Ajay Braddock qualified for state for the third time, teammates Mason Oostenink and Brody Warrick qualified for state for the second time and Trent Eckard qualified for state for the first time over the weekend.
Braddock, Warrick and Eckard placed 2nd while Oostenink placed 3rd at the Class 3A, District 5, boys’ wrestling meet held Saturday, February 15, at Johnston.
At 126 pounds, Braddock pinned Logan Connick of Adel-DeSoto-Minburn in 1:25 in the quarterfinals before winning by major decision over Nick McCalister of Waukee, 16-4 in the semifinals.
In the championship match, Braddock lost by decision to Kyler Simons of West Des Moines Dowling Catholic, 18-4, before winning the 2nd place match by no contest to McCalister.
At 150 pounds, Eckard won by technical fall over Vincent Fine of Bondurant-Farrar, 21-5, in the quarterfinals before being pinned by Parker Casey of Johnston in 1:20 in the semifinals.
In the consolation semifinals, Eckard won by technical fall over Marcello Rios-Martinez of Des Moines Roosevelt, 18-3, before pinning Kaeden Campbell of ADM in 1:58 in the 3rd place match.
In the 2nd place match, Eckard won by medical forfeit over Kayden Crispin of Waukee.
At 157 pounds, Warrick won by major decision over John Swift of Dowling Catholic, 20-8, in the quarterfinals before winning by technical fall over Owen Gilbert of Johnston, 18-2, in the semifinals.
In the championship match, Warrick lost by technical fall to Nolan Fellers of Bondurant-Farrar, 10-2, before winning by no contest over Gilbert in the 2nd place match.
At 113 pounds, Oostenink pinned Donald Crockett of Des Moines Roosevelt in 2:46 in the quarterfinals before losing by technical fall to Coby Fiser of Bondurant-Farrar, 17-2, in the semifinals.
In the consolation semifinals, Oostenink won by major decision over Camden Johnson of Waukee, 8-0, before winning by sudden victory over Michale Dyett of Johnston in the 3rd place match.
In the 2nd place match, Oostenink lost by no contest to Fiser.
Unfortunately, Joe Pestotnik did not qualify for state this year.
At 175 pounds, Pestotnik pinned Travis Jacoby of ADM in :24 in the quarterfinals before getting pinned by Grant Gammell of Waukee in 4:58 in the semifinals.
In the consolation semifinals, Pestotnink lost by decision to Talan Dove of Bondurant-Farrar, 16-10.
The Iowa High School Athletic Association State Wrestling Championships will be held Wednesday-Saturday, February 19-22, at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines.
Class 3A wrestlers will wrestle their first round and consolation matches beginning at 9 a.m., Wednesday, February 19.
Jill Lutz reporting
