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Listed below are the 10 first round State Tournament matches in each Class we chose as the ones you will want to watch when the tournament kicks off. As always, there are plenty of great ones in each Class, but these are what we feel are the 10 best in each Class, for a total of 30 great bouts. Class 3A 140 - #1 Zach McCool, West Delaware (36-0) vs. #2 John Nicholson, DM Roosevelt (38-2) - McCool ranked no. 1 all year. Nicholson won the Super CIML a week ago against Edgington of Indianola, with Edgington winning the rematch at Districts. Could be a state finals match. 145 - #2 Jacob Groth, Marshalltown (39-2) vs. #9 Noah Southworth, Western Dubuque (39-3) 160 - #1 Robert Kellogg, Sioux City North (49-0) vs. #3 Adam Herrick, Charles City (39-3) - The second straight year Kellogg has drawn a very tough opponent in the first round. He came out on top last year, will he again? 215 - #1 Eric Thompson, Waverly-Shell Rock (41-0) vs. #5 Brooks Skaggs, Newton (31-2) 285 - Casey Muessigmann, Spencer (37-6) vs. Adam McElderry, WDM Valley (19-6) - McElderry has been injured part of the season. 285 - #5 Andy Jackman, Linn-Mar (33-5) vs. #10
Nate Stoffell, Dubuque Hempstead (25-4) - Rematch
of the MVC finals won by Jackman. May
go a long ways deciding how Linn-Mar will fare at State. 145 - #2 Trent Weatherman (So.) Ballard
(37-4) vs. #4 Caleb Brus (Sr.) Creston (41-4) 119 - #3 Jordan Westfall, Jr., Highland Riverside (42-2) vs. #6 Kendall Witt, So., Tri-Center (38-4) - Westfall was stunned at Districts and handed just his second loss of the season and the first to a 1A opponent. The result is a great first-round bout against last year's 103-pound runner-up. Witt has adjusted well to the jump in two weight classes, but has to get past a tough State Tournament veteran if he hopes to make a repeat trip to the finals. 125 - #1 Dalton Jensen, Sr., Missouri Valley (45-1) vs. #3 Cody Delagardelle, Jr., Don Bosco (35-6) - Don't let the record for Delagardelle fool you - he does have six losses, but the Dons wrestle a brutal schedule against a lot of 2A and 3A competition. Jensen, a State champ in 2005 and third-place finisher last season, will need to be at the top of his game in the opening round. 130 - #3 Nathan DeBoer, Jr., Central Lyon (37-2) vs. #7 Vince Hawkins, Sr., Alburnett (45-1) - This one promises to be very entertaining. DeBoer's only losses of the season came in the Sectional and District finals to top-ranked Marshall Koethe of Akron-Westfield. Hawkins split a pair of matches with Shawn Port of Central City, who could have been a factor at this weight, if not for a knee injury that sidelined him at the end of the season. 140 - #2 Johnny Siegel, Jr., New London/WMU (40-3) vs. #10 Jordan Troshynski, Jr., Manson NW Webster (45-3) - Siegel was upset in the Districts, so he faces the very tough Troshynski in the first round. Troshynski nearly defeated Class 2A fifth-ranked Tanner Kampen of Humboldt last month, so he is very capable of winning here. 140 - #3 Adam Hageman, Sr., South Winneshiek (37-3) vs. #5 Aaron Lang, Sr., Hamburg (42-0) - This one has all the making of a classic. Lang has not been touched so far this season, but he may not have met anyone the quality of Hageman yet. Hageman fell in the District finals to fourth-ranked Dan Wieland of East Buchanan. 145 - #5 Kile Beaver, Sr., Iowa City Regina (40-2) vs. #8 Jordan Oulman, Sr., Riceville (38-2) - Someone very good is going to be very disappointed after this bout. Both have been wrestling at the top of their game at the end of the season. Oulman had a late lead against second-ranked Eddie Reiter of Don Bosco at Districts, but was caught and pinned. 189 - #4 Sam Baier, Sr., Alburnett (46-3) vs. #5 David Hecht, Jr., Akron-Westfield (45-1) - Baier may have picked the wrong time to lose for the first time this season to #6 Mitch Blythe of Central City. Blythe avenged several earlier defeats with a win at Districts and now Baier faces Hecht in the first round. The Westerner's lone loss of the season came against Class 2A #7 Daniel Borchers of AGH, but he avenged that defeat. 215 - #5 Robert Widmer, Sr., Montezuma (40-1) vs. #7 Matt O'Donnell, Jr., Tipton (39-3) - This one should be a great battle of big men. Widmer's lone loss came at Districts against No. 6 Jadd Dithmart of Ogden. O'Donnell has three quality defeats and has been wrestling strong all season. He pushed defending 2A State champ Cory VanPelt of Winterset to the limit in January at the Winterset Invitational before falling short of the upset.
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