Notre Dame’s CJ Davis, who is ranked one spot ahead of him, third in the final IAWrestle rankings. Boone, who broke Washington’s single-season take down record earlier this month, collected a 3-2 decision for the district title.

“It feels good, thinking about last year, and having that shoulder (injury) and now this year it feels completely fine,” Boone said. “It just feels good getting there.”

Washington’s Curtis Stender took the unconditional route to a district title. Stender was already sitting pretty after an 11-3 major decision over Fairfield’s Logan Johnson in the semifinals, but the 195-pound championship match only lasted a few seconds.

Right away in the championship match, Centerville’s Sam Hush took down Stender with an illegal move. Stender slammed hard against the mat, and was unable to go on, which officially disqualified Hash, who had to beat Johnson in a wrestleback to earn second.

The Demons had two second-place finishers in Caden Greiner and Chase Greiner, both of whom are moving on to Wells Fargo.

At 132 pounds, Caden Greiner collected a pair of pinfalls, pinning Centerville’s Bain Weeks in 3:00, and Davis County’s Deken Sorensen in 5:38 to get into the championship.

Caden Greiner was pinned in the first place match, but Sorenson won the third place match on the other mat, and Greiner was locked into the state tournament.

Chase Greiner, who earlier this month broke the Washington High School pins record, added to his record with a pin over Mt. Pleasant’s Jahmal Dodson in the 160-pound quarterfinals. He pinned Dodson in 1:10 and then defeated Notre Dame’s Lyblie Christofferson via a 9-0 major decision to get into the championship.

Despite losing the 160-pound championship on a 5-1 decision, he needed Christofferson to win the third place match, which Christofferson did, and the Demons had yet another state qualifier.

The quartet of Trojans and Demons will begin their respective journeys on Wednesday, February 15. The Union will have stories on the rest of the district meets in Tuesday’s edition.