1 of 7

Wyatt Hanna wrestled Henry Lund of AHSTW in the semifinals and won via pinfall in the second round. He will go on to compete for the championship on Saturday. Photo courtesy Lory Groe

Wyatt Hanna is victorious in his semifinal match Friday to move on to the match Saturday that will determine the state champion. Photo courtesy Lory Groe

Steve Brandenburg wrestles against Dylan Stein from Lenox and won with an 8-7 decision. Photo courtesy Lory Groe

Steve Brandenburg jumps into the arms of his father and coach Alex Brandenburg after winning his match Friday afternoon to advance to the finals. Photo courtesy Lory Groe

Lucas Oldenkamp ran through the consolation bracket Friday as he breezed by opponent Jack Border from Hinton in a 15-0 technical fall. He will compete again Saturday in the hopes of winning third place. Photo courtesy Lory Groe

Hayden Helgeson wrestles an opponent Friday at the state tournament. Photo courtesy Lory Groe

Cody Cox lost his match with Kyle Kubdushek from South Winneshiek and was eliminated from the tournament Friday. Photo courtesy Lory Groe

2 other wrestlers from Lake Mills, 1 from Northwood still in consolation bracket to fight for a spot on the podium

Seven Lake Mills and Northwood-Kensett wrestlers started the week with a shot at claiming a championship in their respective weight classes at the Iowa state wrestling tournament.

Of the seven that started the tournament, four were still in the competition after the dust cleared Friday night and two of those four were still vying for a championship.

For Lake Mills, Lucas Oldenkamp started his tournament with a bye in the first round at 113 pounds and followed that up with a first-period pinfall win in the second round over Earlham’s Konner Keller (1:14). Oldenkamp was tripped up in the quarterfinal round, where he met Austin Etzel of Wilton and narrowly lost a 6-3 decision, sending him to the consolation bracket.

Once in the consolation bracket, Oldenkamp dominated in his first match, winning in a 29-second pinfall over Cash Cole from Highland-Riverside.

The run through the consolation bracket continued for Oldenkamp as he breezed by his next opponent Jack Border from Hinton in a 15-0 tech fall.

Oldenkamp will continue on his quest Saturday morning when he will wrestle again and can still finish as high as third place.

Royce Peterson lost his first-round matchup at 126 pounds against Gavin Sloss of AC/GC in a 13-4 major decision. The loss immediately sent him into the consolation bracket, where he received a bye in the first round before falling to Missouri Valley’s Owen Becerra in a 9-2 decision.

Peterson ends his season with a 43-12 record.

At 144 pounds, Steven Brandenburg received a bye in the first round and continued with a dominant 17-1 tech fall in the second round over William Sankot. Despite a closer matchup in the quarterfinals, he still found a way to come out on top, defeating Jesup’s Kaden Lange in a tight 6-4 decision.

Brandenburg found himself down early in the semifinal bout against Dylan Stein of Lenox, but battled back to win in a one-point 8-7 decision. He will face off against Blake Fox from Osage in the championship final Saturday night.

Hayden Helgeson made his way into the quarterfinals at 157 pounds after a bye in the opening round and followed up with a close 2-0 decision over Gabe Wagner or Panorama. In the quarterfinals, however, Helgeson was beaten by pinfall in the second period against Boston Peters from Westwood/Sloan.

The loss in the quarters moved him to the consolation bracket where he squared off with Will Aitchison, where he lost a heartbreaker in sudden victory 4-1. He ends his season with a 46-9 record.

At 165 pounds, Cody Cox won in his first-round match in a 9-3 decision over Jaxon Edwards from Central Springs. Cox would fall in the second round, losing in a first-period fall against Kyler Knaack from Don Bosco.

He then went on a nice run in the consolation bracket, defeating Treynor Cose out of Coon Rapids-Bayard in a 10-3 decision and then Owen Milder in an 8-5 decision that went to sudden victory. His second consolation match was against South Winneshiek’s Kyle Kuboushek. After being tied 0-0 going into the third period, Cox faltered and lost the match 4-0. He ends his season with a 27-7 record.

Wyatt Hanna dominated his way to the semifinals at 285 pounds, receiving a bye in the first round, defeating Vinny Zapia from Missouri Valley by pinfall in the first round, then beating Northeast Community’s Grant Gray in an 8-4 decision in the semifinals.

In the semifinals, Hanna wrestled Henry Lund of AHSTW and won via pinfall in the second round. Hanna will wrestle Saturday night for a state championship.

Northwood-Kensett’s lone qualifier, Alex Tiedemann, received a bye in the first round of the 165-pound bracket. He went on to win his second-round match in a 36-second pinfall against Easton Beyer from Sibley. His run came to an end, however, in the quarterfinals where he lost a 14-4 major decision against Jacob McGargill of Shenandoah.

In the consolation bracket, Tiedemann cruised to a win over Hunter Sauer of Alburnett in a 12-3 major decision. Then in his second consolation match, he took on Jackson Kounkel of Hinton and despite leading for most of the match, lost by pinfall in the third period.

Tiedemann will wrestle for seventh place Saturday morning.

Oldenkamp and Tiedemann will wrestle in their consolation matches starting at 9 a.m. Saturday. Brandenburg and Hanna will wrestle for a state championship after the grand march, which is slated to begin at 5:15 p.m. Saturday.

About Tyler Julson

Tyler Julson covers sports for the Albert Lea Tribune.

More by Tyler

More Sports

Brandenburg, Hanna finish runners-up at Iowa state wrestling tourney

8 Tigers qualify for individual state wrestling tournament

NRHEG’s Schlaak claims first, 3 others take second at 2A section tourney

Sports Memories: Wagner leads Gophers to win over Michigan