The Predicament.com-your ultimate Iowa wrestling source

By Matt Pfiffner
Columbus Junction senior 140-pounder Seth Noble has just one loss the past three seasons, but it's one he won't soon forget.

Noble was defeated in the Class 2A finals at 140 last season by Tanner Hiatt of Ballard, when Noble let up in the final seconds and gave up an escape and takedown in a blink of an eye for a one-point loss.

"I'll never get over that. Something that important, you're not going to forget," Noble said.

Friday afternoon in Des Moines in the 2A semifinals, Noble got his shot at revenge.

The two undefeated wrestlers met again, this time with a trip to the 2A 140-pound finals on the line.

Hiatt came out fast and scored a pair of takedowns for a 4-1 lead at the end of the first period. But two takedowns by Noble in the second knotted the match at 5-5 heading into the third.

"It's a six minute match, not a two minute match," Noble said about his thoughts going down 4-1. "I wasn't happy about it, but I didn't think the match was over."

Noble escaped early in the third for his first lead of the match and after several great scrambles, finally finished off the win over the top-ranked Bomber junior with a takedown, for the 8-5 victory.

"I don't really let it sink in too much right now, because I still have to wrestle tomorrow," Noble said after the match. "He's a tough wrestler, but I just kept coming."

There were plenty of great matches in 2A Friday afternoon, but this was the one everyone had circled once the pairings came out. Noble said he didn't care what round they met, as long as it happened.

"Didn't care. I knew we were the top two and we were going to have to beat each other at some point," he said.

In other 2A semifinal action Friday:

103 - Top-ranked Dylan Peters of Denver-Tripoli scored his third first-period pin in the tournament and will face freshman Colton McCrystal of Sergeant Bluff-Luton, who handled Mitch Funk of MFL MarMac, 11-0.
"I'm just trying to score team points to help my team," Peters said of another fall. "It was there, so I went for it."
112 - Kalen Greiner of Sigourney-Keota remained undefeated, but barely, against Chase Flack of JSPC. Flack scored the tying takedown with 20 seconds left in the match, but then locked his hands. He had to let Greiner go to try for another takedown, but time ran out.
"I didn't know until I saw the ref," Greiner said of the locked hands violation. "I guess it's kind of lucky I got that call, but he made a mistake and I'll take it."
Greiner faces Gunnar Wolfensperger of Denver-Tripoli for the title.
119 - A pair of freshmen will meet for the crown. Top-ranked Brandon Sorenson of Denver-Tripoli remained undefeated with a 13-4 win over No. 2 Jacob Colon of Clear Lake. He meets No. 9 Logan Thomsen of LaPorte City Union.
125 - No. 4 Tyler Patten of Webster City scored a last-second takedown for a 6-5 win over No. 2 Darius Dutcher of OA-BCIG. He takes on top-ranked Levi Wolfensperger of D-T for the title. This is Wolfensperger's fourth trip to the finals as he goes after title No. 2.
130 - How many times have you seen an overtime major decision? Probably never until today. Top-ranked freshman Jake Marlin of Creston/O-M scored 11 points in the two 30-second tiebreakers for a 13-2 win over former State champ Tanner Schmidt of Charles City. Marlin meets Jake Keller of Columbus Junction for the title. The two had a great match in January, won by Marlin.
135 - No. 2 Kyle Paulsen of Wilton defeated No. 3 Skyler Rice of Emmetsburg. He meets Kyler Risher of Centerville for the gold.
140 - Noble will meet Blake Meling of East Marshall/GMG for the title. Meling won 3-1 in overtime against Brent Blaser of Osage.
145 - Top-ranked Willie Miklus of Ballard edged No. 4 Jimmie Schuessler of North Polk, 8-7.Aaron Sorenson of Forest City won the other semifinal.
152 - One of the best matches of the day was No. 3 Taylor Berger of Carroll and second-ranked Blake Sorenson of Denver-Tripoli. They went into the ultimate tiebreaker tied 5-5 after eight minutes of great action. Sorenson chose down, but could not escape, it a 6-5 Berger victory.
"I was just looking for anything to hang onto, because we were pretty sweaty," Berger said.
The Carroll grappler got Sorenson broken down flat with about 10 seconds left in the tiebreaker.
"That's exactly when I knew I had him. I had a lot better grip on him."
Carroll has not had a State champion since the 1930s, something Berger hopes to change when he meets No. 1 Tanner Weatherman of Ballard.
"It would be huge. We haven't had that many in the State Tournament, let alone the finals."
160 - There will be a new champion at 160, as unranked Kyle Walker of Algona/NSK upset No. 2 and defending champ Ethan Moorman of Centerville, 6-5 in overtime. Walker scored a takedown in the final seconds of regulation to force the extra period. He meets No. 1 Landon Williams of Davenport Assumption for the crown.
171 - Brock Weatherman of Ballard pinned Ryan Rozeboom of Sergeant Bluff-Luton as he goes after a third title Saturday night against No. 2 Mike England of Centerville, in a rematch of last year's finals.
189 - A No. 1 vs. No. 2 match was pretty lackluster, as No. 2 Trevor Voelker of Dallas Center-Grimes scored a first period takedown and rode that to a 2-0 win over No. 1 Sam Upah of East Marshall/GMG. Voekler meets No.3 Stuart Holloway of West Burlington/ND.
215 - One of the biggest upsets of the day. No. 6 Ryan Fank of Independence reversed top-ranked and undefeated James Morris of Solon to his back for a stunning 6-3 win.
"He locked up a cradle and I squirmed out of it. I locked in a half and turned him," Fank said. "Once he started to turn me I thought I better try something."
Fank faces Slater Poe of Albia for the title.
285 - Two of the best, if not the two best, big men meet in the 2A finals. No. 1 Adam Praska of Crestwood pinned his third opponent, while No. 3 Austin Blythe of Williamsburg makes his third trip to the finals with a 10-0 win over previously undefeated Bret Johnson of Roland-Story.