Iowa high school state wrestling dual tournament set

Twenty-four teams in three classes battle for gold

Waverly-Shell Rock's Danny Diaz 

By Dana Becker | Photo by Matthew Putney 

The first piece of the Iowa high school state wrestling championships takes place this Saturday in Coralville from the Xtream Arena, as the state dual tournament goes down.

Champions will be crowned in Class 1A, 2A and 3A, as teams battle it out in a dual format before putting all of their focus on the prestigious individual state tournament.

Don Bosco, West Delaware and Waverly-Shell Rock won titles last year and are back to add another crown. For West Delaware, they will be going after a fifth consecutive duals title in 2A.

Don Bosco has claimed four of the past five overall in 1A.

Since 2017, Southeast Polk has won three dual titles and reached the finals twice more. The Rams are the No. 1 seed this year and will open with Dubuque Hempstead, who upset Linn-Mar in the regional finals.

Bettendorf is the No. 2 seed and takes on 2018 winner Fort Dodge, while two-time defending champion Waverly-Shell Rock gets Ankeny Centennial and Ankeny battles West Des Moines Valley.

In 2A, Osage is the favorite and chasing its first title since 2006. The Green Devils battle Williamsburg in the opening round, with the winner of that dual to take on either Mount Vernon or Creston.

West Delaware is the two-seed and gets Webster City, while Sergeant Bluff-Luton and Humboldt complete the bracket.

Don Bosco opens with Hinton, Nashua-Plainfield gets Wapsie Valley, Wilton battles Logan-Magnolia and Alburnett tangles with Emmetsburg in 1A.

The Dons have become a staple at state duals, winning 12 titles overall in 28 appearances - both records in Iowa. This will be Logan-Magnolia’s 19th appearance, which now places them third on the all-time list behind only Don Bosco and Davenport Assumption.

In 1A, Hinton and Wapsie Valley replace runner-up Lisbon and Missouri Valley from a year ago, while the rest of the field returns. The 2A final eight feature five newcomers including Webster City for the first time since 2018. Only West Delaware, Osage and Sergeant Bluff-Luton qualified last season.

Half of the 3A field features new teams in Fort Dodge, Ankeny Centennial, Dubuque Hempstead and West Des Moines Valley.

Waverly-Shell Rock has six titles all-time, while Southeast Polk owns five and Osage four among teams competing this year.

Action begins at 9 a.m. with quarterfinals in all three classes followed by the semifinals at 3 p.m. and the championship duals at 8:30 p.m.