Loss powers Valley community's Koehn to win

DES MOINES - A beating from one of the state's best-ever heavyweights helped turn Valley Community's Joe Koehn into a state title contender.

Koehn will move up the medal stand a few places this year after his victory Friday in the Iowa High School Athletic Association Class 1A state wrestling tournament at Wells Fargo Arena. A small part of that goes to Williamsburg's Austin Blythe, who pinned the Tiger big man in the first period.

“It all changed after the North-Linn tournament last year and I wrestled Blythe,” Koehn said. “I just figured, ‘What the hell. Just go out there and win.' It really got in my head. I'm a lot more motivated.”

Koehn (43-2) will face Tri-Center Neola's Caleb White, who won his 36th match this season without a loss.