HIGH SCHOOL

18 first-round matches to watch Thursday at the 2021 Iowa state wrestling tournament

Cody Goodwin
Des Moines Register

Individual and team state wrestling titles cannot be won on the first day of competition — but they can be lost.

It is hard to overstate the importance of the first round of the state wrestling championships. The action is always big, both for wrestlers seeking individual glory and teams chasing the mountaintop collectively.

We've compiled a list of 18 first-round matches for you to keep tabs on this Thursday, whether you're watching inside Wells Fargo Arena or following from afar. We picked six from each class, from various weights. Any rankings cited are from IAWrestle.

More:How to watch and follow the Iowa state high school wrestling tournament this week

Some will have team-race implications. Some feature ranked wrestlers battling right out of the gate.

Others just look like fun.

More:Here is every first-round matchup for the 2021 Iowa state wrestling championships

Class 3A

106 pounds: Zane Behrends (Waverly-Shell Rock) vs. Ella Schmit (Bettendorf)

Behrends and Schmit haven't wrestled this year, but they were in the same bracket at Bettendorf's Midwest Shootout. Schmit reached the finals, Behrends took third. Both lost to Waukee's Carter Freeman that day.

Schmit is one of two girls in this year's field — the other: Ottumwa's Jasmine Luedtke, who wrestles Prairie's Blake Giomio in the first round.

126 pounds: Adler Kramer (Hempstead) vs. Carter Fecht (Waverly-Shell Rock)

Third meeting between these two top-five competitors. Fecht, ranked fourth, won them both — 3-1 in sudden victory in January, then 3-2 last week in the district finals. Expect intense action all six minutes (and possibly more).

132 pounds: Braden Blackorby (Johnston) vs. Kael Scranton (Iowa City West)

Blackorby's impressive freshman campaign continues with a matchup against Scranton, a junior on his third trip to state.

132 pounds: Connor Kelley (Waukee) vs. Grant Harbour (Norwalk)

Harbour won this matchup 10-4 back in January. Some crucial team points are available here if Kelley can flip the result.

138 pounds: Carter Martinson (Southeast Polk) vs. Cayden Langreck (Waverly-Shell Rock)

This is a big first-round matchup as it pertains to the top fo the 3A team race. Every point will count.

160 pounds: Deven Strief (North Scott) vs. Caden Schmidt (Norwalk)

Strief is a two-time state medalist who tore his ACL last month. He'll have his hands full with Schmidt, who has lost just twice over the last month.

More wrestling coverage from Cody Goodwin:

Class 2A

120 pounds: Matthew Beem (Glenwood) vs. Rylie Anderson (Bondurant-Farrar)

A talented freshman, Beem, against a hungry senior, Anderson. Beem has won 14 in a row, a run that includes seven pins. Anderson had won 22 straight before losing in the district finals last week.

126 pounds: Blake Engel (West Delaware) vs. Cael Ihle (Gilbert)

A top-10 battle, and the winner likely gets the bracket's 2-seed. Ihle, ranked fourth, is back for a third-straight year, but still seeking his first medal. Engel, ranked 10th, could help West Delaware's team cause with an upset.

145 pounds: Lincoln Mehlert (Union) vs. Jadyn Peyton (West Delaware)

Peyton won this matchup, 6-3, in January, but Mehlert is a past medalist with plenty of experience.

145 pounds: Landon Fenton (PCM) vs. Remmington Hanson (Clarion-Goldfield-Dows)

A top-6 matchup in the same weight, with fourth-ranked Fenton and sixth-ranked Hanson. Winner could see fifth-ranked Jackson Rolfs of Decorah in the quarters.

170 pounds: Kalen Meyer (Central Lyon-GLR) vs. Lucas Henderson (Centerville)

Another top-eight first-round matchup, with fourth-ranked Meyer and eighth-ranked Henderson. Loser will take the long route to the podium.

220 pounds: Treyton Burnikel (Crestwood) vs. Jordan Anderson (Emmetsburg)

A fun big-man battle between two kids from towns that love their wrestling. 

Class 1A

126 pounds: Brooks Meyer (Denver) vs. Cameron Clark (West Sioux)

This bracket might be one of the best in the entire tournament, as evidenced by this first-round bout, between seventh-ranked Meyer and third-ranked Clark …

126 pounds: Brody Neighbor (Alburnett) vs. Stevie Barnes (Underwood)

… and this one, between 10th-ranked Neighbor and fifth-ranked Barnes. Barnes is a past finalist, too. 

132 pounds: Quincy Happel (Lisbon) vs. Trey Nelson (Nashua-Plainfield)

Yet another weight that deserves your attention, with a top-10 first-round bout between seventh-ranked Happel and ninth-ranked Nelson (a rematch from last month, where Happel won, 7-2) …

132 pounds: Chris Ferguson (Sioux Central) vs. Bryce Shaha (Mount Ayr)

… and another top-10 first-round bout, between third-ranked Ferguson and 10th-ranked Shaha. These guys actually met in the seventh-place match at last year's state tournament. Ferguson won by fall.

145 pounds: Robert Avila Jr. (Lisbon) vs. Avery McCloud (Ogden)

Interesting story here: McCloud finished third at sectionals, but was pulled into districts after Audubon's Carter Andreasen, the sectional champ, couldn't go. Now McCloud is at state for the first time as a senior.

195 pounds: Matthew Francis (West Hancock) vs. Trevor Thompson (South Hamilton)

A top-five first-round matchup? Yes please. Francis, No. 3, has lost just once this season. Thompson, No. 5, will try to give him his second Thursday morning.

Cody Goodwin covers wrestling and high school sports for the Des Moines Register. Follow him on Twitter at @codygoodwin.