Independence Vaults To Lead At Iowa High School State Wrestling

Packed team standings see four score over 40 on opening day.

Osage’s Blake Fox wrestles against Humboldt’s Jaxson Kirchhoff at 150 lbs. on Feb. 19, 2026, at Casey’s Center in Des Moines. / Cody Scanlan/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Class 2A team race at the Iowa High School Athletic Association State Wrestling Championships is shaping up to be an exciting one, as four teams posted over 40 points in the first session.

Independence jumped to the top following the final matches of the day with 51 points, with Decorah sitting second at 50.5. Clarion-Goldfield/Dows, Alburnett and Wilton round out the Top 5, as reigning state dual champion Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont is in sixth.

Osage three-time state champion Blake Fox started off his quest for title No. 4 in dominating fashion, pinning Jaxson Kirchhoff of Humboldt in just 71 seconds. Fox would join an elite list of wrestlers if he can get his hand raised Saturday night as a four-time state champion.

Independence Keeps All 10 Wrestlers Alive

Independence kept all 10 qualifiers alive either in the quarterfinals or on the consolation side. Adam Carey, Kameron Kremer, Christopher Meyer and Braylen Bieber earned spots in the quarters with all four securing bonus points.

Decorah, meanwhile, advanced Edisen Fullhart, Mason Avila, Gavin Carlan, Grant Knutson, William Fullhart, Kasen Tyler and Thomas Sexton into the quarterfinal round on Friday inside the Casey’s Center in Des Moines, Iowa. Three of the four other qualifiers stayed alive in the consolations.

Clarion-Goldfield/Dows has Paxton Redenius, Adrian Phetxoumphone, Linden Phetxoumphone, Colin Sesker and JT Kelso headed to the quarters.

Several Defending State Champions Advance

Gavin Landers of Denver, a junior, improved to 55-0 on the year with a fall in 40 seconds. He is chasing state championship No. 3 for his career. His teammate, defending champion Boden White, pushed his record to 53-0 with a technical fall.

Other defending champions Dylan Williamson of Van Meter, Urijah Courter from West Marshall and Mason Koehler of Glenwood all advanced with ease.

Lucas Feuerbach Records 22-Second Pin

Solon’s Lucas Feuerbach recorded the fastest fall of the day at 22 seconds, just ahead of the 23-second pin by former state champion Liam Adlfinger of Wilton. Kaleb Brown from West Liberty picked up his technical call in 60 seconds for the quickest.

Jensen Boorn of Wilton picked up 27 match points, as both Williamson and Cale Johnson of Central DeWitt each had 23.

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