Red Oak’s Mertz powers through to fourth place finish
DES MOINES — His goal was to get on the podium and get top five. He exceeded that.
Red Oak wrestler Tanner Mertz put a cap on his high school career by finishing fourth in the 145 lbs. bracket at the IHSAA 2A State Wrestling Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena over the weekend.
Mertz lost only two of his matches, both of which came against two of the top three wrestlers ranked in the final Predicament Iowa High School 2A 145 lbs. Wrestling rankings.
His final loss came in the third place match when No. 3-ranked Tyler Thomas of Crestwood won via a 17-4 major decision.
Mertz scored a takedown in the first period and led early 2-1. However, Thomas, who lost to second-ranked Caleb Coleman of Bondurant-Farrar the previous night, took control in the second and third period.
The other loss for Mertz came Friday night in the championship semifinals when he lost via a second period pinfall to the No. 1-ranked, undefeated Max Thomsen of Union.
Thomsen was on a quest of his own, looking to join the four-state championship club, which he accomplished when he defeated Coleman by a 3-0 decision Saturday night.
Mertz reached the third place match Saturday morning when he scored a second period pinfall over Adam Benzing of Waukon.
The senior started the tournament Thursday afternoon with a 2-0 decision win over Keagan Putnam of Sergeant Bluff-Luton.
In the quarterfinals Friday morning, Mertz knocked off sixth ranked Kade Steuhm of Solon with a 3-2 decision to advance to the semifinal showdown with Thomsen.
It was the first and only state tournament appearance for Mertz, who qualified for districts the previous two seasons, before qualifying for Des Moines this season.
Mertz finishes his senior season with a 42-9 record. He’ll finish his Red Oak High School wrestling career with 146 wins, second most in history behind Seth Esaias.
Esaias was the last state qualifier for Red Oak, winning a state championship at 182 lbs. in 2012.
East Mills
The lone placewinner for East Mills was Josh Hopkins, who finished 6th at 152 lbs. Hopkins (54-4) lost in the fifth place match Saturday afternoon to Logan Schumacher of Martensdale-St. Marys via a 10-3 decision.
Hopkins got off to a rough start with a 3-2 first round loss Thursday to Bryce Paul of Alburnett. He recovered, though, with a first round consolation win over Jared Johnson via a 6-2 decision.
In the second consolation round, Hopkins defeated Brady Schmidt of Lake Mills by a 6-4 decision. In round three, he defeated Lane Boender of Sigourney-Keota by a 5-3 decision.
Hopkins ended up in the fifth place match with his 7-4 decision loss to Zach Maxmear of English Valley.
Alec Moorman (132 lbs.) was the other East Mills state qualifier. He lost a 5-2 decision to Trent Johnson of Dike-New Hartford. In the first consolation round, he lost to Tucker Bluml of Riverside by a 7-5 decision.
Griswold
The lone state qualifier for Griswold reached the quarterfinals, but was unable to place in the top eight. Hadley Ogg (120 lbs.) was eliminated in the second round of consolations with his 7-5 decision loss to Ryan Szalat of St. Edmond.
Ogg (47-7) ended up in the consolation when he lost a 9-2 decision to Cole Needham of West Marshall in the championship quarterfinals.
Ogg began his tournament with a first round 8-6 decision win Thursday over Chase McLaughlin of Lisbon.