Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont tops Decorah for Class 2A State Duals boys wrestling title

CORALVILLE — Gritty and golden.

Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont Coach Dimitri Boyer explained why one has produced the other.

“It's one word – fight,” Boyer said. “We come to fight. Everybody knows how to wrestle. Not everybody knows how to fight, and that's what we got.”

They also got a state title. The third-seeded Rockets dropped the top two teams in back-to-back duals, beating No. 1 Decorah, 37-33, for the Iowa High School Athletic Association Class 2A State Duals championship Saturday night at Xtream Arena. EBF claimed its first State Duals crown in its first finals appearance since 2013.

“None of these guys feel like we got the respect we needed with the seeds,” Boyer said. “We haven't seen those other two teams, and that was one thing we talked about. We had to come here and prove who we are because nobody else believed it except for us.”

If you need an example of the Rockets toughness and perseverance, look no further than 138-pound Kaden Kirkpatrick. The ninth-ranked sophomore tangled with the Vikings’ No. 3 Will Larson in an epic bout that ended with Kirkpatrick celebrating a third-period pin, giving EBF a 31-4 lead through six weights.

Kirkpatrick and Larson wrestled at a frenetic pace, exchanging takedowns, reversals and nearfall points for a whopping 49 total points in what should go down as one of the tournament’s most exciting bouts.

The duo combined for 18 in the first period with Larson up, 12-6. They added 22 in the second with Larson up, 22-17.

“I just knew I would I never give up,” Kirkpatrick said. “The match isn’t over until it's over. By the second period, me and him were going at it, I was gassed.”

A reversal, two nearfall and another takedown made it 29-18 in the final minute. With both wrestlers exhausted, Kirkpatrick dug deep, exploded for a reversal and locked up a throw. He earned the pin in 5:29.

“Just looking at my crowd, all cheering for me still, and honestly, their crowd cheering against me just drove me,” Kirkpatrick said. “I was down quite a bit, so I knew I had to go big. Go big or go home.”

An assistant escorted Kirkpatrick in front of the EBF crowd. The showered him with cheers and applause. The turnaround resulted in at least a nine-point swing and impact the team outcome.

“It's amazing,” Kirkpatrick said. “I love the support for everyone. Win or lose, everyone's always there for you.”

EBF shot to a fast start, winning six of the first eight. Kirkpatrick ended a six-match Rockets win streak that included pins from Garrett Pumphrey (113), Simon Bettis at 120 and top-ranked 144-pounder Landen Davis. Gage Spurgeon added a major decision at 132 and Slater Thomas (126) earned a decision. Logan Gardner’s decision at 215 secured the title.

The Rockets fed off each other, pulling energy and intensity from each other’s effort.

“It's just a snowball effect,” Boyer said. “One win after the next after the next. We’ve got a really tight group of kids that are really good friends. I know that emotions run high between them. I know that if they see somebody doing something, they want to match it. They want to do a little bit better and it's just that way.”

Decorah didn’t quit and battled back with a chance to win it with two matches remaining. Grant Knutson recorded a technical fall at 150. Kasen Tyler (165), William Fullhart at 175 and 190-pounder Thomas Sexton recorded first-period pins, pulling within seven. Heavyweight Henry Brynsaas capped the dual with a pin.

“The kids let it fly,” Decorah Coach Jordan Thompson said. “For the guys to be able to keep their heads in it and then get a pin at 165, 175, 190 and then battle at 215 against a ranked 190-pounder, and then get a pin again at heavyweight, even though we couldn't win the dual, that just shows the mental strength of this team.”

The loss doesn’t damper an impressive season that ended with a 22-4 record. The loss to EBF was the only one to an Iowa opponent. The Vikings earned their third runner-up finish and were close to winning a crown.

"It was a good dual,” Thompson said. “It was a tight dual. It came all the way down to the very end. One match does the difference there.

“I think we do that again it’s a different outcome. And then if we do it again, it could be a different outcome. I think we're a 50/50 shot with them, and that was a great dual. Congrats to Eddyville.”

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