-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Kody Cook of Fort Dodge celebrates after defeating Southeast Polk's Camden Baarda during class 3A semifinals on Friday

DES MOINES — It may not be the side of the bracket they were hoping to land on for the final day at the state tournament, but Levi Egli, Brandon Mills and Kody Cook are still in contention for the top medal on the consolation side.

The Dodger trio can finish as high as third on Saturday with two rounds still to come.

Fort Dodge, who has brought home a Top-3 team trophy in each of the last five seasons, is looking to continue that streak as they are currently sitting in second place with 104 team points. Waverly-Shell Rock is well in front at 147. Southeast Polk is third at 97, and Linn-Mar is in fourth with 86.

The Go-Hawks have six wrestlers on the front side and two on the back. The Rams have only one finalist, but nine on the backside.

Fort Dodge had Drake Ayala (120), Carson Taylor (126) and Dreyzon Phillips (138) are all in the finals.

“If we get another team trophy that will be six in a row,” said Fort Dodge head coach Bobby Thompson. “That’s a pretty impressive run for Fort Dodge Senior High.”

Joining Egli (senior), Mills (senior) and Cook (junior) on the backside are the Cowell brothers: Brooks and Lane.

Fort Dodge was a bronze medalist last season, coming off its championship run in 2018. They were runner-ups in 2017 and 2016, while finishing third in 2015.

Cook (27-14) had a strong day on the backside, picking up two wins and staying alive for a bronze medal. In the blood round, Cook beat ninth-ranked Brennan Meacham of Indianola, 3-1, to secure himself a medal.

“Coming into (Friday), my mindset was to get on the podium Saturday night,” Cook said. “My biggest motivation was me losing in the blood round last year.

“I know that every single point is going to matter in the team race, so I need to climb the podium to get points for the team.”

In the consolation third round, Cook dominated Southeast Polk’s Camden Baarda, 15-4. Cook had four takedowns, five nearfall points and a reversal.

Cook will face second-ranked Cody Anderson of Waukee in the consolation semifinals.

“Kody has done an unbelievable job,” Thompson said. “He broke Baarda and just kicked his butt.

“Anderson is a tough match, but Kody has been really fired up.”

Both Egli (195) and Mills (145) advanced to the semifinals after quarterfinal wins early Friday morning. Egli pinned Cedar Falls’ seventh-ranked Collin Bohnenkamp in the quarters.

In Egli’s semifinal match, Cedar Rapids Prairie’s third-ranked Ashton Stoner-DeGroot (35-2) rallied to secure a fall in overtime. Egli had a 4-2 lead with 20 seconds left in third. Stoner-DeGroot picked up a late takedown to extend the match.

Egli will meet Waverly-Shell Rock’s eighth-ranked Jake Walker at 195 for a bronze berth.

“Levi was in control, but couldn’t keep Stoner-DeGroot from scoring in the end,” Thompson said. “He needs to come back and finish strong.”

For the second straight week, Mills (34-12) upset University of Iowa recruit Colby Schriever (No. 2) at 145 in the quarterfinals. Mills fell behind 4-1, but had a four-point second period with two escapes and a takedown to earn the 5-4 victory.

Ankeny’s third-ranked Sam Kallem (35-4) pulled out a 6-2 decision against Mills to advance to the finals. Now the Dodger will face Ankeny Centennial’s fourth-ranked Ben Monroe (38-3) on Saturday morning.

“Brandon just didn’t match up well with Kallem,” Thompson said. “But he’s had a heck of a ride this season and left everything out there. He has to continue to wrestle his tail off.”

Seventh-ranked Lane Cowell (34-12) suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the 113-pound quarterfinals. Cowell was up 3-1 with four seconds left in the third period against No. 3 Blaine Frazier of Burlington-Notre Dame.

Frazier recorded a takedown as the clock expired, sending the match to overtime. Frazier then got a takedown and three nearfall points to clinch.

Cowell, a fourth-place finisher in 2019, bounced back with a 4-3 decision over No. 10 Ethan Mahoney of Dowling. In the third round, he fell to Iowa City High’s sixth-ranked Ethan Wood-Finley by fall (1:24).

Now he’ll face eighth-ranked Aime Mukiza (27-8) of Des Moines North/Hoover for seventh.

Sixth-ranked Brooks Cowell (32-9) lost by fall (3:38) to No. 3 Brock Esqalin of Des Moines East. In the blood round, Cowell pulled out a 10-5 decision over Sioux City North’s Nick Walters.

The Dodger senior nearly knocked off No. 5 Duncan Delzell of Burlington, falling 6-5. Cowell, who was fifth a season ago, will now wrestle for seventh against eighth-ranked Keaton Moret (34-6) of Norwalk.

“Lane lost a really tough one in the quarters,” Thompson said. “It was a controversial match and he just didn’t recover.

“Brooks had a tough loss as well in the quarters, he was able to bounce back and stay in medal contention.”

Freshman Max Bishop (32-13) was knocked out after a loss to Johnston’s fifth-ranked Owen Helgeson, 8-3.

“Max had a really tough draw in the bracket,” Thompson said. “A more favorable draw could have made him a medalist.”

Consolation action will begin at 10 a.m. inside Wells Fargo Arena.

8 Dodgers will medal