Iowa high school boys’ state wrestling: Mount Vernon’s Klayten Perreault gets his gold, Union crowns 2

DES MOINES — Mount Vernon’s Klayten Perreault struggled with his weight before his senior season.

But while most wrestlers navigate the hardship of cutting weight, Perreault — who won his first Class 2A state wrestling title Saturday at Wells Fargo Arena — needed to pack on the pounds instead.

The key?

“Lots of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches,” said the top-seeded Perreault, who beat No. 2 Cael McCabe of Fairfield, 7-1, to earn gold at Wells Fargo Arena. “And an awesome language arts teacher who makes you lift at 6:45 in the morning.”

Perreault pinned 41 of his 46 foes this season while being ranked No. 1 from start to finish. His stirring run helped the Mustangs cap a remarkable season with a second-place team trophy. Mount Vernon had never taken home state wrestling tournament hardware for two years in a row — until now.

“We brought eight guys down here and they all scored points, and that’s what it took,” Mustangs head coach Vance Light said. “I think this is the highest we’ve placed in the individual tournament. I think we’ve gotten third a couple of times, but never placed higher than that, so they did a helluva job (and) we’ve got one more match, still.”

That 138-pound match featured second-seeded Jase Jaspers of the Mustangs. He suffered a narrow 3-1 loss to top-seeded Blake Fox of Osage, who won his second straight state title. Jaspers, a sophomore, reached the state finals for the second consecutive time — and earlier in the day his older brother, Jackson, capped his high school career with panache. Jackson Jaspers beat Monroe PCM’s Tucker Wheeler, 7-5, for third place at 144 pounds. Jackson Jaspers placed fifth, fourth and seventh in the previous three seasons and became the Mustangs’ second four-time state medalist and first since Greg Randall won four titles from 1979-82.

Union Community has a pair of state wrestling champions

  Buy Photo

Mount Vernon wasn’t the only Gazette-area team that put together a trophy-worthy state tournament performance.

Union Community cemented a third-place team finish after the Knights’ top-seeded 113-pounder, Brayden Bohnsack, beat No. 2 Linden Phetxoumphone of Webster City, 4-2, to claim his second consecutive title.

“I was hardly nervous this year at all,” Bohnsack said. “Last year, I was kind of shaking, but this year it just felt like another match.”

Bohnsack then prepared to watch top-seeded teammate Jace Hedeman attempt to earn his third state crown in the 126-pound title bout.

“I wouldn’t be here without him,” Bohnsack said of Hedeman, who previously won state crowns at 106 and 113. “Without him, I would not be nearly as good as I am. He pushes me every day. I can’t thank him enough. That’s my best friend right there. Hopefully, he’ll go out and get his now.”

Hedeman, however, suffered a rare setback as second-seeded Carson Doolittle of Webster City scored a takedown in sudden victory to win, 3-1. Hedeman had never lost a high school match against a 2A foe, so he’ll be extra determined to rebound and secure a third state title next season.

  Buy Photo

The Knights’ third wrestler to make the finals, Caleb Olson, notched a 3-0 win at 150 pounds over top-seeded Lucas Kral of Garner GHV. Olson — who finished seventh and fifth the past two state tournaments — rode out Kral to cap his senior season with gold.

“I was like, I’ve got to get one this year,” said the third-seeded Olson, who plans to wrestle at Upper Iowa. “It’s my last year. I’ve dreamt of this since I was a little kid and watching (Union assistant and four-time state champ) Max (Thomsen) growing up (and) him being my coach and training partner now — that was the biggest role model in my life right there. And now I’ve lived out my dream with him in my corner, so that’s pretty awesome.”

Austin Scranton wins Anamosa’s first state wrestling title in 20 years

Austin Scranton of Anamosa realized a dream, as well. The top-seeded 190-pounder fended off a flurry of late shots from No. 2 seed Hesston Johnson of Roland-Story to win the first state wrestling title for his school in 20 years, 6-4.

“That’s my third time wrestling him and it’s been a scramble fast the entire time,” said Scranton, who finished his junior season with a 50-0 mark. “He’s another really great wrestler, so I just had to go out there and wrestle as hard as I could and no matter the outcome, be happy.”

South Tama’s No. 2-seeded 215-pounder Gavin Bridgewater’s senior season ended with a narrow 5-4 loss to top-seeded Braden McShane of New Hampton/Turkey Valley. Bridgewater closed his high school career as a two-time state finalist. He also wrestled back to take third place as a junior.

As for Perreault, he’s off to college in the fall and unsure if wrestling will remain in the picture.

“Hopefully I go up to Iowa State and maybe do a little bit of wrestling, maybe not,” Perreault said. “It just depends on where life takes me.”

Perreault plans to study genetic engineering, but what does he hope to do with that degree?

“I hope to have a little bit of fun bringing back extinct animals,” he said with a smile.

Any long-lost creature in particular he’d like to resurrect?

“I think they would all be fun to bring back, but a saber-toothed tiger as a pet would be pretty awesome,” the recently crowned state champion said.

Class 2A Iowa high school boys’ state wrestling finals

106: Klayten Perreault (Mount Vernon) dec. Cael McCabe (Fairfield), 7-1

113: Brayden Bohnsack (Union Community) dec. Linden Phetxoumphone (Webster City), 4-2

120: Gage Spurgeon (Eddyville EBF) dec. Ryan Bahnson (West Lyon), 6-0

126: Carson Doolittle (Webster City) dec. Jace Hedeman (Union Community), 3-1 SV-1

132: Kade Blume (Roland-Story) dec. Kaiden Dietzenbach (Burlington Notre Dame), 10-3

138: Blake Fox (Osage) dec. Jase Jaspers (Mount Vernon), 3-1

144: Anders Kittelson (Osage) dec. Royce Butt (DeWitt Central), 4-0

150: Caleb Olson (Union Community) dec. Lucas Kral (Garner GHV), 3-0

157: Tucker Stangel (Osage) dec. Bo Koedam (Sergeant Bluff-Luton), 2-1

165: Colin Young (Dubuque Wahlert) dec. Broedy Hendricks (Humboldt), 6-2

175: Austin Scranton (Anamosa) dec. Hesston Johnson (Roland-Story), 6-4

190: Jarrett Roos (Sheldon/South O’Brien) dec. Ben Bryant (North Polk), 4-2

215: Braden McShane (New Hampton/Turkey Valley) dec. Gavin Bridgewater (South Tama), 5-4

285: Mac Muller (Osage) dec. Russel Coil (Columbus/WMU), 8-3

Final Class 2A Iowa high school boys’ state wrestling Top 10 team scores

1. Osage 128 1/2

2. Mount Vernon 110

3. Union Community 95

4. Burlington Notre Dame 79 1/2

5. Creston 78

6. Hampton-Dumont-CAL 73 1/2

7. Roland-Story 71

8. Sergeant Bluff-Luton 65

9. Webster City 62 1/2

10. Anamosa 59

Comments: robgray18@icloud.com