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2010 State Tournament

Nick Moore one win away from fourth title

By Matt Pfiffner
As is always the case when a wrestler is chasing down a fourth State title, most of the eyes in the arena turn toward him.

Friday afternoon in Des Moines during Class 3A semifinal action, all eyes were on Iowa City West 160-pounder Nick Moore as he took another step toward that achievement.

Moore decked Nik Pappas of West Des Moines Valley in 3:16 to reach the 3A finals for the fourth time. He is a perfect 15-0 at State, with one more to go Saturday night against No. 2 Spencer BeLieu of Indianola.

"I feel good right now. I feel healthy and ready to go," Moore said.

Moore doesn't consider what he's done special yet, because there's one big match to go.

"I'm the same as everyone else here going for a State title," he said.

Moore has pinned everyone he's wrestled at State and most of his foes this season.

"That's everybody's goal, to pin everyone," he said.

Waverly-Shell Rock 119-pounder Eric DeVos didn't get a pin in his semifinal, but did get revenge for last year's title loss at 112. DeVos scored a takedown on top-ranked Brandon Jones of West Des Moines Valley with 17 seconds left in the match to break a 1-1 tie. The Go-Hawk sophomore went on to a 3-2 win.

"I wrestled a smart match. I didn't push too hard, but I didn't wrestle too safe either," DeVos said. "The coaches have been telling me all year just to do what I do best."

DeVos meets No. 2 Kirk Sallis of Waterloo East in the finals, another wrestler who owns a win over him.

"I just have to go out and wrestle like I did tonight and it will take care of itself," he said.

In other 3A semifinal action:

  • 103 - Undefeated freshman Colby Knight of Urbandale scored a first period takedown and that held up in a 2-0 win over Andrew Steiert of W-SR. He faces Tyler Willers of Pleasant Valley for the gold.

  • 112 - Top-ranked Cory Clark of Southeast Polk remained undefeated for his career with a 4-0 win over No. 3 Jack Hathaway of Iowa City West. Clark takes on the wrestler he beat for the 103-pound title last season, No. 2 Connor Ryan of North Scott.

  • 125 - John Meeks of Des Moines Roosevelt, like Clark of SEP, is still undefeated for his career late in his sophomore season after a 12-4 win over No. 3 Jim Gotto of Western Dubuque. Meeks takes on another former State champ, Adam Perrin of North Scott, for the title.

  • 130 - A tale of two matches. No. 1 Jordan Rinken won 1-0 over No. 2 Jay Hildreth of Lewis Central, while No. 3 Chad Ryan of Sioux City North pinned Alex Richards of Johnston.

  • 135 - No. 1 Bo Schlosser of Bettendorf fought off a pin attempt in the final seconds by Tim O'Connell of Maquoketa for an 11-10 win. He meets Gradey Gambrall of Iowa City West for the gold.

  • 140 - Top-ranked Jake Ballweg of Waverly-Shell Rock survived a huge scare against No. 4 and fellow undefeated wrestler Julian Feikert of Keokuk. Ballweg led 5-1 in the third, when Feikert took Ballweg down to his back and had it locked up tight. Ballweg was able to get out of trouble and escape, to make it 6-6. The Go-Hawk scored a takedown with 35 seconds left for an 8-7 win. He goes after his third State title Saturday against Elijah Sullivan of Lewis Central. Sullivan, ranked third, handed No. 2 Gabriel Moreno of Urbandale his first loss of the season, 17-6. It was a 6-4 Sullivan lead at the end of the second. The two got in a throwing match in the third period and Sullivan won.

  • 145 - No. 8 Gustavo Martinez of Marshalltown handled No. 3 Cody Swim of Indianola, 9-3, and will face top-ranked Cody Caldwell of W-SR for the title.

  • 152 - No. 2 Michael Kelly of Cedar Falls and No. 3 Joey Trizzino of Bettendorf posted easy wins on their way to the finals.

  • 171 - Top-ranked Mike Moreno remained undefeated with a pin and will meet No. 2 Walt Gillmor of North Scott for the title. Gillmor edged No. 3 Trey Henderson of Indianola, 5-3.

  • 189 - It was nearly the upset of the day. No. 4 Brandon Abernathy of Indianola had a last-second takedown awarded, then taken away, against top-ranked Kyven Gadson of Waterloo East. Gadson scored a counter takedown early in overtime for the 6-4 win. Gadson and No. 2 Matt Riley of Des Moines Roosevelt will meet for the title.

  • 215 - No. 1 Cody Krumwiede of W-SR and No. 2 Josh Lambrecht of CR Prairie posted close wins to earn their trips to the finals.

  • 285 - The top two men at this weight will meet for the gold, as No. 1 Brody Berrie of Bettendorf and second-ranked Nolan Proehl of Davenport West each posted comfortable semifinal wins. The two also met last week at Districts, with Berrie coming out on top.