Assumption clips West Delaware for 2A State Duals crown

DES MOINES -- It was exactly what a state championship contest should be.

Two talented teams battled one another with the outcome teetering on the final seconds between their last two athletes. Their crowds cheering as shifts of momentum swung from team to team.

When those final seconds elapsed, Davenport Assumption hoisted its second straight title and West Delaware settled for a runner-up finish in the Iowa High School Athletic Association Class 2A State Duals tournament Wednesday night at Wells Fargo Arena. The Knights (32-1) won the final five matches, including Tionte Parks' victory in the last one, for a 32-30 win.

They were so close, but couldn't close the deal. Despite an impressive dual season that ended in a 23-5 mark, the Hawks appeared dejected after the dual. It is a loss that won't soon be forgotten.

"You don't train every day to come and get second," West Delaware junior Adam Reth said, "but it's a great feat to get where we are. We'll have something to look forward to next year."

West Delaware Coach Jeff Voss was a little more positive after the dual. The Hawks have come a long way, opening the season with four state medalists and finished with a squad of State Duals runners-up.

"We knew that wasn't going to make an entire team," Voss said of the returning placewinners. "We had several kids that were junior varsity last year that were varsity this year and they're in the state tournament. We had kids that got better all year and when you do that it's a successful season.

"I feel pretty proud of what they've done."

The teams each won seven bouts, but the Hawks couldn't keep pace with bonus points. Voss said his team wrestled as hard as they could, but fell just a few points short.

"I felt we had to win eight matches to win," West Delaware Coach Jeff Voss said. "They have their studs through the middle where they got their bonus points. We got ours at the top and it just came down to a match where a takedown or nearfall could have given us a couple more bonus points to possibly take them."

The Hawks built a 30-9 lead before Assumption's late rally, highlighted by Kyle Springer (126) and 132-pounder Topher Carton which set up Parks' heroics in a 9-6 win over Brent Reilly at 145.

Voss said strategy may have backfired when the Hawks moved their heavier wrestlers up a weight class, giving up a fall at 160 and only getting bonus points in two matches. West Delaware's wins were consecutive, including pins from Reth at 220 and heavyweight Dean Broghammer.

"We had the momentum," Reth said. "They had some tough lightweights coming up.

"We were ready for them. We just didn't finish the job, I guess."

West Delaware soared into the finals with big wins over Spirit Lake Park (53-20) and Atlantic (46-10). It was the Hawks best finish since placing second in the 2003 3A State Duals.

"We wrestled well," Reth said. "We wrestled well to get here. We beat some good teams."