Fleshman, Mehlert and Parmater win state wrestling titles, Decorah claims share of team crown

DES MOINES — The Class 1A heavyweight championship bout lasted 55 seconds.

The 3A title match featured four-time state champion Dreshaun Ross of Fort Dodge, who celebrated his historic triumph with a high-flying gymnastics act.

And then, fittingly, there were two still standing in 2A: Alburnett’s top-seeded Eaghan Fleshman and Solon’s second-seeded Lucas Feuerbach — until Fleshman stuck a takedown in overtime to mine gold, 4-1, Saturday night at the Iowa High School Athletic Association state wrestling meet at the Casey’s Center.

“All of our matches have come down to one takedown,” said Fleshman, a sophomore who handed Feuerbach his only three losses of the season. “You know, exchanges, exchanges, exchanges. Last time it went to OT, he made a mistake and I capitalized. I just capitalized in this one. He didn’t have to make a mistake. I got it done on my own.”

Fleshman and Feuerbach are best of friends. They trained all summer together. They pushed each other to this long-awaited collision at the top of 2A, which ended with wildly mixed emotions for Fleshman. His late father, Michael, passed away in November after battling diabetes and Myotonic Dystrophy.

“As soon as I won it I thought about him,” Fleshman said. “What he would have done if he was here. It’s just a stinger that he didn’t get to see the first one. But other than that, it’s just excitement.”

That latter emotion rippled through Decorah’s school-record 11 state qualifiers, who scored 131 points to claim a share of the 2A state crown with Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont. It’s the Vikings’ first-ever boys state wrestling title, which is something to raucously celebrate even if it’s not theirs alone.

“It’s wonderful to be able to bring a championship home to Decorah — for these guys, for this senior class,” Vikings head coach Jordan Thompson said after being part of the first state tournament tie since 1933. “They deserve it. I’ve never seen a senior class work this hard. To share it? We’re wrestlers. Nobody likes a tie. We’re wrestlers, but congratulations to them as well. I’m sure their coach feels the same way as I do.”

Alburnett finished third with 114 points, Independence placed sixth with 104 points and West Delaware took eighth with 73 points.

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A total of three Gazette-area wrestlers brought home individual 2A titles, and Vinton-Shellsburg’s Jackson Parmater kicked off that gold rush by outlasting Solon’s Anderson Osgood, 4-0, in the 106-pound championship match.

The talented sophomores had faced each other three times earlier this season, with Parmater winning the first two matchups, and Osgood triumphing in the third.

“The last (meeting), I just didn’t get to my attacks,” said Parmater, the Vikings’ second state champ and first state champ Gabe Sanders won the 152-pound 2A title in 2022. “I kind of let him do everything, and I told myself, ‘OK, if I want to win this match, I have to go do everything I know (I can) do. With my coaches’ help, that’s what I did. I just attacked, attacked, attacked.”

Parmater spent the day hanging out at a mall by his hotel.

Relaxed. Composed. Fully confident the work he put in after placing fourth at state last season would pay off.

“Tonight was my night to do it,” he said. “And I did it.”

So did Union Community’s Coy Mehlert, who had finally wrestled his way to the Class 2A finals.

Then the third-seeded 113-pound junior’s left meniscus locked up in the grueling process — but a conversation with his dad and coach, Bart, put the physical pain in perspective.

“Like I said, ‘It’s a long way from your heart,’” Bart Mehlert said of the ill-time injury. “He said that, (so) go get it, right?”

That he did.

Mehlert struck for three near-fall points in the first tiebreaker to beat North Polk’s Charlie Boelman, 7-4, and grasp gold at state just as his dad did 26 years ago.

“He’s done it, so he knows what it feels like to be on top,” Coy Mehlert said. “Now that’s me. And I still have one more year left, so I expect myself to be at the top next year.”

Mehlert finished fifth at state as a freshman and third last season. He’d scored bonus points in each of his matches until the title bout — and actually trailed 4-0 early before scoring seven straight points to clutch the crown.

Both Mehlerts then united in a heartfelt top-of-the-podium embrace that was a long time coming.

“Dad nerves are a little bit different,” Bart Mehlert said.

Adrenaline trumped both nerves and pain for Coy, though, as he finally smiled with a gold medal draped around his neck.

“No one’s gonna just give you something at the state tournament,” he said. “You have to work for it and, yeah, (the knee) is a long way away from your heart, and my heart is what won me that match.”

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