Iowa City West’s Justin Avila plans to leave it all on the mat in his final boys’ state wrestling tournament

DES MOINES – More mettle than medal. Performance over prize.

Iowa City West’s Justin Avila already has state tournament hardware, placing fourth as a freshman and fifth a year ago. He entered his fourth, and final, appearance focused on leaving every ounce of sweat, blood and energy on the mats.

“I know my capabilities are there and what I am capable of,” Avila said. “I just have to go out and have no regrets at the end of the day. That’s kind of my main goal here. No matter what the outcome is just know I gave it my all.”

No. 3 Avila rolled to a second-period pin over Dallas Center Grimes’ Cole Hemmingsen to open the Class 3A boys’ state wrestling tournament Wednesday at Wells Fargo Arena. He was one of four Trojans to advance to into Thursday’s quarterfinals.

“It felt good,” Avila said. “I normally struggle with first-day matches, so I’m trying to get over that. It makes easier to go through the tournament.”

Avila (46-3) didn’t strain much, building a 14-1 lead and decking Hemmingsen in 2:36. It was actually his third straight first-round pin at state. The small things have made the biggest difference.

“The last couple years he gets more receptive to what we’ve had to say,” West Coach Nate Moore said. “There is some trust and belief in what we’re doing.

“He’s always been talented. He’s been a good wrestler. He’s been working on the finer details.”

Avila has enjoyed the return of older brother, Robert Avila Jr., who was a three-time state champion and four-time finalist for West and Lisbon. He admitted it was frustrating at first because he was unable to finish certain moves against his older sibling. Then he realized most opponents aren’t at that level, making it easier to hit moves in competition.

“I think just getting over that since he’s back its helped me pick up my offense a little more,” said Avila, who reached 150 career pins after his Mississippi Valley Conference Super Meet title this month. “I think that’s been the biggest thing that has helped me. Just having him around is another confident booster for me. Just knowing he’s right there in my corner.”

Wrestling, faith and family have been tenets of the Avila family, which includes sister, Janell, also a state champion. They have strong bonds and wrestling is a small part of that. Justin noted his dad, Robert Avila Sr., will travel all over to attend competitions.

“They are very loyal people,” Moore said. “They have shown a tremendous amount of support for their kids and our program. It just adds values to our coaching staff and Justin when Robert is around. He looks up to his brother a lot.”

West’s Alexander Pierce (113), Matthew Tran (120) and Cole Krutzfeldt at 138 all advanced. Second-seeded Pierce and No. 4 Krutzfeldt each won by fall, while No. 7 Tran posted a 17-5 major decision over Waterloo West’s Sylvester Kotoe.

“They kind of did what we expected them to do,” Moore said. “They were supposed to go out and win big. Now, we’re focused on tomorrow already.”

Linn-Mar also advanced four into the quarterfinals, finishing in 11 th place with 28 points. Southeast Polk led the team races with 72 ½ points, 26 ½ more than second-place Indianola, after Day 1.

The Lions’ Malik DeBow (126), Noah Howk-Erwin at 150, 165-pounder Barrett Mieras and Philip Jacobs (175) earned bonus-point victories. No. 6 Mieras and No. 4 Jacobs won by fall. DeBow and Howk-Erwin posted major decisions.

Cedar Rapids Prairie’s Chase Watkinson made his state debut. The 106-pouind sophomore and No. 4 seed capitalized on his moment, beating Johnston’s Isaac Beirman, 6-1.

“I've been waiting quite a time quite a while because last year I didn't make the state tournament,” Watkinson said. “I had a wrestle up quite a bit, so feels good to come in here and get my first win and move on to the quarters.”

Watkinson weighed about 95 pounds as a freshman but competed at 113 because two-time state medalist Dylan Munson was at the lightest weight. He attended the state meet as a workout partner for Munson and benefited from a behind-the-scenes look.

“I kind of went down here and trained with him,” Watkinson said. “Being down here really just showed me like how everybody else gets ready for their matches and that really helped me with my mindset and how I should interpret this tournament.”

He managed the only two takedowns of the bout, working his tie-ups to execute offensive attacks. If he can continue to do that and wrestle at a quick tempo, Watkinson said any finish is possible.

“I’ve got to keep my pace high,” Watkinson said. “Usually, whenever I wrestle at my own pace I dominate.”

Watkinson was joined in the quarterfinals by Munson (113) and teammate Louden Bloxham at 175. Munson, who has placed sixth and seventh the last two seasons, and Bloxham won by major decision.

Iowa City Liberty’s Landon Bell returned to the state tournament but notched his first win. He pinned Waverly-Shell Rock’s Mekyver Hagarty in 2:41. He broke things open after a scoreless first, cinching up a cradle to end it.

“ It was just conditioning and good pace,” Bell said. “It's going to break him, eventually.”

Bell returned to the center all smiles after his first state tournament victory. He enjoyed the moment in front of special followers.

“It was like all fun,” Bell said. “I saw my whole crowd cheering me. I’ve got a bunch of friends here and all of my family, my grandparents. So, that was awesome. I just looked up at them … good way to start the tournament.”

The state tournament can overwhelm the most accomplished wrestlers. Bell suffered a little bit of that last season. He learned how to focus on the 32-foot circle of the mat he’s on and block out all the other distractions.

“We got big goals here this year,” Bell said. “State champ, obviously. That's a good start and I’ve got to keep that momentum up tomorrow to keep building to the top of the podium.”

Clear Creek Amana and Iowa City High each had two reach the quarterfinals. Cale Nash (132) and Nolan Howell (144) reached the quarterfinals for the Clippers.

No. 3 Kael Kurtz (120) beat Liberty’s Ben Rosen, 19-2, and No. 7 Raphael Etuma (215) had a 14-3 major decision over West Des Moines Dowling’s Kade Krause.

Xavier and Western Dubuque moved one wrestler apiece into the quarterfinals. Third-seeded Jean Ngoma (36-0) remained unbeaten with a 16-1 technical fall over North Scott’s 10 th-ranked Jace Tippet at 215. The Bobcats’ Joe Hirsch opened with a 14-3 major decision over Waukee Northwest’s Gabe Rubino.

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