—Photo by Angela Hewitt

DES MOINES — Head coach Kaden McClintock still remembers the mistakes he made leading into his state tournament run as a St. Edmond wrestler.

That’s why McClintock is doing everything in his power to prepare Matthew Crimmins to not do the same.

Crimmins will start his journey with an opening round match opposite Starmont’s Hudson Popham. With a win, he would face Cascade’s Brock Morris, a state runner-up last year.

Popham, a freshman like Crimmins, went 24-12 this past season.

In his first season as the Gael head coach, McClintock knows that having his wrestler as mentally prepared as possible will be the ultimate difference between success and failure.

“Usually the guy with the best mind set comes out on top at state,” McClintock said. “That is something I struggled with in terms of having myself mentally prepared. I told him let me make that mistake for you and just wrestle your best.”

Crimmins, who was fourth over the summer at state AAU in Des Moines, has competed against numerous 3A and 2A qualifiers throughout the season both in the North Central Conference and at tournaments.

“Matthew has really improved from his feet, getting to his ties and with his takedown defense,” McClintock said. “He’s also really improved on bottom with his hand fighting down there. He is quick to get escapes and isn’t giving up any easy points.”

McClintock knows the road ahead is a daunting one, but still has nothing but high hopes for Crimmins.

“The goal is obviously to take it one match at a time and be ready to battle for a full six minutes,” he said. “But the goal is to be a state champion and down there, anything can happen.”

Emmetsburg

The E-Hawks will bring four down to state in CJ Rodriguez, Justin Wirtz, Ryan Wirtz and Nick Saxton. Both Justin Wirtz and Ryan Wirtz received opening round byes, while Rodriguez gets Ty Strode of Nodaway Valley and Saxton meets Chance Angle from North Mahaska.

Justin Wirtz, a 175-pound senior, is 37-1 on the year and placed fourth last year while Ryan Wirtz, a 190-pound junior, is a returning state qualifier with a mark of 31-4.

Rodriguez, a junior making his state debut at 120, is 23-13 while Saxton, also an 11th-grader wrestling at 215, owns a record of 36-10 and qualified last year.

South Central Calhoun

A trio of Titans will be in action in Karson Wuebker, Cooper Nattress and Jace Pedersen. Wuebker, a freshman who went 49-3, received a bye and will face either Avery Vacek of Underwood or Tyson Primus from Denver at 106 pounds.

Nattress, who is 41-14 as a junior, faces off against Nolan Kriegel of Iowa Valley at 175. Pedersen, a junior with a mark of 20-4, gets Jack Sheeder of ACGC at heavyweight.

North Union advanced a pair in Max Merrill and Brennan Bollinger. Merrill, 35-17 sophomore, faces A.C. Roller from Riverside at 175 while Bollinger, a 45-4 senior, gets Riceville’s Matthew Praska at heavyweight.

Twin Lakes Conference

Twin Lakes Conference schools Manson Northwest Webster, Pocahontas Area and West Bend-Mallard each qualified one. Hendrik Puuraid will make his state debut for the Cougars, as the 215-pounder squares off against Ryan Baer from Osage. A sophomore, Puuraid owns a record of 30-3 on the year and placed second at districts.

William Lawson from Pocahontas Area gets Jeremiah Berg of Westwood at 150 while Mason Knapp of West Bend-Mallard battles either Landon Bell of Riverside of Jaxson Page from Alta-Aurelia at 106.

Lawson, a junior, went 35-3 and was a district runner-up while Knapp, also a junior, owns a mark of 36-5 and claimed a district title. Both Lawson and Knapp qualified a year ago, with Lawson going 1-2 including a 31-second fall in the first round.