West brothers, WACO?s Crawford advance to state

During a fierce, busy Class 1A district tournament in Wilton on Saturday, three area wrestlers made their presence known.

With strong performances, they flipped those into a trip to Thursday?s individual state tournament in Des Moines.

Highland will have two regulars returning to Des Moines, with juniors Bryce and Drew West making their third-straight trip to Wells Fargo Arena.

Bryce will be looking to defend his crown at 120 pounds, after winning the state title in 2015, and is coming in as hot as can be.

Standing at 51-0 on the year, Bryce earned a first-period pin fall at 42 seconds in his semifinal match, and after taking an early lead in the championship match, pinned Lisbon?s Cooper Siebrecht in the second period to earn the trip to state.

?Bryce showed up for business and he delivered,? Highland wrestling coach Clint Jones said. ?There are a few things Bryce needs to tweak, but he is wrestling with exceptional intensity and skill.  He just needs to continue to do what he does best, and that is high-octane scoring.?

Bryce?s brother Drew (49-0), who won a state title as a freshman and finished in third place last year, also earned another trip to state, and nearly dropped his first match of the season in the process.

After earning a 49-second pin in the semifinals, Drew and Lisbon?s Wally Zernich battled to a 3-2 decision that went in Drew?s favor, after Zernich?s late attempt for a takedown was waved off as time expired.

?Drew wrestled hard, but he has to find ways to open up with shots earlier in the match,? Jones said. ?He has so many good technical shots, but he needs to utilize them.  However, Drew will learn from this match from  technical and tactical  aspects, and he?ll be ready for next week?s state tournament.?

Highland had two other competitors in the district tournament, Brady Hahn and Dan Burton, and both finished in fourth place.

WACO?s lone representative at the district tournament had to win a hard-fought match, but found himself on the right end of the state qualifiers.

Cody Crawford (25-5) won his semifinal match at 285 pounds with a 6-3 decision over Logan O?Connor from Lisbon.

In the championship, Regina?s undefeated Jared Brinkman pinned Crawford in 30 seconds, but Crawford ended the day in second place to claim his first state trip as a sophomore.

The individual tournament begins on Thursday morning.