Union's Brayden Bohnsack wins third state wrestling title Saturday at Wells Fargo Arena

DES MOINES — Union Community’s Brayden Bohnsack stretched the T-shirt over his sweat-soaked singlet — and stood, arm raised, as a three-time state champion. The shirt read “12th man” — and he wore it to honor his friend, Gavin Rohrbach, who tragically passed away last fall.

"I’ve been thinking about him a lot,” said Bohnsack, who beat Ballard’s Easton Enyeart, 3-2, to three peat at the Iowa High School Athletic Association Class 2A state wrestling meet at Wells Fargo Arena. “I think this season, I was just grateful for the opportunity, you know. And I also wanted to just have fun and enjoy it. Not everyone gets to do it.”

Bohnsack trailed, 1-0, entering the third period and opted to go neutral. He scored the match’s only takedown with 49 seconds left in the third period and fended off a late shot by Enyeart to secure the triumph.

“I didn’t see a point in just getting out of the bottom to get a tied match,” said Bohnsack, who watched 132-pound teammate, Jace Hedeman, earn his third state championship moments later. “If I’m gonna get out, I’m still gonna need a takedown to win it, so why not go right to my feet and go get it.”

Hedeman capped his sterling high school career with a title-winning pin. Hedeman, a four-time finalist, won by fall or technical fall while sweeping to claiming his third crown.

“It just hit a little but deeper because it’s my last time here,” said the top-seeded Hedeman, who will wrestle next season for Northern Iowa. “I just know the work I put in to get to where I’m at. And, sure, four would have been cool, but three is the next best thing.”

Hedeman also donned the meaningful “12th man” shirt before talking to reporters.

“You’re never promised tomorrow,” he said. “So if I’m not promised tomorrow, I’d better be happy with how I treat people. I better go out there and give it my all.”

Mount Vernon’s Jase Jaspers left nothing to chance in the 2A 144-pound title bout, who won by major decision over second-place Tyler Wieland of Independence. Jaspers — a three-time finalist — beamed atop the podium when his dad and Mustangs assistant, Kyle, draped the long-sought gold medal around his neck.

“I love that guy,” Jase Jaspers said. “Love my whole family. It’s just great having that support with me and knowing even if I have a hard day or whatever, I can always go back home and see them.”

Jaspers said his previous losses in the finals made him a better wrestler. That didn’t guarantee a better result, but did force him to perfect his craft on the mat.

“I think if I did win those, I don’t think I’d be as good as I am today,” the top-seeded junior said. “I think just from those losses I’ve worked so much harder (and) been more disciplined.”

Anamosa’s No. 2-seeded 190-pounder Austin Scranton leaned into his familiarity with No. 1 seed Brenden Heying of Benton Community to surge to an 8-3 win in the finals. Scranton evened his season record against Heying to 2-2 — and neither standout wrestler lost to anyone else this season.

“I think I shot a lot more (against him) than I did in the past,” said Scranton, who became the Blue Raiders’ first two- time state champ since Moza Fay accomplished the feat in 2003-04.

Scranton and Heying finished 1-2 in four tournaments this season — and when West Delaware’s 190-pounder Brent Yonkovic was in the mix, he’d finish right behind them in third. That also happened at the state meet, where Yonkovic wrestled back for a third-place finish after a 4-0 semifinal setback to Scranton.

“I think on our side of the state at 190, we’ve got some hammers,” Scranton said.

A pair of Gazette-area wrestlers saw their title hopes fall one win short against No. 1 seeds.

Nile Sinn of Williamsburg’s stirring run to the finals at 150 ended in a loss to Shane Hanford of West Marshall, and Lucas Feuerbach of Solon lost by decision in the 215-pound title bout to Mason Koehler of Glenwood.

Burlington Notre Dame won the 2A team title with 129 points. Eddyville-Blakesburg took second with 107.5 points and Union finished third with 103.5 points. Mount Vernon (88 points), Independence (87.5), West Delaware (83), Williamsburg (76), and Anamosa (74.5) rounded out the top 10.

Earlier Saturday, several other area wrestlers fought back to finish third in 2A, including William Fullhart of Decorah. The talented sophomore powered past Ryker Dengler of West Liberty, 7-1, and Blake Wilson of Burlington Notre Dame, 16-10, to attain a third-place finish.

“I was a little disappointed when I lost in the semis,” said Fullhart, who finished the season with a 43-8 mark. “But I’ve got two more years to come back for a state title, and it was a good thing I came back and got third, because it shows me how I can grow.”

Mikey Ryan of Mount Vernon’s path to a third-place finish at 150 included a gut-wrenching 3-2 loss in the semifinals to Nile Sinn of Williamsburg in the ultimate tiebreaker, and a pair of bonus points-filled victories in the wrestlebacks. Ryan, the No. 2 seed, met Anamosa’s No. 3 Hudson Scranton in the third-place bout and won by major decision.

“Hudson, he’s a great competitor,” said Ryan, who lost narrowly to Scranton twice while finishing fourth at last year’s state meet. “I thought about those matches every single day after that and he pushed me to get better, but it’s not what I wanted. I’m glad I could do it for my team.”

Yonkovic battled back from a tough loss in the semifinals for the second year in a row to notch a third-place finish. The three-time state medalist nearly pinned Broedy Hendricks of Humboldt in the third-place match at 190, winning 11-4.

“I’m pretty proud of myself for bouncing back,” Yonkovic said.

Union Community’s top-seeded 106-pounder Coy Mehlert and Washington’s second-seeded 132-pounder Aaron Boone also rebounded to attain third-place finishes. Mehlert pinned his final foe in 27 seconds.

Mount Vernon’s third-seeded heavyweight Ethan Wood closed out the consolation bracket with a 7-3 win over Atlantic’s Evan Sorensen to snare third.

“I didn’t get the results I wanted in the semis, so I just locked back in and battled back for the best I could get,” he said.

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