Southeast Polk Continues To Lead In 3A At Iowa High School State Wrestling

Plenty of upsets highlight final session of Thursday’s championships.

Muscatine’s Braxton Wade wrestles against Southeast Polk’s Nico DeSalvo at 138 lbs. on Feb. 18, 2026, at Casey’s Center in Des Moines. / Cody Scanlan/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The final rounds of action at the Iowa High School Athletic Association State Wrestling Championships presented upsets along with continued dominance by Southeast Polk and Dreshaun Ross.

Thursday night featured the culmination of a full day of wrestling from inside the Casey’s Center in Des Moines, Iowa with Class 3A quarterfinals and consolations taking place. Each weight class is now in the semifinals in 3A on the championship side.

The Rams, who led after the opening night on Wednesday, remained out front with Amir Newman-Winfrey, Mathew Prine, Eddie Woody, Nico DeSalvo, Wil Oberbroeckling and Justis Jesuroga all reaching the final four of their weight classes.

Newman-Winfrey, Prine, Woody and Oberbroeckling each picked up their second falls of the meet, as DeSalvo also won by pin and Jesurgoa by technical fall.

Dowling Catholic, Indianola, Bettendorf and North Scott round out the Top 5 behind Southeast Polk.

Cruz Gannon, Jack Wallukait, Kyler Simons and Brady Hagen earned spots in the semifinals for Dowling Catholic, as Indianola advanced Elijah Blewitt and Mac Crosson to the final four.

Dreshaun Ross Joined By Three Fort Dodge Teammates In Semifinals

Ross, one of two wrestlers chasing a fourth state championship this year, had no trouble in his quarterfinal. The Oklahoma State commit and top heavyweight in the nation pinned Cael Roberts from Southeast Polk in 41 seconds after scoring a 56-second technical fall in the second round.

But the Fort Dodge Senior High senior will be joined by three of his teammates Friday night in the semifinals in Knox Ayala, Rylee Brown and Jesse Egli. Ayala, the brother of current University of Iowa Hawkeye wrestlers Drake Ayala and Dru Ayala, earned a 4-0 decision to advance at 106 pounds.

Brown and Egli, meanwhile, pulled upsets over the No. 2 seed at their respective weight to move on. Brown bested Noah Howk-Erwin of Linn-Mar, 6-5, and Egli downed Andy Franke from Muscatine, 4-2.

The 126-Pound Semifinals WIll Be A Treat

The top seeds at 126 pounds all made it through to the semifinals, setting the stage between four incredible wrestlers with a spot in the finals on Saturday night on the line.

Woody is one of those, as the sophomore is a defending state champion and No. 1 at the weight with a record of 36-2. He will meet Cale Vandermark of Ankeny Centennial, a senior who is 35-6 this season.

On the bottom half of the bracket will be three-seed Weston Porter of Lewis Central meeting No. 2 Alexander Pierce of Iowa City West. Porter is a junior who is 36-2 overall while Pierce is a senior with a record of 47-0.

DeSalvo has committed to Minnesota, Vandermark is headed to Iowa State, Porter to Northern Illinois and Pierce to Northwestern.