The Boone boys’ wrestling team had a top‑five medalist finish from senior Ajay Braddock as the Toreadors wrapped up competition at the Iowa High School State Wrestling Tournament in Des Moines.
Four Toreador wrestlers took the mat on four days from Wednesday to Saturday, February 18 through 21.
Braddock at 132 pounds (35–5) delivered Boone’s top finish of the tournament, placing fifth in Class 3A.
After a first‑round bye, Braddock powered through the early rounds with a 19–4 tech fall over Rylan Richardson (Storm Lake) and a 4–1 quarterfinal win over Elijah Hyet (Dubuque Hempstead).
Braddock fell in the semifinals to unbeaten Jake Knight (Bettendorf) and dropped a razor‑close 5–4 tiebreaker in the consolation semifinals against Nash Hanson (Southeast Polk).
He secured fifth place via medical forfeit over Avery Van Zelderen (Dallas Center‑Grimes).
Junior Brody Warrick at 165 pounds (32–7) started his state run earning an 18–3 tech fall over Henry Krug (Adel-DeSoto-Minburn) in just 2:13.
He followed that with a 4–3 decision over Brady Rissman (Western Dubuque) to reach the quarterfinals.
There, he faced undefeated Mac Crosson (Indianola) and fell by tech fall in the third period.
Warrick’s tournament ended when an injury forced him to default in Consolation Round 4 against Campbell Janis (Iowa City West).
Freshman Easton Landas at 106 pounds (28–6) opened with a first‑round bye before facing West Des Moines Valley’s Vincent Moore in the second round.
Landas battled through regulation but fell in sudden victory, 4–1.
In the consolation bracket, Landas recorded back‑to‑back tech falls—first over Quinn Harris (Dallas Center‑Grimes) in 3:17, then over Cole Dunkel (Western Dubuque) in 5:26, winning by scores of 21–5 and 19–4, respectively.
Landas’ run ended in a 5–3 decision loss to Thayer Hagstrom (Cedar Rapids Kennedy) in Consolation Round 4.
Freshman Owen Thomas at 150 pounds (28–16) started his tournament with a 12–6 decision over Jacob Haase (Ankeny) in the opening round.
He dropped his second‑round match to ADM’s Ethan Johnson, but bounced back with a pin in 3:27 over Kale Wadle (Norwalk) in Consolation Round 2.
Thomas’ tournament concluded with a major‑decision loss to Ben Gallagher (Waukee Northwest).
Season highlights
The Toreadors qualified for the Class 3A Regional Dual Meet for the first time and were runners-up at the Raccoon River Conference meet.
Landas, Braddock and Warrick were conference champions, and those three also won the Pella tournament.
In addition, Braddock won the Ankeny Invitational in January, and the Toreadors won the Rumble for the River by beating Ogden in January.
Jill Lutz reporting
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