13 seed Tyler Lee of Prairie and 20 seed Grant Boddicker of Linn-Mar post upset wins in 3A state wrestling tournament

DES MOINES — Cedar Rapids Prairie’s Tyler Lee is hungry for a state medal.

He waited for his time at the table and he feasted when it came.

“It’s a whole different atmosphere here,” said Lee, the No. 13 seed at 132 pounds. “You just have to come out with a new plate. You have to be ready to eat every single match.

“You just want to go get that win and keep advancing.”

Lee and Linn-Mar’s Grant Boddicker devoured fourth-seeded opponents to reach the Class 3A state quarterfinals Wednesday night at Wells Fargo Arena. They helped their teams finish in the top 10 after the first day of the state tournament.

Lee was dominant in both of his victories, dropping Fort Dodge’s Rylee Brown in the first round and following with a second-period pin over Southeast Polk’s Logan Trenary.

“I went out with no fear,” said Lee, referring to a quote from Underwood’s Gable Porter. “Not having that fear of being worried of something. If you have doubt, you didn’t do something right.”

Lee built a 10-2 lead in the second when Trenary was caught on his back after a failed cradle attempt. He sent Prairie fans and his coach Derick Ball into a frenzy with the fall in 3:09.

“Bottom isn’t my greatest position,” Lee said. “I knew I had to keep moving. I would say I’m a sucker for cradles, so when I felt that coming I got worried. I held my composure. He got in a bad position and I just capitalized at the right time. It was great.

“I was jacked.”

The performance was a prime example of the mental shift from last season. Lee didn’t win big matches last season. He often gave opponents too much respect.

“He’s had a complete transformation mentally,” Ball said. “He goes out and competes hard. Last year, we lost matches because we had nerves and got in bad position.”

Ball said he approached Lee 10 minutes before he took the mat and urged him to do something crazy because crazy can be fun. Lee followed the suggestion.

One more win and Lee will earn his spot on the state podium.

“Coach Ball always tells us to be that dark horse,” Lee said. “Go surprise people. Show people who you are. Make a name for yourself, your school and teammates. That’s where we strive. It’s cool to have people say that.”

Boddicker’s wins at 160 were just as impressive and count as consecutive upsets on paper. The 20th-seed eclipsed a 4-1 deficit before pinning Dubuque Senior’s No. 13 Beau Healey in 3:52. Boddicker topped that with a 2-0 decision to hand Johnston’s No. 4 Owen Helgeson his first loss of the season.

They exchanged rideouts in regulation and Boddicker scored the winning takedown with 14 seconds remaining in sudden victory.

“We have talked a lot this year about consistency,” Linn-Mar Coach Doug Streicher said. “When he stays in position and is consistent, he’s a tough out. Today, he was wrestling more consistent. Staying in better position and not falling to your hip or getting out of position where your leverage and strength doesn’t matter.”

Consider the fact that he is a true 152-pounder wrestling up a weight because Grant Kress is the Lions’ third-seeded state quarterfinalist. Boddicker also demonstrated poise and resolve that is not easy for wrestlers unfamiliar with the overwhelming environment.

“It’s hard for kids to come in here that have never been here and win matches,” Streicher said. “For him to do that says a lot of where he’s at mentally his junior year. Just keep it rolling.”

The Lions finished the opening day in sixth place with 39 points. Waverly-Shell Rock owned the team lead with 55 1/2 points, leading rival Southeast Polk by 1 1/2. Bettendorf was third with 43 1/2, while Carlisle and Ankeny rounded out the top five with 40 and 39 1/2, respectively.

Linn-Mar finished with six quarterfinalists, including No. 2 seeds Kane and Tate Naaktgeboren. They were joined by Malik DeBow (113) and third-seeded 132-pounder Brayden Parke. The Lions also finished with five pins and a major decision.

“I thought we wrestled pretty tough,” Streicher said. “Look at the bonus points and team standings. We had a fair amount. We had some lower seeds knock off higher seeds and our higher seeds held serve. It was pretty good.”

Prairie advanced four into the quarterfinals. Two-time state finalist Blake Gioimo posted a 15-0 technical fall over Council Bluffs Lincoln’s Jonathon Ryan at 120. Heavyweight Carter Dawley tallied two pins and No. 7 Dylan Munson (106) won by decision, helping the Hawks to 10th with 32 1/2 points.

Iowa City High also had four in the quarterfinals. Top-seeded Cale Seaton (126), Gabe Arnold at 182 and 220-pounder Ben Kueter won with bonus points. Seaton scored a major decision. Arnold and Kueter wasted little time, ending it the opening minute. Kueter needed just 14 seconds to pin Linn-Mar’s Griffin Schultz and Arnold decked Clear Creek Amana’s Kaden Phan in 44 seconds.

Iowa City West’s Alexander Pierce (106), Justin Avila at 145 and 152-pounder Kyler Scranton reached the quarterfinals. Pierce beat City High’s Kendall Kurtz, 22-7. Avila pinned North Scott’s Aydan Cary in 36 seconds.

“It’s kind of nice to have to be mentally prepared for one match a day,” Pierce said. “I’m fine. I feel good out there.”

Pierce, a freshman, said it was good to get a feel for the “big stage” of Wells Fargo Arena. He is the second seed with title aspirations.

“I have to win one to get to the one after that,” Pierce said. “I just focus on one at a time and I should get to where I want to go.”

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