Iowa 3A boys’ state wrestling Friday roundup: Motivated Kane Naaktgeboren is back in the finals

DES MOINES — Every time Kane Naaktgeboren looks at his phone, an oddly inspirational image stares back at him.

It doesn’t depict one of the top-seeded Linn-Mar 144-pounder’s myriad dominant wins. Instead, it shows Naaktgeboren losing in last year’s Iowa high school boys’ state wrestling tournament championship round at Wells Fargo Arena.

“I haven’t stopped thinking about that,” said Naaktgeboren, who won his semifinal on Friday by major decision (15-5) to give him one last shot at gold on Saturday night. “So every time I go to play music in the practice room, I see that (image). I see I lost last year. I didn’t get what I want.”

Naaktgeboren, who’s wrestling with a shoulder brace, didn’t get exactly what he wanted in Friday’s semifinal win over Ankeny’s fourth-seeded Ben Hansen, either. But a win’s a win — sort of.

“I wanted to pin my way through it,” he said. “Keep getting pins. That’s my first major in my high school career. I always tell my coaches if you can get a major, you can get a tech (fall) and keep scoring and I didn’t do that. So I’ve got stuff to work on before tomorrow.”

Naaktgeboren finished second, third and fifth in his three previous state tournament appearances and has lost just nine matches in his high school career. That ninth one — to Ryder Block of Waverly-Shell Rock last March — is the one he uses for motivation. It’s both a warning and a call to arms, and Naaktgeboren (36-0) is committed to making his last Saturday night at state a happy one.

“It doesn’t matter if everyone in the state thinks you’re a lock,” he said. “Whatever. You didn’t get it last year, so stay focused, and get it (this time).”

West’s Alexander Pierce and City High’s Cale Seaton attempt state title repeats

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Two Gazette-area 3A wrestlers — Alexander Pierce of Iowa City West and Cale Seaton of Iowa City High — are looking to attain back-to-back state crowns.

Pierce, who won the 106 crown as a freshman last season, advanced to Saturday’s finals at 113 after a 5-2 win over Cale Vandermark of Ankeny Centennial. It was a rematch of last year’s semifinal at 106, which Pierce won, 11-4.

“I felt in control the whole match,” Pierce said. “I saw in his interview he wanted to get revenge on me. I saw that and I didn’t feel like I was defending anything. I felt I had to go out and attack.”

Seaton, who won the state title at 126 last season, beat Connor Fiser of Bondurant-Farrar, 7-2, in the 132-pound semis to advance to the finals. The No. 2-seeded Seaton will face top-seed Jayce Luna of Bettendorf on Saturday in a rematch of a district final that Luna won, 8-6.

“I got my head flattened down a little bit, but that’s what I needed,” said Seaton, who hasn’t lost another match all season. “I needed to be back on the hunt again. Back hungry and chasing — and that’s how I feel right now.”

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Photos: Class 3A boys’ state wrestling semifinals

Seaton’s City High teammate Kael Voinovich also advanced to the finals at 157. He built a 4-1 lead on top-seeded Grant Kress of Linn-Mar before the pair tumbled out of bounds and forced Kress to injury default.

Southeast Polk holds a commanding lead in the 3A team standings with 188 1/2 points. The Lions lead Gazette-area teams with 80 points (ninth).

Class 3A state wrestling Top 10 team scores after Friday

1. Southeast Polk 185 1/2

2. Bettendorf 132

3. Fort Dodge 98

4. Waukee Northwest 94

5. Waverly-Shell Rock 88

6. Indianola 85 1/2

7. Ankeny Centennial 84 1/2

8. Carlisle 84

9. Linn-Mar 80

t-10. Ames 76

t-10. Iowa City High 76

Friday’s Class 3A Iowa high school boys’ state wrestling semifinal results

106 pounds

Nico DeSalvo (Southeast Polk) dec. Dylan Munson (Cedar Rapids Prairie), 7-4

Weston Porter (Council Bluffs Lewis Central) dec. Carew Christensen (Waukee Northwest), 8-6

113

Alexander Pierce (Iowa City West) dec. Cale Vandermark (Ankeny Centennial), 5-2

Tyler Harper (Norwalk) pinned Isaac Wignall (Ankeny), 1:25

120

Carter Pearson (Southeast Polk) major dec. Cody Vandermark (Ankeny Centennial), 9-1

Jake Knight (Bettendorf) dec. Dru Ayala (Fort Dodge), 12-6

126

Koufax Christensen (Waukee Northwest) major dec. Ryker Graff (Waverly-Shell Rock), 11-3

Timothy Koester (Bettendorf) dec. Maximus Riggins (Southeast Polk), 8-1

132

Jayce Luna (Bettendorf) dec. Ryan Rider (Carlisle), 3-2

Cale Seaton (Iowa City High) dec. Connor Fiser (Bondurant-Farrar), 7-2

138

Carter Freeman (Waukee Northwest) dec. Cody Trevino (Bettendorf), 6-5

Koy Davidson (Fort Dodge) dec. Kael Kurtz (Iowa City High), 6-1

144

Kane Naaktgeboren (Linn-Mar) major dec. Ben Hansen (Ankeny), 15-5

JahKari Clark (West Des Moines Valley) dec. Maximus Dhabolt (Ankeny Centennial), 3-2

150

Bas Diaz (Waverly-Shell Rock) dec. Lucas Bruhl (Ankeny Centennial), 7-2

Logan Trenary (Southeast Polk) pinned Nolan Fellers (Bondurant-Farrar), 4:18

157

Kael Voinovich (Iowa City High) won by inj. Grant Kress (Linn-Mar), 1:50

Jaxon Miller (Carlisle) dec. Abe Bushong (Southeast Polk), 7-5

165

Jacob Helgeson (Johnston) dec. Ethan Bibler (Waverly-Shell Rock), 6-1

Gabe Carver (Urbandale) dec. Lincoln Jipp (Bettendorf), 5-2

175

Asa Hemsted (Carlisle) dec. Maximus Magayna (Waterloo East), 7-5

Damarion Ross (Fort Dodge) dec. Dax Clatt (Indianola), 6-1

190

Brent Slade (Southeast Polk) major dec. Cain Tigges (Urbandale), 15-2

Danarii Mickel (Ames) dec. Brayden Koester (Bettendorf), 2-1

215

Dreshaun Ross (Fort Dodge) pinned Vincenzo Lima (Iowa City Liberty), 1:32

Holden Hansen (Southeast Polk) dec. Andrew Price (West Des Moines Valley), 1-0

285

Caden Wetherell (Waverly-Shell Rock) dec. Crew Campbell (Cedar Falls), 3-2

Daniel Herrera (Ames) major dec. Cooper Martinson (Southeast Polk), 15-5

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