Don Bosco tops Alburnett in rematch of Class 1A State Duals boys’ wrestling title match

CORALVILLE – A typical battle between Alburnett and Don Bosco with an atypical conclusion.

Unusual and unfortunate, for sure.

The two small-school powers were entangled in a back-and-forth and strategic affair, gauging matchups and moving wrestlers to different weights. But one flawed move resulted in the final factor that secured Don Bosco’s fifth straight title and a second runner-up finish for the Pirates.

Facing a seven-point deficit with three weights left, a misconceived forfeit placed the dual out of reached for the Pirates and led to second-ranked Don Bosco’s 38-37 win in the Class 1A State Duals boys’ wrestling tournament Saturday night at Xtream Arena. The Dons won their 15th duals crown, adding to their state record.

“It hasn’t been easy,” said Don Bosco Coach Chris Ortner, who forfeited the final two weights after clinching the victory. “There’s been a lot of adversity. I’m happy for these kids. They work hard. They earned this one.”

The anti-climactic ending hit the Pirates hard. They shook hands and left the arena floor briefly, returning for the trophy ceremony. Alburnett Coach Clayton Rush accepted responsibility for confusion late in the dual.

“Just a coaching error that can't happen in that competition of state finals,” Rush said. “You had everybody bumping up, so you'd think one weight and it’s not. It's strictly a coaching error, 100 percent my fault.”

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The lineups shifted throughout the dual with a few moves working in the Pirates favor. Owen Henriksen (126), Rowdy Neighbor (132), Preston Klostermann (144), Cooper Franklin (150) and Reece Klostermann (157) all bumped up a weight class and won. Both Klostermanns posted pins that bracketed Franklin’s technical fall. Henriksen and Neighbor added major decisions and brought Alburnett within two with four matches remaining.

The Dons countered by moving third-ranked Ethan Christoffer from 157 to 165 and top-ranked 165-pounder Kyler Knaack to 175. Christoffer delivered a 19-1 technical fall over Dawson Becker. Knaack collected the forfeit.

“They came over to me warming up and said we were going to match them,” Knaack said. “Whatever happened happened. I don’t know. It’s not usually how you want to end a dual.”

The move may not have altered the eventual outcome. The Dons still had third-ranked 190-pounder Drew Lansing available for one of the final two weights with Alburnett needing to sweep the final three.

“That’s unfortunate,” Ortner said. “I don’t know what would have happened in the match, obviously. There was another match after that. I’m not going to say that was a deal breaker because there was a lot of wrestling left that could have happened.”

Alburnett defeated Don Bosco, 46-23, at the Battle of Waterloo in December. Both had slightly different lineups. The Dons reversed two key weights to their favor, turning a previous forfeit into a Kirk Sallis pin at heavyweight and a technical fall loss into a technical fall win from Kaiden Belinsky, who didn’t wrestle in the first meeting. Those accounted for a 22-point swing and the 175 forfeit resulted in 12 more.

“We knew there were going to be some matches that would get flipped around,” Ortner said. “It’s just a matter by how much. Our kids really battled. I’m just really proud of them.”

Alburnett’s Shayden Washburn (190) and 215-pounder Eaghan Fleshman received forfeits to cap the dual. The Pirates managed to split the 14 weights.

“In a dual like that, you got ups and downs,” Rush said. “There's momentum, they switched it and switches back. We had guys that stepped in and switched it in our favor when they needed to.”

Don Bosco won six straight duals championships from 2005-10, which is tied with West Des Moines Dowling (1987-92) for the longest streak. The Dons have just three seniors in the lineup, making them a contender again next season.

“Try not to think about it,” Ortner said. “Each one is different. Each one has got to be earned. We don’t really talk about the streak. We talk about the next one.”

Jesup made its second straight State Duals appearance after its debut a year ago. The J-Hawks improved last season’s performance, falling to No. 3 Wilton, 50-12, to place fourth.

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WEST DELAWARE EARNS RUNNER-UP FINISH

West Delaware was good. Algona was a little better.

The top-ranked Bulldogs won eight matches and held on for a 28-25 victory in the 2A final of the State Duals Saturday night. Algona, in just its second appearance, claimed its first title. The second-seeded Hawks settled for runner-up honors for the second time in three seasons.

“The effort was there from everybody,” Coach Jake Voss said. “... I’m just really proud of our guys.”

Returning to the finals provided some solace for seniors that were part of a state title team in 2022 and a second-place performance in 2023.

“Yeah, it was awesome,” Hawks senior Jax Miller said. “That was a great experience, good opportunity. We just fell a little bit short, but we gave a heck a lot of effort the entire day.”

Algona won five of the first six bouts, including Thomas Zabka’s technical fall at 113 and back-to-back major decisions from Brooks Morgan and Isaac Wilson at 120 and 126, respectively. The Bulldogs added a three-match win streak from 150 to 165 sparked by Ashton Moreno’s major decision. They produced a 29-14 lead with three weights to go, losing a point for unsportsmanlike conduct after the penultimate bout at 190.

West Delaware advanced to the final with two wins decided by the final match. Despite closing with three wins, including two bonus-point wins from Brent Yonkovic (190) and 215-pounder Jeryn Funke.

“Going into that dual, they knew they could win it,” Voss said. “They wanted to make sure they did everything in their power to do that. You could see it from the beginning and it carried the whole way through the dual. They fed off each other.”

West Delaware displayed its progress throughout the season. The Hawks have improved, notching a sixth title match in the last seven seasons. Focus turns to getting better for district and state meets.

“We worked really hard the last couple months,” Miller said. “We're a whole different team than we were a couple months ago.

“I think we have another week to get better and we're just going to keep getting better for the next couple weeks.”

Williamsburg matched its seed, placing fourth. The Raiders opened with a win over Wamac Conference rival Independence (37-33), but fell to Algona in the semifinal and Clarion-Goldfield-Dows in the placing round.

SOUTHEAST POLK WINS 3A CROWN

Top-ranked Southeast Polk won its second straight and seventh overall 3A State Duals title. The Rams trounced No. 3 Indianola, 54-14, for the championship.

SE Polk jumped to a 35-0 lead after the first six weights. The Rams recorded bonus points in nine of their 11 wins.

SE Polk opened with a 65-8 win over North Scott and advanced to the final with a 58-6 semifinal win over Waukee Northwest, who placed third. The Rams recorded a 35-7 overall mark in matches Saturday.

Indianola defeated Bettendorf, 39-33, and then knocked off No. 2 Waverly-Shell Rock, 45-27, in the semifinal.

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