2010 State Tournament
Class 2A Finals Notebook

By Matt Pfiffner

Notes from the Class 2A championship matches with comments from some of the winners.

103 - Top-ranked Dylan Peters began a run of four consecutive titles for team champion Denver-Tripoli with his fourth pin of the tournament, this time over freshman Colton McCrystal of Sergeant Bluff-Luton.

"It was an awesome feeling to come in and wrestle the way everyone did," Peters said. "It was nice being able to help the team out with bonus points each round.

"I just wrestled like it was another match instead of psyching myself out before the match."

112 - No. 4 Gunnar Wolfensperger of D-T broke open a tight match with six points in the final period for an 11-5 victory over No. 2 and previously-undefeated Kalen Greiner of Sigourney-Keota.

119 - Top-ranked freshman Brandon Sorenson of D-T improved to 51-0 with a dominating 25-12 win over fellow freshman Logan Thomsen of LaPorte City Union. Sorenson had 12 takedowns in the match.

125 - No. 1 Levi Wolfensperger won his second title in a row with a first-period fall over No. 4 Tyler Patten of Webster City.

130 - The second freshman champ in 2A was Jake Marlin of Creston/O-M. The top-ranked Panther scored takedowns in the first and second period and rode No. 2 Jake Keller of Columbus Junction the entire third period in a 5-3 win. It was the second close win for Marlin over Keller this season.

"It definitely did (help wresting him before). I knew I could beat him," Marlin said. "He's an awesome wrestler, but I just went out and wrestled hard and took care of business."

135 - No. 2 Kyle Paulsen of Wilton capped off an undefeated senior season with a 4-2 win over Kyler Risher of Centerville. Paulsen led 4-1 after two periods and went on to the victory.

140 - No. 2 Seth Noble of Columbus Junction collected his second title in three years with a solid 5-2 win over No. 5 Blake Meling of East Marshall/GMG. Noble scored a late takedown to seal the win.

145 - No. 5 Aaron Sorenson of Forest City led 3-0 early in the second and held on for a 4-3 win over top-ranked Willie Miklus of Ballard, who had to settle for second place for the second time in his first two seasons.

152 - Top-ranked Tanner Weatherman of Ballard won his second title in three trips to the finals, with an 11-4 win over No.3 Taylor Berger of Carroll. Weatherman scored five takedowns in the victory.

"It feels great. It's what we trained for all year. I went out and had a game plan and stuck to it," he said. "I just tried to stay on my feet, that's where I'm best."

160 - The Cinderella run for unranked Kyle Walker of Algona/NSK came to an end with a 13-1 loss to top-ranked Landon Williams of Davenport Assumption. Williams sent Walker to his back three times in the win.

171 - One of the best matches and finishes of the night. Top-ranked Brock Weatherman of Ballard was looking to win a third title, but No. 2 Mike England of Centerville had other ideas. The two went into overtime tied 1-1. When Weatherman attempted a neck wrench near the edge of the mat, England slipped around for the winning takedown. The victory for England avenged a loss in the finals last year at the same weight. England started his State Tournament career with a win over Weatherman when they were freshmen and ended it the same way as seniors.

"I've been thinking about this day ever since last year. All the people who didn't think I could win up here are the ones who didn't see how hard I've worked the past year," England said. "I just remember trying to slip out in front and got on top.

"I went 4, 3, 2 and now 1 at State. My first match at State was Brock Weatherman and my last match at State was Brock Weatherman."

189 - Another stunning finish. No. 3 Stuart Hollway of West Burlington/ND trailed No. 2 Trevor Voelker of Dallas Center-Grimes 4-3 in the closing seconds, but hit a low double for a takedown at the buzzer to win the school's first State title.

"You just have to wrestle and whole six minutes. You can't quit until it's over," Hollway said. "It's exactly what I was looking for at the end. I did it to him last year. We wrestled last year for third and I hit the low double and just tripped him up."

"I feel really special," he said of winning the first State title for the school. "It means a lot. But I wish some of my buddies would have done it before."

215 - No. 6 Ryan Fank of Independence had a takedown waived off at the buzzer, but rode No. 7 Slater Poe of Albia out in the first tiebreaker and then escaped in the second for the 2-1 win.

285 - Third-ranked Austin Blythe scored a big takedown in the second period and went on to a 3-1 win over top-ranked Adam Praska of Crestwood, to hand him his first loss of the season. Blythe has been to the finals all three seasons and won the past two titles.