9 Wildcats still wrestling at State

The Wildcats are in 9th place in Class 3A, with 59.5 points after Thursday's competition.

Miller will face Braden Blackorby of Johnston Friday for a shot at Saturday’s 145-pound Championship match. Miller defeated Cooper Paxton of Waterloo West in the second round of competition, getting a fall in 1:53 before taking down No. 2-seed Tycho Carmichael of Bettendorf on Thursday with a 4-1 decision.

Aidan Serrano will face Cale Nash of Clear Creek Amana Friday in his bid for third place at 113 pounds. Serrano had a first-round bye, and then scored a major decision to defeat Gabe Cauthron of Spencer 15-4 before falling to Ryker Graff of Waverly-Shell Rock on Thursday.

Ryan Ryder will wrestle Payton Bright of Ankeny Centennial on Friday for a chance at third. Ryder started the tournament with a fall over Drew Metcalf in the first round at 120-pounds Wednesday before defeating Matthew McCrea of Bondurant-Farrar in an 10-4 major decision and falling in an 11-4 decision to Blake Gioimo of Cedar Rapids Prairie to move to the consolation bracket.

Mason Lucas earned a first-round fall against Zeb Fitzgerald of Dowling Catholic at 132 pounds, but then fell to Bondurant-Farrar’s Dalton Rowe in a 3-1 decision to move to the consolation rounds where he defeated Braden Doyle of Iowa City West in a 7-4 decision and Wyatt Heying of Spencer with a fall in 3:10. He will face Zane Behrends of Waverly Shell Rock on Friday for a chance at third.

Asa Hemsted is battling for third at 170 pounds after falling to Kaia Fox of Johnston on Thursday. Hemsted started his tournament with a fall over Wyann Young of Cedar Rapids Washington in the first round before getting a 8-4 decision over Blake Hauck of Waukee Wednesday. Fox earned a 2-1 decision to send Hemsted to the consolation round, where he will face Cal Hartman of Fort Dodge on Friday.

Jack Laughlin also had a bye to start the tournament at 182 pounds, then defeated Xander Kenworthy of Ankeny in the second round by a 4-3 decision before falling to Tate Naaktgeboren of Linn-Mar in a fall in 2 minutes. Laughlin will face Evan Pollard of Dowling Catholic on Friday to stay in the hunt for third.

Jes Krcil will face Collin Velky of Cedar Rapids Prairie on Friday in his bid for a third-place finish at 195 pounds. Krcil had a bye in the first round on Wednesday, then scored an 11-0 major decision over Cade Bennethum of Ankeny before falling to No. 1-seed Hagarty McCrae of Waverly-Shell Rock to move to the consolation rounds.

Joshua Hemsted had a bye for the first round, then fell to Will Hinrichs of Ankeny at 220 pounds in a 7-4 decision in the second round. He picked up a win over Zander Glazebrook of Bettendorf with a fall in 2:24, then earned a technical fall over Griffin Schultz of Linn Mar Thursday. He is set to face No. 4-seed Jaxson Hildebrand of Denison-Schleswig on Friday.

Nolan Pagel fell to Jacob Klostermann of Epworth Western Dubuque in the first-round of the State wrestling tournament at 285 pounds on Wednesday, but scored three wins on the consolation side of the bracket to keep his third-place hopes alive. He defeated Keeron Harris-Veasley of Waterloo East with an 8-4 decision, then earned a fall over Aiden Lee of Bettendorf in 5:04 on Thursday.

He will face Cooper Martinson of Southeast Polk on Friday.

Only one Wildcat is done at State. Hayden Lucas earned a fall over Ryan Ott of City High in Iowa City in the first round of competition at 160 pounds before falling to Danny Diaz of Waverly-Shell Rock in the second round. His trip to State ended with a 10-5 decision against Beau Healey of Dubuque Senior.