The season came to a close for five Okoboji/HMS wrestlers with participation in the Class 2A field at the State Wrestling Tournament conducted February 15-18 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. Senior Noah Strantz capped his high school career with an appearance on the podium after placing seventh at 160 pounds.
Bryce Dodge, a senior at HMS, was one of the five to make the trip to State. He lost both of his matches at Des Moines. That was also the result for senior Dylan Jones at 120 pounds as well as sophomore Nathaniel Franklin at 170. Senior Sam Pas, wrestling at 220 pounds, split his four matches at State.
Dodge, seeded 20th, drew 13th-seed Talen Weber in his opening round match. The junior from Charles City won the match by a 14-4 major decision. The HMS senior received a bye into round two of the consolations. There he ran into third-seeded Hunter Steffans of Sergeant Bluff-Luton. In the match-up of seniors it was Steffans who won the bout by fall in 4:31. Dodge finished the year with a record of 26-15.
Strantz was a round one winner by technical fall over Chase Greiner of Washington. A 9-1 loss to top seed and eventual champion Dawson Bond of Red Oak moved Strantz into the consolations. There the Okoboji senior won three straight matches by decision: 6-4 over Karson Kolbet of NH/TV, 4-3 over Carroll’s Jireh Gallegos and 7-6 over William Bolinger of Creston. The streak ended in Round 5 of the consolations where Strantz lost an 11-2 major decision to Logan Peyton of West Delaware, Manchester. Peyton went on to capture third place. Moving into the 7th Place Match, Strantz earned a 10-5 victory over Winterset’s Eduardo Garcia. The Okoboji/HMS grappler compiled a 40-10 record in his senior campaign.
Okoboji/HMS earned 15.5 team points to finish 51st in Class 2A.
Okoboji/HMS Individual Results
120-Dylan Jones (29-14 final record) did not place – Champ. Round 1 – lost by fall to Christian Ahrens (Creston) in 3:32; Cons. Round 2 – lost by fall to Isaac Wilson (Algona) in 1:28.
152-Bryce Dodge (26-15) did not place – Champ. Round 1 – lost a 14-4 major decision to Talan Weber (Charles City); Cons. Round 2 – lost by fall to Hunter Steffans (Sergeant Bluff-Luton) in 4:31.
160-Noah Strantz (40-10) seventh placed – Champ. Round 1 – won by technical fall (19-4) over Chase Greiner (Washington) in 5:04 – Champ. Round 2 – lost a 9-1 major decision to Dawson Bond (Red Oak); Cons. Round 2 – won a 6-4 decision over Karson Kolbet (NH/TV); Cons. Round 3 – won a 4-3 decision over Jireh Gallegos (Carroll); Cons. Round 4 – won a 7-6 decision over William Bolinger (Creston); Cons. Round 5 – lost an 11-2 major decision to Logan Peyton (West Delaware, Manchester); 7th Place Match – won a 10-5 decision over Eduardo Garcia (Winterset).
170-Nathaniel Franklin (22-13) did not place – Champ. Round 1 – lost by fall to Zayvion Ellington (Sergeant Bluff-Luton) in 1:57; Cons. Round 2 – lost by fall to Clay Saak (AP-GC) in 3:11.
220-Sam Pas (37-9) did not place – Champ. Round 1 – won by fall over Trenton Kingrey (Knoxville) in 1:59; Champ. Round 2 – lost a 12-5 decision to Rudy Papakee (South Tama County); Cons. Round 2 – won by fall over Nathan Graves (Southeast Valley, Gowrie) in 1:46; Cons. Round 3 – lost an 8-2 decision to Drew Jackson (Crestwood, Cresco).