West places third at State Duals tournament

DES MOINES – They did what they were supposed to do and maybe all they could.

Third-ranked Iowa City West beat Waverly-Shell Rock, 66-8, to finish third in the Iowa High School Athletic Association Class 3A State Duals tournament Wednesday night at Wells Fargo Arena.

The Trojans (35-4) finished exactly how they were seeded, tying Logan-Magnolia's state record of 10 straight State Duals appearances. They were short-handed without third-ranked Mickey Pelfrey, who was lost to an elbow injury before district competition.

“Not having Pelfrey changed our outlook,” West Coach Mark Reiland said. “Running into Bettendorf in the semifinals, there's not a whole lot we can do with the situation.”

Bettendorf became the first MAC school to win a 3A State Duals title since Pleasant Valley in 1997. The second-seeded Bulldogs crushed West Des Moines Valley, 75-6, in the championship. The Tigers held many starters out of the lineup in the finals, which resembled most of the 3A field. Top-seeded Southeast Polk did not weigh in any of its 12 state qualifiers and No. 5 Linn-Mar didn't wrestle its nine state qualifiers.

Bettendorf (15-1) advanced by handing West its only loss of the tournament, winning 55-22 in the semifinals. The Trojans rebounded, finishing third for the second time during the 10-year streak that also produced eight finals appearances and five titles. The Trojans still aren't satisfied with the result.

“Our team mentality is the same as our individuals' mentality,” West senior Sam Chalkley said. “If you settle, you'll never get to the top.”

West survived the opening round in a rematch against Cedar Rapids Prairie, winning the final two bouts to break a tie score and win 41-29.

Now the Trojans can work on sole possession of the record, returning for an 11th straight appearance next season.

“Some finished with a win,” Reiland said. “That's something you can build on for the future.”

Linn-Mar entered the tournament as the No. 5 seed, and despite sitting its nine state qualifiers the Lions placed sixth. After dropping its opener to No. 4 West Des Moines Valley (57-12), the Lions earned a 45-28 win over a top-seeded Southeast Polk team that did not weigh in its 12 individual state participants.

“A lot of kids got the chance to wrestle that wouldn't get the chance,” Linn-Mar Coach Doug Streicher said. “You take that as a positive and get them experience. Hopefully, it will help them next year.”

The Lions (30-7) lost the fifth-place dual to Ankeny, 50-16, but Streicher said the team had better effort after a slow start.

“The first round we weren't ready to go,” Streicher said. “The rest of the day we wrestled better.”

Cedar Rapids Prairie finished seventh, also one spot from its opening seed. The Hawks (28-8) lost a close battle with West in the quarterfinals and then fell to Ankeny, 44-28, in the consolations. Prairie capped the day with a 32-31 win over Southeast Polk.