Battle-tested Evans turns nerves into winning energy

DES MOINES - Independence's Austin Evans paced and jumped around before making his state tournament debut.The Mustang junior harnessed the butterflies in his stomach, thought of the basics of wrestling and then used them to his advantage.“I just went out there and looked at it that the wrestling mat is all the same no matter where you're at,” Evans said. “Use those nerves as energy and kind of took it too the kid.”Evans pinned Ballard's Mitchell Broer in 1:07 at 112 pounds during the first round of the Iowa High School Athletic Association Class 2A state wrestling tournament Wednesday night at Wells Fargo Arena. Evans was one of five Mustangs who advanced to Thursday's quarterfinal.The atmosphere and excitement seemed overwhelming at first for Evans. he didn't know what to expect with the loud and large crowd when he stepped on the mat.“I was really nervous,” Evans said. “The pin was really big. It lifted the nerves off my shoulders.”“I've never been to state before. To pin him in the first period, that felt pretty good.”Evans (33-8) has run into tough competition while trying to make it to state in previous years. This year, he overcame those obstacles topping Monticello's third-ranked Landon Felton and MFL-Central's No. 8 Mitch Funk to get here.“It really helped out,” said Evans, who faces Centerville's fourth-ranked Tanner Cowan next. “I knew it was going to make it a little bit easier since I've already made it through some of the top ranked kids in the state.”The Mustangs won five of six first round matches and have all their qualifiers alive after a consolation round. They earned bonus points in three of those first-round wins, getting a major decision from Chris Johnson (37-7) at 145 and a fall from top-ranked Blaize Cabell (42-0) at 189. Nick Fuller (160) and heavyweight Adam Ownby also advanced.Independence is in seventh place with 15 points after the first session. Davenport Assumption leads the team race with 25.5, two points ahead of Ballard.Independence Coach Michael Doyle said it was key to remain aggressive and attack. He said the team has the potential to continue their winning ways.“I think we can have success like that in the whole tournament,” Doyle said. “It's more of a mindset than anything. Just got to go out and do it.”It was a good day for most of the Wamac conference. West Delaware also advanced five. Zach Less (103), Jerad Hoefer (130), Sam Lahr (171), Adam Reth (189) and 215-pounder Alex Rans each won opening round bouts. Fourth-ranked Lahr outlasted South Tama's No. 7 Erik Lux, while eighth-ranked Reth followed with a decisive 10-3 win over Woodward-Granger's No. 2 Jack Manning.Lux turned out to be South Tama's only first-round loss. Dustin Horne (112), Tyler Walz (140) and Kyle Lux (160) each won. Second-ranked Walz (32-2) took a 4-3 lead with a takedown in the final 10 seconds of the second and went on to beat No. 4 Will Stetzel of Perry.Solon's Cody Fritz prefers a calm and cool demeanor and he needed it to notch his first round win. Fritz, ranked seventh, scored a takedown with 10 seconds left in regulation to force overtime and then added a winning takedown with three seconds t0 go in sudden death for an 8-6 win over No. 6 Rob Nichols of Atlantic at 145.“I came out pretty nervous I guess,” said Fritz, who overcame a two-point deficit in the third allowing an escape and surrendering a point for stalling. “I don't feel like I wrestled my best match.“I wrestled a lot stronger that third period than I did first and second."As things were mounting against him, he decided to increase his intensity instead of pouting as time ticked down.“They definitely weren't going my way, so I guess that made me pick it up in the third period,” Fritz said. “I could mope about it or take it as a motivation.”Fritz attempted a shot and then came into a bearhug before a bit of funky-style action. Fritz (37-4) was comfortable.“It was just a scramble,” Fritz said. “I like scrambles. I feel I'm pretty good in the scramble situation.”Mount Vernon's Ryan Cox said he was embarrassed by his district loss to South Tama's second-ranked Lux, qualifying for the state meet. It was his only loss of the season and it still stands that way after he beat Osage's third-ranked ryan Randall, 9-5, at 160.“It made me get my stuff together," said Cox, who improved to 27-1. "I came out with the right mindset and he didn't. I had the right intensity. He was slow off the get-go and that cost him. I have to do that three more times.”Cox controlled the whole match leading from the start, scoring takedowns in the first and third and three nearfall points in the second. It's his first state appearance since going 0-2 as a sophomore while suffering from an illness that resulted in a 103-degree temperature. Last year, a knee injury hindered his return to the state tournament. he's gunning for a state title.“This is my last chance,” Cox said. “I want to get it right.”Benton Community also pushed two into the quarterfinals. Dustin Shinkle (135) improved to 34-6 with a 16-6 win over Maquoketa's Shiloh Snyder. Chase Skoneczka, ranked fourth at 152, is 33-5 after a 13-6 win over Josh King of Sergeant Bluff-Luton.Williamsburg also had two move on including J.C. Vercande (46-4) at 130 and heavyweight Austin Blythe (46-1). Vercande scored a 16-2 major decision over PCM's Bryce Wignall. Blythe, who is looking to become a four-time state finalist and three-time state champion pinned Perry's Tyler White in 1:29.