Thomsen brothers' fiercest competition may be each other

By Rob Gray, Correspondent

DES MOINES - Logan Thomsen's two years ahead of his brother, Max.

But Friday the 138-pound junior spoke about outpacing him by a factor of one moments after pinning his way to today's Class 2A state wrestling tournament finals at Wells Fargo Arena.

“I'm going to one out-do him,” said Thomsen, who saw his younger brother advance to the final at 113 pounds 15 minutes earlier.

How?

“I'm going to beat my guy worse,” he said.

His guy - Creston/Orient-Macksburg's Jake Marlin - has already won two state titles.

That doesn't matter to Thomsen, who set the ultimate goal and aims to achieve it.

“I planned on coming through this tournament and dominating it,” he said.

The Thomsen brothers' sometimes stormy sibling rivalry converges on the same shimmering spot - the top of the medal stand.

Max is ranked No. 1 at his weight by The Predicament.

Logan's pegged No. 2.

They could become the first brothers to win state individual titles in the same tournament since Tanner and Trent Weatherman of Ballard-Huxley accomplished the feat in 2009.

“Every time we get up in the morning, this is what we both work for,” said Max, who won his semifinal bout 6-1.

Willamsburg's J.C. Vercande worked into overtime to advance to the final at 145 with a 9-7 win. He tore off his ankle straps and waved them to his fans after the triumph.

Independence's second-ranked 170-pounder Nick Fuller continued his redemption tour with a 7-0 semifinal win.

He'll face Solon's J.J. Hanus in the championship - one year after falling one victory shy of a title.

“For a week I was kind of moping around wanting people to feel sorry for me,” said Fuller, who incurred a bloody lip for his efforts Friday. “But it just clicked in my mind that they couldn't help me, so I might as well go out there and do it myself.”

Hanus' teammate at 152 pounds, Cody Fritz, also advance to a championship bout.

Fritz, ranked fifth, stands 46-0 this season, but isn't thinking about his overall record much.

“I'm just going to give everything I've got the whole time,” Fritz said. “State championship, that's obviously what I'm going for. Being undefeated, that's just a bonus.”

West Delaware's No. 1 Adam Reth used a reversal with one minute left to ride into the finals at 195 with a 4-3 triumph.

“It's all I think about,” Reth said of winning a title.

Even in class?

“Yeah,” he said. “Even though my teachers don't like to hear that. That's what I'm thinking about most of the time.”