Matt Levins- The Hawk Eye / Photo Credit Ryan Walrath
DES MOINES — CJ Davis and Kaiden Dietzenbach had been the leaders of the Notre Dame-West Burlington/Danville boys wrestling team all season.
They were the trend setters, the table setters. The rest of the Nikes followed their lead.
It was only fitting that Davis and Dietzenbach played key roles in helping ND-WB/Danville win its second Class 2A team championship in four years on Saturday night at Wells Fargo Arena.
Notre Dame-West Burlington/Danville racked up 129 points, beating runner-up Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont by 21 1/2 points.
The Nikes not only crowned two state champions, they brought home five other medal winners and the grand prize — the Class 2A state team trophy.
For the second time in four years, the Nikes are on top of the Class 2A wrestling world.
“I think our kids really came together. There was a really special bond. They worked together and they had a goal. This was their goal. I’m happy they were able to achieve it,” ND-WB/Danville coach Bill Plein said. “Tons and tons of credit to my coaching staff — Tyler Sherwood, Jeff Molle, Cole Erickson, Josh Glendening, John Siegel, Johnny Siegel. I’m just really fortunate to have those guys help me out.”
Davis and Dietzenbach put the icing on the Nikes’ state championship cake.
Davis, a four-time state qualifier who finished fourth last year, threw a late left-handed headlock to secure a 12-7 win over Carter Schmauss of Crestwood in the finals at 126 pounds. Davis was trailing 7-5 in the last 30 seconds before hitting the seven-point move.
“Me and my partner Kaiden have been talking all tournament, working on our headlocks, scenarios like that,” Davis said. “Losing, you have to go big. We’ve worked that all weekend. That’s what I had to do.”
Dietzenbach, who placed fourth, third and second his first three years, likewise used a late takedown to rally for a 3-2 win over Landen Davis of E-B-F in the 138-pound finals.
“It was amazing, especially to do it with my brother, CJ,” Dietzenbach said. “Me and him do everything together, from us both getting beat in the first round two years ago to now we’re bringing home brackets and hats together. That’s pretty cool.”
This was a total team effort. Senior Blake Wilson finished fourth at 165, Rowan Berndt was fifth at 113, Colt Boyles was fifth at 120, Kohen Dietzenbach was sixth at 106 and Kael Cook was seventh at 150.
“We knew coming in that it wasn’t going to be easy. We had to battle for every point we got,” Dietzenbach said. “Our guys on the backside did an amazing job putting up points for us so me and CJ could come in and put a stamp on it.”
“It means a lot, especially my senior year. This team is like family. It’s one of the best teams I’ve been on. This and my freshman year are the top ones,” said Wilson, who will play football for Coe College in the fall. “I was a little disappointed losing to the same kid twice in a row. I didn’t really expect to come out of her fourth. I didn’t really expect to get that high. It just came so it’s pretty exciting.”
Berndt, from Danville, bounced back from a loss in the consolation semifinals to beat Bryce Oostenink, 10-4, to take fifth.
“I could always do better. There were times when I couldn’t get to my shots or couldn’t get to my points,” Berndt said. “I need to keep going to practice, keep drilling hard, keep training hard.”
Boyles also rebounded from a consolation semifinal loss to beat Jon Gonzalez of West Marshall, 5-3, in the fifth-place match.
“This was our goal all year was to win. To accomplish that feels pretty good,” Boyles said. “I feel like I did pretty good, especially in my placement match. I felt like I wrestled pretty well. Even the matches I lost I felt like I wrestled fairly well.”
Kohen Dietzenbach, after falling in the second round, came back with three straight wins before dropping his final two to finish sixth.
“I felt like I could have done better. I still wrestled good. I ended up sixth. There were a couple matches I wasn’t aggressive myself. I was resorting to just rolling around, not really sticking to my solid stuff and it cost me a couple matches I should have won,” Kohen Dietzenbach said. “I think maybe nerves. My first time at this tournament. The last two years for AAU I’ve been hurt or not participated. I think nerves were definitely a big factor in that.”
Cook made the drop to 150 late in the season and finished seventh with a nail-biter in the placement match. Cook got a takedown in sudden victory for a 15-12 decision over Aiden Hippen of Clear Lake.
“It’s been really, really exciting seeing all the other guys on our team succeed,” Cook said. “Seeing myself succeed more than I have in years prior. Watching the team race has been really exhilarating.”
Even the three Nikes who didn’t place — Jared Glendening, Joey Glendening, Dirk Boyles and Bridge Anderson — contributed to the team victoty by keeping the rest of the team pumped up and helping them prepare for matches.
“You just have to keep the motivation going, keep the spirits high. Cheer on your teammates and lift them up,” Wilson said.
“We had some other kids who have matured a lot over the season,” Plein said. “That was our goal. We brought 11 people up here and we got seven medals. We’re happy with that. We’re happy with the fact that we won a team trophy. But for the ones who didn’t get a medal, their goal is to get better, climb that podium. Once you get on the podium, you have to start climbing that podium. Don’t be seventh, be fifth. Don’t be fifth, be third.”