Alburnett senior Gunnar Keeney goes from no state wrestling wins to 2 on opening day

DES MOINES — The third time’s a charm for Alburnett’s Gunnar Keeney.

The Pirates’ senior reached the state wrestling tournament for the third straight year, but this appearance was different. He got his hand raised, which wasn’t the case the last two seasons.

Keeney posted two victories, including an 8-4 decision over Missouri Valley’s No. 6-seed Riley Radke in the second round of the Class 1A state tournament Wednesday at Wells Fargo Arena. He was one six Pirates to advance to the quarterfinals.

From no state wins to one win away from a state medal.

“It is a pretty nice confidence booster,” said Keeney, the 11th seed at 145 pounds. “It’s nice knowing that I’ve been working hard and getting (close to) what I want.”

Keeney is down a weight from the last two seasons after ankle surgery robbed him of his freshman season. He qualified at 152 as a sophomore and junior, losing three of those four matches by fall, including a consolation match he led at the time of the fall.

In his final opportunity, he is determined to do his best.

“I’ve got to leave it all out there,” Keeney said. “I’m leaving it all on the mat.

“Just keep wrestling hard. Keep listening to my coaches and working through stuff.”

The day started with a 9-6 victory over Iowa City Regina’s Will Aitchison. Radke actually took early leads of 2-0 and 4-2 with the opening takedown and a reversal to answer Keeney’s switch. Keeney controlled the rest of the match, scoring the final six points including a second-period takedown and highlighting a third-period ride out with two nearfall.

Alburnett Coach Clayton Rush said Keeney showed the maturity and poise expected from an experienced senior.

“That match was probably the best match I’ve ever watched him wrestle,” Rush said. “He got taken down early. He responded to adversity in the right way and stayed basic. He just put a ton a pressure on that guy and scored points late.”

Keeney used those past setbacks for motivation through offseason workouts to improve. He isn’t satisfied with the start and has work remaining.

“It was pretty good,” Keeney said of the start. “I just have to keep working hard, pushing the pace, listening and trusting in my coaches.”

Alburnett went 7-3 during the opening day, including four pins and 10 bonus points. Rowdy Neighbor (113), Tayten Coufal at 120, 126-pounder Preston Klostermann, Brody Neighbor at 138 and second-seeded 152-pounder Carson Klostermann all reached the quarterfinals, putting Alburnett in fourth place with 36 points.

Don Bosco sat atop the team standings with 55 points and Wilton was second at 43. Nashua-Plainfield was just two points in front of the Pirates.

Lisbon was fifth with 30 points, moving four into the quarterfinals. Wes Sadler (106) and top-seeded seniors Brandon Paez (120) and heavyweight Wyatt Smith notched pins in the second round. Paez, a two-time state champion and three-time finalist, built an 8-0 lead before decking Highland’s Luke Guseman in 2:42.

Sadler missed six weeks with a broken hand. He was restricted due to the injury, trying to maintain his conditioning by running half-marathons, riding a stationary bike and lifting. Doing whatever he could physically to prevent from falling behind the competition.

“It was frustrating because I knew I had to work harder than everyone else to get back and catch up,” said Sadler, noting the half-marathons from his cross country background. “They were going to have an advantage wrestling. I knew I had to catch up and work harder.”

Sadler returned in mid-January and improved to 22-1 after dropping Sloan Westwood’s Jesse Burton in 5:53. He led 7-0 with about 18 seconds left and kept vying for back points for a major decision. He earned more, finishing it off for the team.

“I thought I had a good chance of getting it secure; I went for the bonus points,” Sadler said. “We’re going to need all the points we can get to get a (trophy).”

Sigourney-Keota’s Reanah Utterback, who chose and was allowed to wrestle for the boys’ program when she was the lone girl to show interest and there was no sharing agreement in girls’ wrestling, qualified as the No. 8 seed at 106. She defeated Clayton Ridge’s Erik Flores, 6-4, to reach the quarterfinals.

Utterback moved within a win of placing and becoming the first girl to medal at the IHSAA state tournament since Megan Black was eighth for Eddyville EBF.

Belle Plaine closed the first day tied with Underwood for ninth. The Plainsmen combined to go 6-3 with Connor Timm (160) and 195-pounder Jack Schwenn advancing to the quarterfinals. Schwenn was most impressive, recording a pin before a 17-8 major decision over Sumner-Fredericksburg’s No. 7 Kyle Kuhlmann.

MFL MarMac’s Karter Decker is a four-time state qualifier looking for his first medal. He entered as the No. 13 seed at 145, but barged his way into the quarterfinals. Decker thumped Ackley AGWSR’s Kaden Abbas, 13-1, in the opening round. He followed with a 4:33 pin over East Mills’ No. 4 Ryan Stortenbecker.

Decker’s two wins pushed him to 151 victories and 102 pins in his career. He was joined in the quarterfinals by 132-pound teammate Holden Mathis.

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