Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Tate Slagle of Algona advances to the 138-pound semifinals in Class 3A on Thursday at the state wrestling meet inside Wells Fargo Arena. For more photos, please visit CU.messengernews.net

DES MOINES — After getting his feet wet at the state tournament a year ago, Algona sophomore Tate Slagle continues to climb the ladder this time around.

Slagle, the fourth seed at 138 pounds in Class 2A, advanced to the semifinals with a tough 2-0 win over Winterset’s Keegan Jensen (41-5) here on Thursday.

“This experience is awesome,” Slagle said. “Knowing you’re wrestling some of the top kids in the state and competing right with them.

“The atmosphere is great. I couldn’t imagine anything better.”

Now, Slagle (45-8) will have a tough task in top-seed McKinley Robbins (46-0). Robbins is a three-time finalist and has one state championship to his name for Greene County.

“Wrestling in the semis shows all the hard work I’ve put in has been paying off,” Slagle said. “I’m wrestling confidently and just going out there scrapping and having fun.”

Algona head coach Nick Kuecker has witnessed tremendous growth in his sophomore.

“Tate is a tremendous athlete and he does stuff on the mat that you really can’t coach,” said Kuecker. “He has great feel, he’s extremely athletic and when he wrestles with the confidence he is right now, it’s a lot of fun to watch.”

Isaac Wilson (120), the 11th seed, is one win away from a state medal for the Bulldogs. Wilson (41-9), who was a state qualifier a year ago, won two consolation matches on Thursday.

Wilson pinned (1:28) Okoboji’s No. 21 seed Dylan Jones (29-14), then won a tight 4-3 decision over Independence’s 13th-seeded Kale Wieland (26-16).

Willson will now face No. 7 seed Carson Less (38-6) of West Delaware.

Barrett Morgan (126) dropped a tough 1-0 decision to Davenport Assumption’s second-seed Derrick Bass (33-1) in the quarterfinals. Morgan (44-3) will now meet No. 13 Kyler Sandhom (35-12) for the right to advance to the medal round.

Taevyn Zinnel (37-11 at 132) won his first match with a pin (1:37) over No. 21 Gabe Johnson (36-13) of Southwest, and was eliminated from the tournament with a 10-2 major decision defeat to Independence’s No. 14 Kaden Kremer (38-11).

Ashton Moreno (31-19), the No. 23 seed, suffered his loss, falling 10-2 to ninth-seed Alex Beaty (16-4) of Forest City at 145 pounds. Cohen Reffer (27-13), the 16th-seed was eliminated at 285, losing by fall in 55 seconds to Central DeWitt’s second-seed Sam Gravert (32-6).