DES MOINES — There were three different possible outcomes at Thursday’s opening session of the Class 2A State Wrestling Tournament, and the three Woodward-Granger grapplers competing at the Wells Fargo Arena each experienced one of those results.
Freshman Cody Fisher won his first round match at 195 pounds to advance to today’s quarterfinals in the best-possible scenario. Second-ranked Tanner Vermaas was upset in the first round, but bounced back strongly with a win in the 182-pound consolation bracket to also remain alive, but junior Austin Scharlau (152) was eliminated after a pair of losses Thursday.
Fisher was impressive from the opening seconds of his match with Gilbert senior Christian Harder, winning by pinfall in 2 minutes, 48 seconds.
“I just try to go out and try to attack, attack, attack and be aggressive all the way,” he said. “I want to go as hard as I can from the start.”
Fisher admitted that winning in his first-ever match at the state tourney felt like all the pressure had suddenly been removed.
“It was a little nerve-racking at weigh-ins, seeing all these guys who are bigger and stronger than me,” he said, “but that doesn’t matter once you go out there and have to wrestle. Getting that first win feels great.”
Fisher (44-5) will face fourth-ranked Jackson Mikkelsen (44-9, Sr.) of Creston/Orient-Macksburg in today’s quarterfinal round. A win would move him into the semifinals, where either No. 7 Sam Moore of Mt. Vernon (who shocked second-ranked Michael Fritz of Fairfield) or Louis Long of Bondurant-Farrar.
Vermaas (46-3), ranked second, was surprised by South Tama County’s Dalton Rosenberg, who scored a 4-1 win in their first round match. That sent the Hawk standout into the consolation bracket, where he dismantled Eddyville-Blakesburg’s Austin Angle (44-12, Sr.), ranked seventh, with a pin in 2:16.
The win leaves Vermaas awaiting the loser of the quarterfinal between No. 8 Harrison Goebel (37-6, Jr.) of West Delaware and Ben Lee (39-9, Jr.) of Ballard. A victory would ensure no worse than eighth place on the podium.
“I think I might have been looking ahead to (top-ranked Chase) Shilz and was given a reality check,” Vermaas said of his loss. “That just made me mad and determined, so now I am on the backside of the bracket, but I am ready to kick some and finish strong.”
Hawk junior Scharlau (40-18) was wrestling at the state tourney for the first time and suffered a pair of losses by major decision. Eighth-ranked Trey Van Weelden (27-5, Sr.) of Washington was a 13-0 winner in the first round, with Logan Koedam (38-7, So.) scoring a 13-4 victory in their consolation match.
“I am going to learn from this experience and use it to get back down here next year,” Scharlau stated. “This just motivates me more to come back and get a spot on the podium.”
The Class 2A Quarterfinals and second round consolation matches will begin in Session 5 at 2:30 p.m. Those wrestlers still alive will return at 7:30 p.m. for the 2A Semifinals and third round consolations.
