4-for-4: West Delaware completes quest for fourth straight State Duals title

DES MOINES — Will Ward succinctly described West Delaware’s wrestling success.

An easy, yet effective, formula that has produced a recent postseason trophy haul.

“We don’t talk about it being an expectation,” Ward said. “We just talk about going out and doing our best. Sometimes doing our best is being in the state finals.”

Not just the finals, but titles.

Top-ranked West Delaware won the last seven weight classes and completed a grinding day with a 55-18 victory over second-seeded Independence to claim the Class 2A title at the State Duals wrestling tournament Thursday night at Wells Fargo Arena.

“These guys need to go out as team champions,” West Delaware Coach Jeff Voss said. “It’s a group of kids that love each other. You can get a lot of work out of people when they care about each other. They did that and just kept battling.”

The Hawks (22-3) became the fourth program in Iowa history to win at least four State Duals crowns, joining West Des Moines Dowling, Don Bosco and Davenport Assumption.

“I don’t think we ever talked about winning four state titles this year,” West Delaware’s top-ranked 195-pounder Wyatt Voelker said. “Until our last breakdown, we say, ‘state champs, state champs, state champs’ after every practice, but it’s a pretty cool feeling to do it with all these guys. To do it four years in a row, is a pretty special thing.”

West Delaware’s senior class has made an indelible mark on the program. They finished their careers with an 86-7 dual record and have helped produce a 64-dual win streak against 2A opponents that has spanned 1,463 days.

“These are my brothers and we put in the work for this moment,” senior 132-pounder Blake Engel said. “It ended up paying off in the long run and we had fun doing it.”

The Hawks were tested throughout the day, needing to come from behind to beat No. 8 Burlington Notre Dame, 40-32, and No. 4 Sergeant Bluff-Luton, 43-24. They were in a back-and-forth affair with their Highway 20 rivals until they took control at the midway point.

West Delaware scored bonus points in the last seven victories, including pins from Logan Peyton (152), Jadyn Peyton (160), Ward (182), Sawyer Falck at 195 and heavyweight Cody Monaghan. Kyle Cole added a major decision over No. 8 Mitch Johnson.

Independence took an early lead with pins from Tanner Wilson (106) and Kaden Kremer (113). The two teams alternated wins and Hawks senior 132-pounder Blake Engel won by fall to tie it 12-12.

West Delaware only lost one match the rest of the way.

“I just did the same thing I always do, wrestling to the best of my ability, wrestle hard and have fun,” Engel said. “I ended up getting the fall.”

The Hawks produced a similar run to close out Sergeant Bluff-Luton with pins in the last five bouts of the semifinal.

“We wrestle for each other,” Voelker said. “We don’t wrestle for ourselves or one person. We’re fighting for each other in a match.

“One guy gets a pin we all get hungry and we all want pins. We’re feeding off each other.”

Jadyn Peyton has wrestled with a torn ACL all season. He answered any questions about saving himself for the traditional state meet and was the epitome of the team-first mantra.

“The team needs me, so I was going to go out do my thing,” said Jadyn, who had key pins in all three duals. “That’s what I did. Just go out, be aggressive, do our mindset principles and be a hammer.”

Cole, a senior who was ranked most of the year but suffered consecutive upsets at sectionals, made the most of his final matches.

He posted a pin and two major decisions over ranked wrestlers, including a 9-0 win over Burlington Notre Dame’s River Belger.

“He had big matches in each dual,” Voss said. “For him to step up like that says a lot about Kyle Cole and the type of leader he is for our team. He did an awesome job.”

Independence (27-7) dropped No. 7 Winterset, 40-30, and then had its own comeback to beat No. 3 Osage, 37-31.

“All season this is our end goal,” Independence senior Marcus Beatty said. “We’re all about the team more than we are about ourselves.”

West Delaware and Independence continued a trend of Wamac Conference teams vying for a 2A State Duals title.

In addition to the state champion the last four seasons, the conference has boasted the top two teams in three of the last four years. West Delaware beat Solon, 45-12, in 2019. The Hawks beat Williamsburg, 53-9, two years ago.

“I think it shows the strength of our conference,” Voss said. “It demonstrates what our conference is all about.”

Interestingly, West Delaware could be seen on an adjacent mat watching the end of the other semifinal. Some of the coaches cheered when Independence sealed it.

“I think it’s a testament to our conference, but it’s a testament to our kids, coaches and communities,” Independence Coach Michael Doyle said. “As much as we want to beat them, we have a lot of respect for those programs. Outside of the actual dual, we all get along pretty well.

“The Wamac has been traditionally strong in wrestling. We’re glad we’re one of those teams.”