3A first round pairings: https://www.iahsaa.org/wrestling/2011%20Tournament/11_3A_1st_Round_Pairings.htm
2A first round pairings: https://www.iahsaa.org/wrestling/2011%20Tournament/11_2A_1st_Round_Pairings.htm
1A first round pairings: https://www.iahsaa.org/wrestling/2011%20Tournament/11_1A_1st_Round_Pairings.htm
NOTE: Rankings with the format "No. #" reflect national rankings compiled by InterMat. All other references to ranking are state rankings for Class 3A as compiled by The Predicament.
No. 9 Iowa City West, though only qualifying 11 wrestlers to the state tournament in Des Moines, is the favorite as they carry the top spot in the final rankings published by The Predicament on Feb. 10. Second in those rankings is No. 16 Waverly-Shell Rock, and they'll take 12 wrestlers (all but 160 and 189) to the state tournament; while No. 12 Bettendorf, third in the state rankings, will bring 13 wrestlers to the Wells Fargo Arena on Thursday morning (all but 152).
The following is a weight-by-weight breakdown:
103: No. 9 Phillip Laux (Iowa City West) enters as the clear favorite to win the state championship, and should advance to the final relatively unchallenged. Junior National freestyle All-American Jay Fresh (Knoxville) headlines the other half of the draw, though it is the bottom quarter that could carry some team race implications. Both Andrew Steiert (Waverly-Shell Rock) and Drake Swarm (Bettendorf) won district tournaments; but the top ten ranked wrestlers are in the same quarter. Joining that quarter of the draw is Jake Koethe (West Des Moines Valley), another top ten wreslter, who draws Swarm first round.
112: The top half of the draw is absolutely loaded with three of the top four in the rankings (including both finalists last year at 103), five top ten wrestlers, plus district champion Ernest Willis (Iowa City West). Willis draws defending state champion Tyler Willers (Pleasant Valley) in the opening round; with the other first round match of the second quarter featuring Jordan Jones (Des Moines North) against Matt Birbaum (Fort Dodge), wrestlers ranked second and tenth in the state. The top quarter of the draw features top-ranked Colby Knight (Urbandale), state runner-up and Junior National freestyle All-American, and Spencer Derifield (Waverly-Shell Rock). On the other hand, the bottom half of the draw is relatively barren and represents a golden opportunity for freshman Logan Ryan (Bettendorf) to reach the final.
119: A very unfortunate circumstance has a pair of defending state champions, both of whom are undefeated, in the bottom half of the draw doomed to a semifinal date. No. 6 Cory Clark (Southeast Polk) is yet to lose a match in three years of high school; while No. 15 Eric Devos (Waverly-Shell Rock) won state titles in seventh and eighth grade competing at Apple Valley, Minnesota, and finished second in Iowa as a freshman before winning state last year. Making life even harder for Devos, ranked second in the state, is a first round match against fourth-ranked Chase Helenthal (Keokuk) and a possible quarterfinal date against either Richie Eikenberry (Bettendorf) or eighth-ranked Chris Walters (Cedar Rapids Prairie). On the other hand, the top half of the draw provides a golden opportunity for Kegan Wakefield (Iowa City West) to reach the final.
125: Losing in the district final last week has handed Jack Hathaway (Iowa City West) a challenging, but still manageable, road to the state final. Twice third in the state, the double Cadet National finalist Hathaway is looking at an opening round date against sixth-ranked Tyler McWilliams (Sioux City East), a quarterfinal match against ninth-ranked Randy McPhee (Davenport West), and then a semifinal match against most likely fourth-ranked Kyle Larson (West Des Moines Valley). Key rivals in the team race No. 19 Connor Ryan (Bettendorf) and No. 20 Tanner Werner (Waverly-Shell Rock) are looking at a likely semifinal date; Ryan has twice finished second in the state, while Preseason Nationals champ Werner was fifth at state last year. Werner has a very unkind path into a potential semifinal with Ryan, drawing a first round match against fifth-ranked Tyler Feller (Lewis Central), and is looking at another state ranked opponent in the quarterfinal round.
130: The top two ranked wrestlers in this weight class, No. 5 John Meeks (Des Moines Roosevelt) and Adam Perrin (North Scott) are draw into the same top half of the draw. Like Clark, the junior Meeks is undefeated in three years of high school wrestling with two state titles; while Perrin won state as a freshman, was third as a sophomore, and finished as runner-up last year. The bottom half of the draw is headlined by Dakota Bauer (Iowa City West), who won state in 2009 as a freshman while competing for Ballard Huxley, and is ranked third by The Predicament. Seth Ebling (Waverly-Shell Rock), ranked tenth, draws into the quarter bracket of Meeks, while David Lewis (Bettendorf) is unranked and looking at a first round match against seventh-ranked Mike Wallace (Council Bluffs Jefferson).
135: With 2010 state runner-up Grady Gambrall (Iowa City West) out due to suspension, though he'll be able to compete at next weekend's dual meet state tournament, this is arguably the weakest weight class of the Class 3A state tournament. Entering the tournament as favorite is Bubba Hernandez (Bettendorf), who was fourth last year as a freshman. Kolton Rottink (Waverly-Shell Rock) is a potential semifinalist in the opposite half of the draw from Hernadez, while Sam Chalkley (Iowa City West) is looking at a first round match against second-ranked Jay Hildreth (Lewis Central).
140: The ineligibility of defending state champion Bo Schlosser (Bettendorf) throws a slight dent into their state championship hopes, and it changes the dynamic of this weight class from a three-man race to a two-man race. The clear favorites in this weight are a pair of returning state runners-up from the two other key players in the state championship battle: No. 20 Elijah Sullivan (Iowa City West) and Jordan Rinken (Waverly-Shell Rock). However, these two wrestlers are looking at a semifinal matchup, as opposed to a meeting in the finals. Despite the absence of Schlosser, Bettendorf does have a ranked wrestler in this weight class -- Taylor Wickett, who is ranked eighth. However, Wickett has a first round match against Rinken. Both Rinken and Sullivan are slated to face a top six ranked wrestler in the quarterfinal round -- Jack Randall (Spencer) and Zach Cooper (Des Moines Lincoln) respectively.
145: All three state title contending teams have an entrant in this weight class, though none is truly expected to make noise; only Garrett Hathaway (Iowa City West) is even ranked, and that is in ninth. Hathaway is looking at a projected quarterfinal against undefeated Zach Witte (Cedar Rapids Prairie). Defending state champion Chad Ryan (Sioux City North) is in the other quarter of this top half of the draw, and draws Blake Seehusen (Waverly-Shell Rock) in the first round. In the bottom half of the weight bracket, the quarterfinal between Cadet freestyle All-Americans Gabriel Moreno (Urbandale) and Dylan Blackford (Southeast Polk) should determine the finalist. Unranked Jacob Smith (Bettendorf) is in the bottom half of the draw, but in the quarter opposite of Moreno and Blackford.
152: The top three wrestlers in this weight class are all in the top half of the draw, and this happens to be the single weight for which Bettendorf does not have a state tournament qualifier. Two-time state champion No. 10 Cody Caldwell (Waverly-Shell Rock) enters as the clear favorite, though he'll have to beat third-ranked Zeb Wahle (Lewis Central) in the quarterfinal and second-ranked Britt Thompson (Iowa City West) in the semifinal round just to reach the final. Thompson has a couple of decent opponents on the way to that semifinal, with Reid Herrig (Davenport West) and Ben Swalla (Ames) standing in his way. The other half of the draw is led by fifth-ranked Trey Lewis (West Des Moines Valley).
160: This is one of two weights for which Waverly-Shell Rock did not qualify a wrestler to the state tournament. It is also one that early round match between Iowa City West and Bettendorf could influence the team standing. District champions No. 18 Justin Koethe (Iowa City West) and Dominic Chase (Bettendorf) are slated to meet in the quarterfinals, this places number one and number three in Class 3A against one another. Koethe has finished third and fourth the last two years at state, with multiple Fargo All-American finishes on the resume as well; while Chase was second at state in 2009 before finishing fifth last year. Leading the other half of the draw is second-ranked Taylor Berger (Carroll), the last of five undefeated wrestlers it he Class 3A state tournament.
171: This weight has the top two wrestlers in the state looking at a quarterfinal match, as returning state runner-up Willie Miklus (Southeast Polk) and two-time state placer Travis Mallo (Mason City) are slated to meet. Each has one loss, but one will have a second loss before Friday afternoon. Terry Stover (Waverly-Shell Rock) is in that same top half of the draw, but the quarter next to Miklus and Mallo, which is anchored by sixth-ranked Carson Powell (Ankeny). Five ranked wrestlers reside in the bottom half of the draw, including ninth-ranked Bryan Levsen (Bettendorf), but none as formidable as Miklus or Mallo. Levsen has a first round match against seventh-ranked Skyler Spaur (Knoxville) waiting him on Thursday morning, with Levi Peters (Fort Dodge) as a possible quarterfinal opponent. This is the first of three weights for which Iowa City West did not qualify a wrestler to state.
189: Fourth-ranked Nate Shaw (Bettendorf) is the lone member of the "big three" in this weight class, as Iowa City West and Waverly-Shell Rock did not qualify a wrestler to state here. Shaw, sixth in the state last year, is looking at a quarterfinal match against second-ranked Jared Bartel (Mason City). Third-ranked AJ McBroom (Southeast Polk) would be the other projected semifinalist in the top half. No. 14 Brendan Abernathy (Indianola) is the unequivocal favorite in the bottom half of the bracket, and for the weight class as a whole.
215: Second-ranked Ben Nagle (North Scott) is the headline wrestler in the top half of the draw, and would be the quarterfinal opponent for freshman Kaleb Staack (Waverly-Shell Rock) if he somehow pulled off a first round victory. The other quarter of this top half features Mickey Pelfrey (Iowa City West), Joe Scanlan (Johnston), and Evan Rethmeier (Newton). Pelfrey faces Scanlan in the first round, in what could be a key match for Iowa City West's title hopes. The bottom half of this bracket is loaded, as seven of the eight participants are ranked in the top ten per The Predicament -- including top ranked Jesse South (Urbandale). Ninth-ranked Keaton Jurevitz (Bettendorf) is looking at a first round match against fourth-ranked Kris Rhode (Spencer), with the other first round match of that quarter featuring a pair of ranked wrestlers.
285: The anticipated battle of state champions between Brodie Berrie (Bettendorf) and No. 4 Cody Krumwiede (Waverly-Shell Rock) would happen in the state final. Both wrestlers are significantly ahead of the rest of the weight class, though Berrie will have to clear three ranked opponents to reach the final while Krumwiede only has two in his path.
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