West captures Class 3A championship

CEDAR RAPIDS - Iowa City West Coach Mark Reiland might be look for a new suit after Saturday night.

The one he wore was a little worse for wear after his team tackled him to the ground and piled on top of the mat in the center of the U.S. Cellular Center. He will trade a new suit for what the Trojans were bringing home.

Top-ranked West claimed its first state title since 2007, defeating Bettendorf, 33-19, in the finals of the Class 3A championship of the Iowa High School Athletic Association State Dual team wrestling tournament.

Reiland wasn't visible after his team mobbed him after shaking hands with the Bulldogs. He was surprised by the attack, but will let it slide.

"There was a lot of people on top of me," Reiland said. "I'll accept it, right now."

The Trojans (37-2) received a little bit of relief with the victory Saturday. They had finished second at the State Duals the last three seasons and second in three of the last four traditional state tournaments, including last week in Des Moines. They were looking for a little redemption.

"I'm happy," said West junior Justin Koethe, who said he's been waiting three years for this moment. "There's nothing better than winning a state title. We wanted this more than anything."

The Trojans opened strong, building a 23-0 lead after the first six matches. West state finalist Kegan Wakefield kicked off the dual with a 5-1 win over Richie Eikenberry at 119. 

Trojan teammate Jack Hathaway followed with one of the more impressive wins. Hathaway faced Connor Ryan in a rematch of last Saturday's 125-pound state title bout. Hathaway won that match 6-1, and followed it up with a 7-2 win in the State Duals final.

"This time I went out to score as many points as possible," Hathaway said. "Last time, I went out to win. I tried to score more points. It doesn't always work that way."

Although Hathaway didn't notch any bonus points, he controlled the entire match. Hathaway scored a takedown in each period and allowing only two escapes.

"I went out to try and dominate the entire match," Hathaway said. I could have scored more (but) I put enough pressure on him and Bettendorf."

West's Dakota Bauer ratcheted the pressure up in the very next match. Bauer piled on the points, scoring a takedown as time expired for an extra team point with a 21-6 technical fall (win by 15 or more points) instead of a major decision (a win by eight to 14). An emphasis was placed on scoring as many extra points as possible.

"We knew we needed to get bonus points," Reiland said. "They are key in a tight meet. We had to fight an d scrap for everything we had. When we can fight and scrap for every points, that's what is important. That's what championship teams are made of.""

West seemed to do everything right, even when the wrong reared its head. After Bauer's technical fall, Gradey Gambrall followed with a 5-4 decision over Bubba Hernandez at 135. Gambrall held a 4-2 lead in the last 10 seconds, surrendering a match-tying takedown, but he continued to wrestle and earned a point for an escape as time expired, giving West an early 14-0 lead.

"I was worried," Gambrall said about after the tying takedown. "All that was going through my mind was don't stop moving."

Gambrall returned to competition, missing the last month. He said he violated the team's code of conduct. Gambrall, a state runner-up last year, was mad at himself for missing the state tournament. West finished two points behind Waverly-Shell Rock for the team title, and Gambrall had two wins over state champion Wade Edgington from Indianola. He said his points would have made a difference.

"The only thing I was looking forward to was coming here to finish off the year," Gambrall said about State Duals. "It was hard going through practice without competing. It was the only thing that got me through practice."

Paul Kauzlarich stepped into the West lineup, adding a pin at 140. He allowed state medalist Elijah Sullivan move up to 145 and earn an 8-6 win over Bettendorf's Taylor Wickett, who was fifth at 140 last week. Koethe added a fall at 171 and West was in control with a 27-6 lead.

"They knew what they needed to do and did it," Reiland said. "That's satisfying in that regard because they did the things that were expected."

State champion Phillip Laux ignited the West bench when he sealed the deal with a 52 second pin over Drake Swarm at 103. It gave Reiland his fifth State Duals crown, which is tops for any coach in 3A, and moved West into second place with five titles, trailing West Des Moines Dowling by one.

"I knew our team wanted it really bad," said Laux, noting the disappointing finish at the traditional state meet. "it just feels great."

The Trojans handled Spencer, 57-18, to open the day. They followed it with a solid performance in the semifinals, beating Southeast Polk, 40-23, to reach the championship dual for the sixth straight year.

Bettendorf (18-6) advanced to the finals by knocking off three-time defending state duals champion Waverly-Shell Rock. The third-seeded Bulldogs won eight matches, including six of the last eight, to drop the Go-Hawks, 31-22, in the semifinals. Bettendorf also beat West Des Moines Valley, 48-13, in the quarterfinals.

Waverly-Shell Rock, which had won the last seven state titles including the last three State Duals championships, placed third, beating Southeast Polk, 43-33, in the consolation bout. The Go-Hawks ended the season with a 28-5 mark.