2022 Iowa HS Wrestling State Championship

9 Can't Miss Iowa HS State Quarterfinals

9 Can't Miss Iowa HS State Quarterfinals

The three matches in all three classes we're looking forward to most on Friday morning and afternoon.

Feb 18, 2022 by JD Rader
9 Can't Miss Iowa HS State Quarterfinals

A lot happened on day one at the state tournament. You can get caught up with some of the best round one matches HERE. Now, we’re moving on to day two with the quarterfinals. You can see all of the quarterfinal matchups HERE.

Below are the nine quarterfinals you cannot miss, broken down by class.

3A

106 - Carter Pearson (Southeast Polk) vs Aiden Serrano (Carlisle)

A battle between two very talented freshmen. The two only have six combined losses between them. Pearson pinned his first-round opponent, but Serrano picked up a tech fall. The winner will most likely get two seed, Timothy Koester, in the semis. Koester has beaten Pearson twice this year.

126 - Jayce Luna (Bettendorf) vs Brayden Parke (Linn-Mar)

Brayden Parke’s disqualification win over Sam Hornyak of Waverly-Shell Rock was the talk of session one in 3A, but don’t let that distract you from his good performance headed into a tough match with returning placer Jayce Luna.

145 - Ryder Downey (Indianola) vs Bas Diaz (Waverly-Shell Rock)

This is the quarterfinal of the tournament across all classes. Diaz handed Downey one of his two losses on the season, but it came down to double OT. Downey, who was a finalist in 2020 before taking 4th last year, is more than capable of winning it this time. Should be an excellent match with high team point implications as well.


2A

152 - Zander Ernst (Sergeant Bluff-Luton) vs Gabe Sanders (Vinton-Shellsburg)

This is probably the marquee 2A quarterfinal. Gabe Sanders was a 2X Utah state champion who moved to Iowa this past offseason. He’s 23-0 and probably the favorite to win the weight, but Zander Ernst might have other ideas. Ernst is a returning 4th place finisher and a top-three guy at the weight.

160 - Jadyn Peyton (West Delaware) vs Carl Barkema (Hampton-Dumont)
Jadyn Peyton sat the first half of the season out with an injury, but came back and earned the three seed. Hampton-Dumont senior Carl Barkema is one of the best six-seed wrestlers in all of 2A.

285 - Logan Green (Clarinda) vs Aaron Graves (Southeast Valley, Gowrie)

Aaron Graves is one of the top stories of this year’s state tournament. The 2nd seeded senior picked up a first-period fall in his opening match, is going to go play basketball this evening, and then return for his morning quarterfinal. And neither wrestler nor basketball is his best sport. Logan Green is more than capable of spoiling the great story, however.


1A

126 - Jace Rose (Riverside) vs Kyler Knaack (Don Bosco)

Jace Rose has made the semis the past two years. He’s the favorite to do it again this year, but he’s got a tough challenge on his hands in Don Bosco freshman Kyler Knaack.

138 - Stevie Barnes (Underwood) vs Cael Bridgewater (North Linn)

Underwood senior Stevie Barnes lost in the finals last year, so I’m sure he’s hungry to prove he deserves to go out on top. However, don’t sleep on Cael Bridgewater. The North Linn junior has two victories over Cade Siebrecht, the wrestler who beat Barnes last year in the finals. Speaking of which, the winner will most likely get Siebrecht in the semis. What a half of a bracket.

182 - Carson Hartz (Columbus Catholic) vs Carson Lynott (West Sioux)

Any questions about Lynott’s health have been wiped out as he’s undefeated and wrestling great since missing the first portion of the season. He’ll be tested against returning 7th place finisher and senior Carson Hartz. Winner get’s #1 seed Tate Entriken in what is sure to be another great match.