March 29, 2024

Area trio finishes run to podium at state tournament

DES MOINES -- Prairie City-Monroe's Payton Drake couldn't hold back his emotions on the mat and then struggled to contain himself emotionally off it.

The Mustang senior knew his prep career had come to an end. But the final story includes another podium finish as Drake captured his second straight seventh-place medal at the Iowa High School State Wrestling Championships at Wells Fargo Arena on Saturday.

The final session before tonight's finals also included PCM junior Colby Tool and Newton senior Destin Schroder.

Tool won his final match of the season as he took seventh at 152 pounds in 2A and Schroder finished eighth at 3A 182 after falling in his prep finale.

Eighth-ranked Drake (42-9) defeated Hampton-Dumont's Carl Barkema (43-12) 7-5 in the 138-pound 2A seventh-place match.

Drake had to rally from a 4-0 hole to win in his final match. Barkema got a takedown in the first and a reversal in the second to lead 4-0 after two periods. In the third, Drake got an early takedown to close the gap and Barkema made it 5-2 with an escape.

Drake completed the rally with another takedown with 50 seconds to go and three near fall points with 26 seconds left.

Tool's seventh-place match at 152 was a first-round rematch. Fifth-ranked Tool (20-4) defeated Forest City's Kristian Gunderson 9-1 in the first meeting on Thursday and came out on top 3-1 the next time around.

Tool needed 29 seconds to get a takedown and jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Gunderson (42-17) got an escape 9 seconds later. The only other point in the match came by penalty for Tool as he led 3-1 after two.

Tool rode out Gunderson for the entire third period, picking up one stalling call along the way. It was the first time Tool ended the state tournament with a win.

Fifth-ranked Schroder fell behind against LeMars' Colton Hoag (34-10) and never recovered during a 6-4 loss.

Hoag got a takedown late in the first period and never trailed after that. Schroder scored a takedown 31 seconds into the second to trim the deficit to 3-2, but Hoag got an escape and a takedown to extend the advantage.

Schroder (28-5) scored his final two points on a reversal with 14 seconds left in the match, but it wasn't enough to complete the comeback.

Newton senior Gage Linahon's is the only area wrestler left to compete. Fourth-ranked and top-seeded Linahon tries to secure the Cardinals' first state championship since 2003 when he battles top-ranked and second-seeded Brayden Wolf of Waverly-Shell Rock in the 220-pound 3A championship match.

Linahon (33-1) and Wolf (38-1) are 1-1 against each other this season. Linahon is Newton's first state finalist since Bryce Skaggs in 2008.