Seven is heavenly
Green Devils dominating 2A field
By Kristi Nixon
DES MOINES — Not much went wrong for the top-ranked Osage wrestling team in a dominant quarterfinal round for the Green Devils as they command a 47-point lead heading into day three of the Class 2A state wrestling tournament.
Seven of eight quarterfinalists are into the semifinals and half of the two consolation wrestlers survived to face the blood round on Friday, Feb. 17.
Defending state champions Nick Fox (170) and Barrett Muller (220) are among the seven wrestling for the chance to wrestle in the final.
When asked if it got any easier, B. Muller said it seems similar to his title run in 2022.
“This is a lot like last year,” he said. “Decision in the first round, pin in the second. We’ll see how it goes (Friday).”
Also winning quarterfinals were freshman Blake Fox (120), juniors Anders Kittelson (132), Tucker Stangel (145), Chase Thomas (152) and Max Gast (160). True to a lot of the seeds, most will be facing top-four seeds and ranked individuals.
“It’s really fun,” Muller said. “It sucks that Tysen (Stangel) isn’t wrestling with us anymore, but I know he’ll be back and the rest of us scoring more points so we can bring home the traditional title.”
It will be the first semifinal for Gast, who earned a late takedown of Creston’s William Bolinger for a 4-3 decision, and finished seventh a year ago.
“I went out for the last 10 seconds (to watch),” Muller said, “and he was pumped, coaches were pumped. It’s really fun to see that.”
Senior 195-pounder Cole Jeffries rallied for an 8-7 decision with a late takedown over Perry’s Keegan Snyder to reach Friday’s blood round against West Delaware’s Will Ward.
Mac Muller lost a tough 3-2 decision against Independence’s Korver Hupka, sending him to the blood round against Glenwood’s Trent Patton.
B. Muller and the Green Devils are keeping it simple in looking to clinch on Friday.
“I’d say, win,” he said. “If we can get bonus, get bonus, but winning first. Win the traditional title. They try to keep us calm, focused, ready to go. They are really supportive, and it’s awesome to have a group of guys who are fun and it just makes everything better.”
Top 5 (current)
1. Osage 92.5; 2. West Delaware 55.5; 3. Sergeant Bluff-Luton 50.5; 4. Burlington, Notre Dame 50; 5. Webster City 45.
Quarterfinal results
120 — Blake Fox (O) major dec. Christian Ahrens (Creston) 9-0
132 — Anders Kittelson (O) dec. Royce Butt (C. DeWitt) 5-1
145 — Tucker Stangel (O) pinned Justin Keller (Albia) 0:35
152 — Chase Thomas (O) dec. Chaz Graves (Knoxville) 8-4
160 — Max Gast (O) dec. William Bollinger (Creston) 4-3
170 — Nick Fox (O) major dec. Kaden Street (Creston) 17-4
220 — Barrett Muller (O) pinned Rudy Papakee (S. Tama Co.) 3:29
285 — Korver Hupka (Indee) dec. Mac Muller (O) 3-2
Consolation Round 2
106 — Mitchell Schmauss (Cresco) pinned Tysen Stangel (O) 3:15
195 — Cole Jeffries (O) pinned Zach Brinkman (Sheldon/S. O’Brien) 0:44
Consolation Round 3
195 — Jeffries (O) dec. Keegan Snyder (Perry) 8-7
Semifinal matches
120 — B. Fox (49-2) vs. Carsen Doolittle, Web City (38-1)
132 — Kittelson (49-2) vs. Matt Beem, Glenwood (27-1)
145 — Stangel (38-0) vs. Michael Macias, Assumption (26-1)
152 — Thomas (32-6) vs. Cooper Sanders, Vinton-Shellsburg (45-1)
160 — Gast (43-7) vs. Dawson Bond, Red Oak (42-3)
170 — N. Fox (47-2) vs. Kellen Moore, Forest City (43-0)
220 — B. Muller (41-2) vs. Henry Christensen, Ballard (41-2)
Blood round matches
195 — Jeffries (38-15) vs. Will Ward, W. Delaware (36-3)
285 — M. Muller (41-8) vs. Trent Patton, Glenwood (37-10)
