2010 State Tournament
Class 3A Quarterfinals Notebook

By Matt Pfiffner

News and notes from the quarterfinal round of Class 3A action.

Waverly-Shell Rock had a very good quarterfinal round and led Bettendorf, 68-59, entering the second round of consolations Thursday night.

103 - A pair of outstanding freshmen will meet for a finals appearance. Unranked Andrew Steiert of Waverly-Shell Rock won 1-0 over No. 6 Matt Birnbaum of Fort Dodge and top-ranked Colby Knight of Urbandale remained undefeated with a 13-2 win over Evan Reynolds of Norwalk. Another freshman, No. 7 Joel Northrup of Linn-Mar, is in the semis on the other side.

112 - It took top-ranked Cory Clark of Southeast Polk 13 seconds to pin No. 7 Brandon Thomas of West Des Moines Valley. Most of the other matches hadn't even started by the time Clark was signing his bout sheet. He will take on third-ranked Jack Hathway of Iowa City West in the semis.

119 - Top-ranked Brandon Jones of West Des Moines Valley pulled away in the third for an 8-4 victory over No. 5 Taylor Wickett of Bettendorf. Next up is a rematch of last year's 112-pound finals with third-ranked Eric DeVos of Waverly-Shell Rock, who won by fall.

125 - Top-ranked John Meeks of Des Moines Roosevelt remained undefeated for his career with a 23-9 win over No. 5 Peter Stewart of Sioux City North. Meeks had outscored opponents 44-15 this week. No. 3 Jim Gotto of Western Dubuque won 3-1 in overtime for the second time in as many rounds.

130 - No. 1 Jordan Rinken of Waverly-Shell Rock and second-ranked Jay Hildreth of Lewis Central will meet in the semis after both posted four-point quarterfinal wins.

135 - No. 6 Gradey Gambrall of Iowa City West scored a flurry of points late in his quarterfinal match for a 6-4 win over No. 3 Chris Avery of Des Moines East. Top-ranked Bo Schlosser of Bettendorf made a second-period escape and takedown hold up in a 3-2 win over No. 2 Josh Greiner of Ottumwa in a battle of undefeated wrestlers.

140 - Top-ranked Jake Ballweg of W-SR and No. 2 Gabriel Moreno of Urbandale both had pins. Moreno meets No. 3 Elijah Sullivan of Lewis Central in Friday's semifinals.

145 - No. 6 Trevor Duke of Burlington needed three overtimes to do it, but he beat No. 4 Brett Sams of Oskaloosa, 5-4. The always dangerous No. 8 Gustavo Martinez of Marshalltown pinned No. 2 Cole Clarken of Fort Dodge in 5:36.

152 - In a sad turn of events, one of the best matches of the night lasted just eight seconds. Top-ranked Justin Koethe of Iowa City West was called for a slam on No. 3 Joey Trizzino of Bettendorf and when the Bulldog couldn't continue, he was declared the winner. Koethe came back later in the evening on the same mat and pinned Nate Fennelly of Indianola in seven seconds.

160 - Three-time State champ Nick Moore of Iowa City West needed 1:21 to finish off No. 9 Nick Vasey of Des Moines North/Hoover.

171 - No. 1 Mike Moreno of Urbandale, No. 2 Walt Gillmor of North Scott and third-ranked Trey Henderson of Indianola each recorded their second falls of the tournament.

189 - In the highlight match of the night, No. 1 Kyven Gadson of Waterloo East pinned third-ranked Evan Knight of Urbandale with one second left in the first period. Knight scored the first takedown in a the battle of 2009 State champs, but Gadson took Knight down to his back late in the period and earned the fall. Knight, like Koethe, had a quick pin in his wrestle back.

215 - A tough night for Iowa City West got tougher when No. 4 Mickey Pelfrey had to injury default out of his quarterfinal match with No. 7 Grant Riesberg of Dowling Catholic.

285 - Top-ranked Brody Berrie of Bettendorf pinned Clint Krieger of Mason City in 45 seconds.