Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Fort Dodge senior Max Bishop was one of seven Dodger champions at the IAC meet in Des Moines on Saturday.

DES MOINES — Saturday was the starting point and not an ending for the Fort Dodge wrestling team, both in 2023 and beyond in the Iowa Alliance Conference.

Bobby Thompson had his Dodger wrestling team in a postseason mindset as they dominated at the first-ever IAC tournament at Des Moines North High School.

“I’m hoping we gained some momentum,” Thompson said. “All of our kids wrestled well, and we’re anticipating that will catapult us into regional duals and to Coralville (for state duals) this week.

“We needed this tournament.”

The Dodgers scored 254 points and claimed the league title with seven champions and three runner-ups.

Marshalltown (199) was a distant second, followed by Ames (139.5).

“I was happy to get competition given the weather (snow storm) in the area,” Thompson said. “I’m very appreciative of our administration for allowing us to get a hotel and go down the night before.

“With the postseason coming, we needed to wrestle.”

Freshman Sam Davidson (106), top-ranked Dru Ayala (113), No. 6 Max Bishop (120), third-rated Koy Davidson (138), second-ranked Damarion Ross (160), No. 12 Cal Hartman (170) and second-rated Dreshaun Ross (195) captured gold. Kane Butrick (126), Jesse Egli (152) and Keaton Nichols (285) were all second for the Dodgers.

Ayala (28-1) now sits at 101 career victories after two falls in the first period. The Dodger junior pinned Ottumwa’s Ashton Grace (33-4) in 1:43 for the title.

Ayala is the 32nd FDSH wrestler ever to reach the century mark, joining Bishop, who hit the milestone earlier this week.

“Most people didn’t know, but Dru made easy work of a state placewinner,” Thompson said. “For him to get 100 wins as a junior is pretty impressive.

“Dru just keeps building and making gains at the right time.”

Dreshaun Ross (33-2) beat Ames’ fourth-rated Danarii Mickel (24-7) for the third time this season in a 5-0 decision.

“Dreshaun has put himself in position as one of the top 195 pounders in the state,” Thompson said. “He has really separated himself from the pack.”

Freshman Sam Davidson (16-13) captured his first-ever high school tournament championship with three pins.

“Sam came out as the fifth seed and won it all,” Thompson said. “Sammy has made huge strides from the first part of the season until now. His mentality and attitude have progressed. He’s ready for the postseason.”

Hartman (29-10) turned a match against 11th-ranked Jackson Winkey (35-10) of Ames, who had defeated him earlier in the year, to reach the championship round. In the finals, Hartman knocked off Marshalltown’s Nick Rebik (17-4) with a 13-1 major decision.

“Cal is peaking at the right time,” Thompson said. “He majored a guy that had beaten him before. It wasn’t a close match.”

Bishop (22-10), a senior who recently reached the 100-win plateau for his career, tallied a fall in the semifinals and a major decision in the finals against Marshalltown’s Nicholas Wise (17-8) by a 13-3 count.

Junior Damarion Ross (34-3) spent little time on the mat Saturday, recording a fall in 27 seconds and 39 seconds.

“Damarion has been hot all year long,” Thompson said. “He has pushed himself to get where he is right now, and he keeps plugging away. And it was good to see Max finish on top as a senior. Now he can turn his attention to the postseason.”

Sophomore Koy Davidson (23-4) had two falls under 30 seconds and secured a 9-3 decision over Marshalltown’s Xayvion Anderson in the finals.

“Max and Koy needed this tournament,” Thompson said. “Coming back from injuries, they need to get their bodies right so they can have their best performance at the end of the year.”

Butrick (25-11), ranked seventh, lost to Ames’ No. 3 Jabari Hinson (39-3) by fall in the finals. Egli (20-18) had two decision wins and dropped a 5-0 decision to No. 11 Braylon Griffiths (40-5) of Ottumwa in the finals.

Nichols (23-11) fell to fourth-rated Kyler Hall (33-3) of Ames by pin in the finals.

“The three (runner-ups) all had good matches in the finals,” Thompson said. “All three could have gone the other way. Jesse is getting better. Kane is tough to beat when he gets going. Keaton was maybe a little undersized.

“(Senior Collin) Munter was right there and should have been in the finals. (Freshman) Rylee (Brown) is right there and continues to get better.”

Brown (132) and Munter (220) were both third. Bo Cowell (145) was sixth.

The Dodgers head to Johnston on Tuesday for a Class 3A regional dual. The meet begins at 6 p.m., with the Dragons facing Le Mars. Fort Dodge meets the winner for a state spot.