2007 State Tournament Coverage
Class 2A Weight-by-Weight Preview

By Jim Thompson
103 - (7 ranked wrestlers made the state tournament)
Top Side:  The feature first round match here will be #5 Kyle Paulsen of Wilton vs. a battle tested #6 Chris Paulus of New Hampton.  The winner will be favored to earn a berth in the state semifinals where they will likely face top ranked Joe Colon of Clear Lake.  

Bottom Side:  Undefeated freshman Levi Wolfensperger will be heavily favored to make the finals from the bottom side of the bracket.  Jordan Cody of Emmetsburg has been turning heads of late and will give a strong challenge to #3 Brandon Helgeson of Clarion-Goldfield in the quarterfinals.  It will not be a big surprise to see both Colon and Wolfensperger pin or tech their way to the finals in this bracket. They have been that dominate all season.  The last time either wrestler was in a close match was in a preseason tournament where Colon was able to defeat Wolfensperger. 

Predicament's Finals Predictions: Jim Thompson - Joe Colon vs. Levi Wolfensperger; Matt Pfiffner - Colon vs. Wolfensperger; Wyatt Schultz - Colon vs. Wolfensperger

112 - (9 ranked wrestlers made the state tournament)
Top Side:  A solid cluster of four rated wrestlers are camped out in the upper portion of the bracket.  #2 Mike Helle (RCL-SCAL) and #7 Ryan Hill (Vinton Shellsburg) have the edge in experience on their first round opponents, but anything can certainly happen at the state tournament.  #4 Blake Sorensen also resides on the top half and will give everyone in the bracket all they can handle.   

Bottom Side:  #3 Dylan Rusher (Roland Story) and #5 Derek Miner (Spirit Lake Park) appear to be on a collision course in the quarterfinals with the winner likely meeting top ranked Andrew Long (Creston) in the semis.  Long dropped a match out of state before Christmas, but hasn’t been touched all season in Iowa.  It will take a monumental effort by someone for that to change.

Predicament's Finals Predictions: JT - Blake Sorensen vs. Andrew Long; MP - Mike Helle vs. Long; WS - Sorensen vs. Long

119 - (7 ranked wrestlers made the state tournament) 
Top Side:  An intriguing first round match between seniors Daniel Clark (DeWitt) and Corey Bjustrom (Algona) highlight’s the upper side of the bracket.  Louisa Muscatine’s Schyler Sterna has been wrestling very well of late and could give #7 Tannor Burke (Cresco) all he wants in their opening round bout.  #5 Tucker Weber of Clear Lake will also play a major role in who makes the trip to the finals from the top side.  

Bottom Side:  The bottom side is loaded.  Both returning 112 lb champion Tyler Linderman (Creston) and runner-up Dillon Miner (Spirit Lake Park) reside here and fully expect to meet each other in the semifinals.  Matt Boyington (Humboldt) and Michael Kremer (Independence) have also wrestled well of late and are very capable of upsetting either Linderman or Miner if they don’t bring their ‘A’ game.    

Predicament's Finals Predictions: JT - Corey Bjustrom vs. Dillon Miner; MP - Daniel Clark vs. Tyler Linderman; WS - Clark vs. Linderman

125 - (9 ranked wrestlers made the state tournament)
Top Side:  Former state finalist, Quin Leith (Creston) has a favorable draw to make the semifinals from the top portion of the bracket.  The winner of a notable first round match between Colten Moore of West Burlington and Tigue Snider of Wilton will have the unenviable task of facing returning state champ J.J. Krutsinger (Waterloo Columbus) in the quarters.  Krutsinger has turned it on as of late with two victories over another state champion, Kyle Pedretti (MFL) at sectionals and then districts.  In other words, Krutsinger will be the big favorite on the top side.  

Bottom side:  The bottom side has a great group of kids with seven of the eight being ranked during the season at one time or another.  Jay Meyerholz of Columbus Junction has looked real strong as of late and could make things interesting in a potential quarterfinals match with Pedretti.  Pedretti is the obvious favorite though, and will be looking to even the score with Krutsinger come Saturday night.  

Predicament's Finals Predictions: JT - J.J. Krutsinger vs. Kyle Pedretti; MP - Krutsinger vs. Pedretti; WS - Krutsinger vs. Pedretti

130 - (9 ranked wrestlers made the state tournament)
Top Side:  The draw came out pretty even in this bracket.  On the top side, top ranked Tyler Halverson will be looking to add a second State title to his resume.   Among the people in his way is #4 ranked Brandon Ball of Columbus Junction.   A Halverson/Ball match in the semifinals could be a real barn burner and definitely one to keep an eye on.  

Bottom Side:  This side of the bracket will be hotly contested by #3 Bret Kautz (Creston),  #7 Zach Williams (Union), and #2 Cole Deike (Hampton-Dumont).  Though, Dustin Gieselman of West Burlington has placed at the State meet and could give Deike fits in the first round.    

Predicament's Finals Predictions: JT - Tyler Halverson vs. Cole Deike; MP - Halverson vs. Deike; WS - Halverson vs. Deike

135 - (9 ranked wrestlers made the state tournament)
Top Side:  #3 Blake Hilmer (Denver-Tripoli) appears to have a great draw fresh off his victory over top ranked Theran Goodale of Osage at districts.  Ballard’s Dawson Simmer has looked better down at 135 the second half of the season and will be pushed by freshman Seth Noble of Columbus Junction as the pair look to battle Hilmer in the semifinals.   

Bottom Side:  #1 Goodale appears to have the fast track to the semifinals from his part of the bracket.  Who he wrestles there is anyone’s guess.  All four possibilities are ranked wrestlers lead by #2 Matt Stillman of Emmetsburg.  Stillman will be looking for a little revenge if he were to meet Goodale in the semifinals as Goodale was the culprit in his only blemish on the season.  Union’s #4 ranked Casey Watts has been a little nicked up this year and will get tested right away in his opening bout with 8^th ranked Travis Hargrave (Louisa-Muscatine). 

Predicament's Finals Predictions: JT - Blake Hilmer vs. Theran Goodale; MP - Hillmer vs. Matt Stillman; WS - Hillmer vs. Stillman

140 - (All 10 ranked wrestlers made the state tournament)
Top Side:   In what is a real rarity this far up in weight, two freshman will do battle in the first round of the state tournament when Mike England of Centerville faces highly touted Brock Weatherman of Ballard.  Top ranked Ben Knight will likely await the winner and will also be the man to beat in order to make the finals.   #4 Dylan Azinger of DeWitt will be favored to make the semifinals and challenge Knight from there.   

Bottom Side:  A solid first round match-up between Johnny Roberts (Cresco) and Jesse Harris (Creston) resides here on the bottom side.  The winner of the bout could certainly give #3 Brad Anderson (Saydel) all he wants to handle and then some.  Second ranked Cody Stanley of Wilton will also have to be ready to wrestle in the quarterfinals if he is to defeat the very physical #5 ranked Tanner Kampen (Humboldt).  This will be a very intriguing weight class to watch at State as 4 of the 5 top ranked kids had very disappointing seasons a year ago and have something to prove this time around.  Everyone will get to see who wants it the most as the tournament rolls along. 

Predicament's Finals Predictions: JT - Ben Knight vs. Brad Anderson; MP - Knight vs. Anderson; WS - Knight vs. Cody Stanley

145 - (8 ranked wrestlers made the state tournament)
Top Side:  Sometimes when you are the winner of your district you get a lousy draw at the state meet.   Add Harlan’s Tyler Murtaugh to the list.  His first round opponent, State champion T.J. Moen, lost his first match in nearly two years at his district meet a few days ago and will be coming to Wells Fargo a little more fired up then normal.  #9 Sam Jones of Columbus Junction got a favorable draw and could face Moen in the semifinals.   

Bottom Side:   Perhaps the best 2A first round match will occur in this weight class when  #2 Trent Weatherman (Ballard) takes on #4 Caleb Brus of Creston.  Spirit Lake’s #3 ranked Mike Sandy has his sights set on facing the winner during the semifinals.  If Weatherman can get past both Brus and Sandy, he will be looking to prove last week’s district victory over Moen was no fluke.

Predicament's Finals Predictions: JT - T.J. Moen vs. Trent Weatherman; MP - Moen vs. Weatherman; WS - Moen vs. Weatherman

152 - (All 10 ranked wrestlers made the state tournament)
Top Side:  All signs point to the two best wrestlers in this weight class meeting in the quarterfinals as #1 Brett Rosedale (East Marshall) will take on #2 Andrew Sorenson (Forest City) at that point.  Another great quarterfinal match could be in the works from this bracket if Osage’s Dustin Balsley gets his rematch with Brad Parker of Winterset.  Parker was able to defeat Balsley earlier in the season.   The winner here faces an obvious uphill battle against the survivor of Rosedale/Sorenson.  

Bottom Side:  The bottom side is wide open with maybe as many as six wrestlers with a legit shot at making the finals.  The slight favorite going in is #3 Ryan Joynt of Emmetsburg, but the parity is quite thick in this portion of the bracket. 

Predicament's Finals Predictions: JT - Brett Rosedale vs. Ryan Joynt; MP - Rosedale vs. Joynt; WS - Rosedale vs. Joynt

160 - (9 ranked wrestlers made the state tournament)
Top Side:  The top side features a group of seven kids who are ranked or have been ranked during the season.  Headlining the group is second ranked Jacob Ryan of Mount Vernon who will be looking to improve on his two former place showings at the tournament.  #4 Taylor Sump of Clarinda may have 6 losses on the season, but most of those have come at the hands of top ranked Kalab Evans of Creston and could prove to be the survivor from here.  

Bottom Side:  #3 ranked Jaydon Mitchell of New Hampton draws the task of trying to knock of #1 Evans in the quarterfinals.  Evans’ loss came out of state and it will be a daunting task for anyone in the field to stay with him this weekend.  #10 Marty Ball of Jefferson could meet Evans in the semis, but first he’ll have to contend with the winner of a nice little first round match between Jeff Ohnemus (DeWitt) and Justin Kuecker of Algona.  Both grapplers appeared in the rankings at one time or another during the season. 

Predicament's Finals Predictions: JT - Jacob Ryan vs. Kalab Evans; MP - Ryan vs. Evans; WS - Ryan vs. Mitchell

171 - (8 ranked wrestlers made the state tournament)
Top Side:  Undefeated Holden Blythe of Williamsburg looms large on the top side, but will have his hands full with sixth rated Brent McKinnon of Clarinda in a potential quarterfinal match.  Second ranked Ryan Ketelson of Osage got a very favorable draw and will likely face the winner.  

Bottom Side:  Ben Scott of Adel will face Sam Upah of East Marshall in a very good first round match-up not listed in The Predicament's Top 10.  #3 ranked Travis Forkner of JSPC will await the winner in the quarterfinals.  Top ranked and undefeated Josh Ihnen (Sheldon) will be favored to make the semifinals from his draw, but will have solid wrestlers in his way. 

Predicament's Finals Predictions: JT - Ryan Ketelson vs. Josh Ihnen; MP - Ketelson vs. Ihnen; WS - Ketelson vs. Travis Forkner

189 - (9 ranked wrestlers made the state tournament)
Top Side:   Arguably the biggest quarterfinal match in all of 2A will come about in the top side of this weight class as two unbeatens should collide when #2 Joe Johnson of Algona faces #1 Vinnie Wagner of Osage.  Osage and Algona dualed during the season, but Algona decided to move Johnson up in order to win the dual meet.  This match certainly won’t disappoint.  Davenport Assumption’s #3 Willie Argo will likely face the winner in the semifinals.   

Bottom Side:   Like the 152 pound weight class, the bottom side of this bracket has parity written all over it.  There are three solid first round match-ups here (Bryant Hummel/Daniel Borchers, Chris Roberts/Luke Stika, and Nate Anderson/Sam Schmidt)  Anyone of these six competitors could find themselves wrestling on Saturday night.  Not to mention #8 Ben Durbin (Gilbert) who has only 1 loss on the season.  

Predicament's Finals Predictions: JT - Vinnie Wagner vs. Bryant Hummel; MP - Wagner vs. Luke Stika; WS - Wagner vs. Nate Anderson

215 - (8 ranked wrestlers made the state tournament)
Top Side:  John Helgerson (North Fayette) and state champion Cory VanPelt (Winterset) appear to be ready to knock heads in the semifinals from this side of the bracket.  Helgerson will be looking to avenge an overtime loss to VanPelt at last year’s tournament.  Wallace Carter of Centerville could give VanPelt trouble if he’s looking ahead to the semis.

Bottom Side:   #4 Jordan Smith of Humboldt and #2 Kyle Simonson (Algona) look to renew their rivalry as well in the semifinals.  Both #5 Jon Thuerauf (Mount Vernon) and #7 Arron Cramer (DC Grimes) will stand in their way and will go toe to toe with both.  

Predicament's Finals Predictions: JT - John Helgerson vs. Kyle Simonson; MP - Cory VanPelt vs. Simonson; WS - VanPelt vs. Jon Thuerauf

285 - (9 ranked wrestlers made the state tournament)
Top Side:  Seventh ranked senior Brian Rodas (MFL) has seen more than his fair share of competition in the heavyweight division over his high school career.  This season, he has made the State Tournament for the first time and will look to make the best of the situation.  Rodas will be favored to make the semifinals from his spot in the bracket.  His semifinal opponent will likely be the winner of a great first round match-up that probably should be listed in the top 10.  #5 Paul Lundgren (MOC-FV) will face #6 Logan Voga (Roland Story) in a battle of once beaten competitors.

Bottom Side:  The bottom side of the bracket features the top three heavys in class 2A wrestling.  Third ranked Thomas Gruis of Clear Lake got the best draw of the group and should make the semifinals from there.  While top ranked Blake Rasing (New Hampton) and second ranked Taylor Stroud (Winterset) will make it a trifecta of unbeaten kids wrestling in the quarterfinals in Class 2A.   Rasing is the return State finalist from the group and will be favored to stand one step higher when the medals are given out at the end of the night.

Predicament's Finals Predictions: JT - Brian Rodas vs. Blake Rasing; MP - Paul Lundgren vs. Taylor Stroud; WS - Lundgren vs. Rasing