Bulldogs Advance Four To State!

Wrestling fans may have a little bit of a different feeling this season with the Iowa High School Athletic Association changing the postseason format by removing the sectional tournament and advancing all wrestlers straight to districts.  The IHSAA also added eight wrestlers to the state tournament and are returning to a four day format for the competition.  Coach Hansen made the joke that for the first time in H-D-CAL history, all 14 Bulldog wrestlers would be district qualifiers.  Last week the Bulldog wrestlers headed to Webster City for the district tournament, arguably the toughest district in 2A.

The Bulldogs brought a full lineup to the tournament and came in with Jayson Stevens and Carter Heilskov as the number one seeds in their brackets.  Charlie Showalter, Taylor Mahler, and Cael Burmester, all be seeded number two.  Jaymes Stevens was be the first Bulldog to take the mat at 113 pounds.  Stevens as the sixth seed would drop his first match by fall.  Stevens received a bye and then lost on the consolation side of the bracket ending his season, thereby finishing his sophomore campaign with a 21-17 record.  Brody Strother then took the mat for the Bulldogs at 120 pounds.  The third seed, Strother would earn a major decision, 15-4 and in so doing set up a semifinals match with Oakes-Sudhish of Southeast Valley.  Strother started the match slow, but rallied strong in the 3rd period with a reversal and multiple takedowns.  Strother would run out of time though, losing his semi-finals match 12-10. But he pulled it out with a win by fall and a 7-5 decision in the consolation finals.  His season would end there with no wrestling back and he finished his freshman season 29-18.  Jacob Mahler enters the Bulldog lineup at 126 pounds.  Mahler made the most of his opportunity and won his opening round matchup 6-0.  But his momentum stalled and he lost to the top seeded Gargano of Humboldt.  Mahler would then pin his way through the consolation side of the bracket and finish third, but would not get the opportunity to wrestle back and finished his freshman season 6-4.

Taylor Mahler then took the mat for the Bulldogs at 138 pounds, earning a 3rd period pin in his opening match.  The semi finals match would be one Mahler would like to have back as he would get caught and pinned.  On the consolation side of the bracket Mahler earned a major decision and then pinned to take third place, but could not wrestle back for true second, ending his sophomore season with a 36-10 record.  Colin Bird was next up in the 145 pound bracket as the fifth seed.  Bird dropped both of his matches by fall and finished his sophomore season 16-27.  Freshman Isaac Vosburg wrestled 152 for the Bulldogs and was also seeded fifth.  Vosburg pulled off an upset in a high scoring opening round match, winning 20-14.  Vosburg would lose his semi finals match by technical fall though, but bounced back with a quick pin.  In the consolation finals Vosburg lost the decision and took 4th place, ending his season with a 5-5 record.  Bulldog Junior Karter Janssen would wrestle in an extremely competitive 160 pound bracket, losing the opening round match by fall, but advancing in the consolation bracket with a fall of his own.  Janssen lost by fall in the consolation semifinals though, ending his season with a 21-25 record.  

Sean Heilsko wrestled at 170 pounds for the Bulldogs as the sixth seed and dropped a first round match to the eventual champion.  In the consolation semifinals Heilskov got pinned, ending his sophomore season with a 10-29 record.  Maddon Evans  took the mat for the Bulldogs at 195 pounds as the sixth seed and Evans would pull an upset in the first round with a 1st period fall. Evans lost the semifinals match though by major decision, but would get two pins in the consolation bracket to finish 3rd place.  Evans finishes his freshman season with 17-23 record.  Hector Bunston wrestled at 220 pounds for the Bulldogs, seeding him 7th in the tournament.  Bunston would battle tough in his first match, but running out of time and dropping his opening round match 9-8.  On the consolation side Bunston won 12-8, but lost his consolation semifinals match 10-6, thus ending his junior season with a 14-27 record.

At 106 pounds 4th ranked Jayson Stevens would take the mat in the semifinals and quickly advance to the finals with a first period pin.  In the finals Stevens met 5th ranked Linden Phetxoumphone of Webster City for a NCC finals rematch.  Stevens would give up a late first period takedown, but escaped in the second.  He would rally in the 3rd period, but a late escape by Phetxoumphone sealed his victory.  Stevens would have a wrestle back for true second, dominating the match before a second period pin to punch his ticket to state for the second season in a row.  Charlie Showalter earned a lightning fast fall in his opening round match and followed that up with a 12-5 decision to advance to the finals against top ranked Kale Peterson of Greene County, who pinned Showalter in the first period.  A wrestle back was the only way for Showalter and he would be up for the challenge, winning against Henely from Webster City 6-0 to punch his ticket to state for the first time in his career.  Cael Burmester would find himself in a dogfight in the semifinals for his first match.  Burmester secured a late first period takedown to get on the scoreboard first, scoring an escape to start the second period.  Burnette-Bingham of Webster City rallied back in the 3rd period though to tie the match up 5-5 and force overtime during which Burmeister secured a takedown to win 7-5 in sudden victory.  He would then face Gaige Allen of Humboldt in the finals but lost the match 7-2, but would not have to wrestle back to earn his first trip to the state tournament.  Carter Heilskov enjoyed a first round bye, and in the semifinals would secure a 3rd period fall to place him in the finals, securing a matchup with eleventh ranked Colton Wieland of Carroll.  Wieland prevailed by catching Heilskov in a switch to pin him, but like Allen would not have to wrestle back and to earn his first trip to the state tournament.  

Four Bulldog wrestlers will head to Des Moines on Wednesday for the Iowa High School State Wrestling tournament.  Jayson Stevens earned the 12th seed in the tournament and will wrestle Quinn Arrellano of Van Meter in the opening round.  Charlie Showalter is seeded 22nd and will wrestle Taevyn Zinnel of Algona in the opening round.  Cael Burmester is the 23rd seed and will wrestle Garrett McHugh of Sergeant Bluff-Luton first round.  Carter Heilskov earned the 9th seed and will wrestle Seth Vanderlinden of Winterset first round.  The 2A session is in the afternoon this year and the action will begin at 1:30 on Wednesday.  Follow @RayWilsChron on twitter for updates throughout the tournament.