Mount Vernon’s Ryan brothers seek to add to long family legacy at state wrestling

DES MOINES — Mount Vernon’s Ryan brothers continue to look up.

It started with the eldest, Jacob, who notched a second-place finish at 160 pounds in the 2007 Iowa high school boys’ state wrestling tournament. Then came Trey, who won a title at 170 in 2014. Paul followed, claiming the gold medal at 170 in 2019.

And now it’s Henry, a senior seeded sixth at 170, along with freshman Mikey, the No. 7 seed at 138 who seek to rise to the top of the podium.

“Henry’s gonna go win it, too,” said Mikey Ryan, who gave the latest two Ryan brothers the first of two Wednesday wins en route to Thursday’s Class 2A state quarterfinals. “I’m just trying to follow them.”

Mikey held on for a 9-7 victory over No. 10 Nile Sinn of Williamsburg. Henry powered past 14th-seeded Hesston Johnson of Roland-Story, 9-4 — but they weren’t the only Mustang brothers to advance to the quarterfinals.

Jase and Jackson Jaspers also won their initial matches after first-round byes. Jase, a freshman seeded fifth at 126, pinned No. 12 Lincoln Keeler of Creston in 1 minute, 10 seconds. Jackson, a junior seeded fourth at 145, came back from a 6-3 deficit to beat No. 20 Nathan Lopez of Charles City, 9-8.

“It was an exciting match,” said Jackson, who fought through consolation bouts to become a medalist in each of the past two seasons. “Down 6-3 like I was, that’s not where I wanted to be, but coming back feels good. It’s the first time I’ve won the first one, so that’s also a big plus. I’m excited about that.”

He’s also excited to see Jase join him at the state meet.

“It’s fun watching him,” Jackson Jaspers said. “He’s been watching me the last two years and now we finally got here together.”

Osage led the team race after day one with 47 1/2 points. The Mustangs stood second with 33 points and West Delaware was third with 30 points — and saw senior 160-pounder Logan Peyton advance to the quarterfinals in thrilling fashion.

Peyton, the No. 9 seed, trailed eighth-seeded Jireh Gallegos of Carroll, 6-3, but battled back to win, 10-7, thanks to a late takedown and three nearfall points in the closing seconds.

“I’ve had a few setbacks this year and just being thankful to go out and do my thing, it’s just really fun,” said Peyton, a two-time place winner.

Several area wrestlers enjoyed success on Wednesday, including Decorah’s 126-pound freshman Mason Avila, who sprang a reversal on top-seeded Kaiden Dietzenbach of West Burlington/Notre Dame with six seconds left to win, 4-2 and advance to the quarterfinals.

Union Community’s Brayden Bohnsack, the top seed at 106, and teammate Jace Hedeman — who won the crown at 106 last season and is the top seed at 113 — pinned their way to the quarterfinals. Bohnsack took eighth at 113 last season, so swapping spots with Hedeman in the lineup has proved to be a productive proposition.

“No practice is easy for me,” Bohnsack said of scrapping with Hedeman in the room. “He’s always making me better.”

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