Axmear reigns supreme at State

DES MOINES-It’s that time of the year that every wrestling fan has circled on their calendar. For four days in February High School wrestling takes center stage in the State’s capital, and parking is about as impossible as trying to do so on a Saturday at Kinnick. For the schools of Sigourney-Keota, English Valleys and Tri-County there was but one thing on every fan’s mind, where will our guys end up?

            SK led the way with three wrestlers qualifying for State. Mason Dye had a good first showing as a freshman, and hopes to continue to be a constant figure at 106 lbs. in State for the future. Dye lost by fall in his first match to Bryce Kafton of Mapple Valley. Dye would fight back and keep his State run alive one more day with a victory in the consolation match against Ethan Stubbs of MFL Marmac by pin, but then lost his to Conner Attkisson of Tri-Center to end his State run without placing.

            Kaleb Reeves at 195 lbs. was back at State where he had mixed results this time around. Reeves had a big win by fall over Dalton Holmes of Panorama in 1:32, but then Reeves fell to Slade Sifuentes of Lake Mills in a hard fought 6-3 decision. Reeves bounced back with a pin 48 seconds into his consolation match over Jake Jennett of Lisbon. Reeves then fell to Mason Lyons of Bellevue in an 11-3 major decision, sending him into a battle for seventh. In the seventh place match, Reeves pinned Wes Geisler of Hudson in 4:26 to place seventh overall at 195 lbs. at State.

            Noah Boender finished out his career with a fourth place run at Des Moines, going 3-2 at State overall. Boender started things off Thursday with a 20-4 technical fall thrashing of Ethan Huntington of Dike-New Hartford. Then, Boender defeated Eric Heims of Maquoketa Valley in a tight 3-0 decision in the quarterfinals. Boender met up with Logan-Magnolia’s Drake Johnsen in the semi-finals for 220 lbs., where he fell in a 5-1 decision, sending Boender to the consolation semi’s where he pinned Western Christian’s Skyler Bonestroo in 3:45. In the third-place match, Boender and Tom Rief of Missouri Valley had a tremendous and competitive bout, as Boender came up on the wrong end on a 9-7 decision in his final match as a Savage. Boender’s fourth place finish is the highest of any of the SK wrestler’s at State, and as the school’s all-time leader in wins, Boender has left an incredible mark on the Sigourney-Keota wrestling program.
            Clay Harper of Tri-County had an incredible journey just qualifying for State in his senior season as his coach Scott Edmundson points out, “Clay had to battle through many physical obstacles just to be a part of the tournament.  He hurt his knee and ankle at the North Tama tournament and had to sit out the SICL Tournament to recover. On Monday before sectionals he was questionable to go. He had a bye into the semifinals and during his finals loss reinjured his knee and ankle. So he was back to square one. After a lot of nurturing he was able to wrestle at Districts. He took a first round loss, but with a bad wheel he mustard up the courage to wrestle a second round match against Don Bosco. You could tell he was on a mission to qualify. After winning he was able to get a wrestle back and avenge a loss from sectionals. Clay's trip to the State tournament was bought and paid for through hard work, dedication, and perseverance. He made a great appearance and left everything on the mat.   It seemed fitting for his last career match to go into OT. The last three weeks of dealing with his injuries caught up with his conditioning and just fell short in sudden victory. I am proud of his efforts. It was a positive event for him personally and our program.” Coach Edmundson extremely proud of his senior wrestler. Harper lost his first match at State on Thursday to Pleastville’s Chaz Clark in an 8-0 major decision. Harper then was defeated 3-2 in overtime as Edmundson alluded to.

             Now we have come to the man who came into this tournament with all the pressure a young man could carry, as he didn’t disappoint at State winning the 152 lb. 1A title. Zach Axmear finished off one of the most incredible wrestling careers in English Valleys and SICL history.

            Axmear finished off an undefeated season, at 43-0 when it was all said and done. He also finished with 197 career wins at EV, with 106 pins. He was a four-time SICL champion, a four-time Sectional champion and a four-time District champion.        Axmear also was EV’s first wrestler to place all four times he went to State. Axmear was a two-time finalist, finishing second last season, and he became the school’s second State champion in school history, the first being Dick Morrison in 1984. It was an incredible journey and just unbelievable achievements accomplished by a real hard-working and humble young man.

            You can really see why the Iowa Hawkeyes are so high on his future at Iowa, as he is exactly the kind of wrestler they are on the look out for each recruiting season. Axmear described winning State and the culmination of all his hard work, “It was all kind of surreal. It is just crazy that it actually happened.”

            We will end with thoughts from Axmear’s head coach Steve Hester, as he was so proud of his senior wrestler Zach Axmear, “Zach had a tremendous season and career at EV. Earning the 152 1A championship this weekend was the realization of a dream for him. He put in a tremendous amount of work to achieve this pinnacle of the sport. I am proud of him for setting a goal and staying focused on it to the finish. Zach has set the bar high for a new set of wrestlers at our school and I expect them to follow his example of hard work and preparation to achieve success.”