—Photo courtesy of University of Iowa Athletics Fort Dodge's Drake Ayala reacts after winning his semifinal match and advancing to the 133 pound final in the NCAA Tournament.

PHILADELPHIA — Drake Ayala had to stand and wait a few extra moments before hitting the mat here Friday night in the NCAA Wrestling Championships inside Wells Fargo Center.

But the former Fort Dodge Senior High three-time state champion and current University of Iowa junior wasn’t bothered by any of it.

Ayala secured a second consecutive trip to the finals with a 6-1 win over upset-minded Zan Fugitt of Wisconsin. He will face top-ranked and No. 1 seed Lucas Byrd of Illinois for the 133-pound championship live on ESPN.

Byrd, who knocked off Ayala for the Big Ten title earlier this month, bested Zeth Romney of Cal Poly, 2-0.

The match before Ayala vs. Fugitt went into overtime, leaving the Hawkeye to watch from the tunnel. Once he hit the mat, it was a slow start compared to what we’ve seen from the ex-Dodger this week.

After a scoreless first period, Ayala earned a quick escape before recording his 19th takedown of the tournament. The three-point move wasn’t scored originally, but Ayala knew he had it.

“I told (Iowa head coach Tom Brands) to throw (challenge) the brick,” Ayala said in a post-match interview with Quint Kessenich on ESPN. “I had three. I knew I had three and told him to throw it.”

Ayala did, adding a two-point near-fall just before the whistle sounded to end the second period. In the third, Fugitt, a redshirt freshman who lost 21-6 to Ayala earlier this year, was able to score an escape, but that was it.

“This is March,” Ayala said. “He made the semifinals and is a tough, young kid, so I had to be ready to go.”

Coming into the night session, Ayala had scored a meet-high 57 match points. His focus remained solely on booking his return trip to the finals after falling to Arizona State’s Richard Figueroa last year at 125 pounds.

“The only thing on my mind was a return (to the championship match),” Ayala said. “Things are going to end differently this year.”

Ayala put on a clinic in the quarterfinals where he defeated Nic Bouzakis of Ohio State, 23-10. After recording three takedowns in the first, he added two more in the second and two more in the third for the win.

Iowa has now placed a wrestler in the finals at nationals each of the past 35 years, a streak that started with Tom and Terry Brands were sophomores competing for Dan Gable.

Joining Ayala in the finals will be Mike Caliendo, who downed Peyton Hall of West Virginia at 165 pounds, 14-10, and Stephen Buchanan, who handed former champion A.J. Ferrari of Cal Bakersfield his first loss, 3-0, at 197.

Up next for Caliendo will be unbeaten Mitchell Mesenbrink of Penn State. Mesenbrink secured his Big Ten title with a win over Caliendo, who he also bested in the semifinals here last year on his way to a runner-up finish as a freshman.

Buchanan, a four-time All-American while competing for three different schools now, will take on Josh Barr from Penn State.

Patrick Kennedy and Ben Kueter both secured spots in the Top 6 with wins in the consolation rounds.

Kyle Parco and Gabe Arnold were both knocked out of the consolations following wins on Thursday. Parco was forced to medically forfeit while Arnold lost in the third round of consolations.