—Photo by Tyler Anderson, Daily Freeman-Journal The Fort Dodge wrestling team stands with their trophy after finishing fifth at the state dual tournament in Coralville.

CORALVILLE — The eighth-ranked Fort Dodge wrestling squad made a statement at state duals on Saturday: throw ranknigs out the window.

These Dodgers aren’t just the eighth-best dual team in the state.

Fort Dodge grabbed a Class 3A fifth-place trophy in their first trip back to the tournament since 2021 inside Xtreme Arena.

“We out-wrestled our seed and ranking,” said FDSH head coach Bobby Thompson, “and we did it with a bunch of young guys (four freshmen) and an open weight.”

Fort Dodge sealed the deal with a 45-30 victory over former CIML foe West Des Moines Valley to cap a productive day.

“We didn’t wrestle especially well overall, but we still came away with two wins and a fifth-place finish,” Thompson said. “We will get better next year. Our expectations will be higher.

“We want to keep up the tradition of Fort Dodge wrestling, going back to the days of Fred Cooper, who brought home a lot of trophies for Fort Dodge.”

With the Dodgers leading 36-24, No. 10 Max Bishop etched the Dodgers’ name on the trophy with a 16-0 tech fall over Valley’s Caden Miller.

“It felt good to know we are better than they thought we were and prove some people wrong,” Bishop said. “We liked getting back at them (Centennial) after losing the first time around. Our guys went out there and got things done.”

Damarion continued his dominance over Valley’s Top-5 ranked Cinsere Clark, winning another tight match.

Freshman Sam Davidson (106) and top-ranked Dru Ayala (113) both picked up falls. Davidson and Ayala improved to 19-14 and 31-2, respectively.

Freshman Jesse Egli (152) earned a tech fall, while No. 3 Koy Davidson (138) and freshman Rylee Brown (132) had major decisions.

“They held some kids out to protect seeds,” Thompson said. “At 132 pounds, we have criteria as well as at 170.”

The Dodgers won nine matches against the Tigers — eight of which were decided by bonus points.

Second-ranked Dreshaun Ross (37-2) finished the day 3-0 with three falls at 195 pounds. No. 5 Cal Hartman (33-10) was 3-0 at 170 pounds with two falls. Second-ranked Damarion Ross (38-3) was 3-0 at 160 pounds, with a fall, major decision and decision.

Fort Dodge struggled in their opener against two-seed Bettendorf, falling 56-16.

Next up in the consolation semifinals was a rematch that every FDSH wrestler and coach had been hoping for.

Earlier in the season, the Dodgers dropped a 35-33 dual to Ankeny Centennial.

On Saturday, there was much more at stake.

The Dodgers claimed a 37-30 victory to advance to the fifth-place match.

“That loss against Centennial (during the regular season) haunted us in the rankings and our seed,” Thompson said. “I thought going into the tournament that we had the makings of a Top-5 (dual) team.”

In the first meeting, the programs split matches, with Centennial earning 15 bonus points to 12 for Fort Dodge.

The Dodgers won eight matches in Coralville, turning the 138-pound match around with the return of Koy Davidson. In the opener, the Dodgers lost by fall as Davidson was out with an injury.

On Saturday, Davidson beat Isaac Bruhl — the son of former Fort Dodge standout Brad Bruhl — by a final of 7-2.

With three matches remaining, Centennial clung to a 31-25 lead before Ayala pinned Cody Vandermark in 2:54 to tie the score at 31-all.

Bishop gave the Dodgers the lead with a hard-fought 10-6 victory over Payton Bright for a 34-31 victory.

Junior Kane Butrick then clinched the win, beating Andrew Roland 6-1 to make it 37-30. The Jaguars were deducted a team point.

Damarion Ross, Dreshaun Ross and Keaton Nichols (285) also earned pins. Hartman also picked up a victory with a major decision against Ari Ehits, 12-1.

The Ross brothers and Hartman were the lone winners in the opener against the Bulldogs.

“Damarion, Dreshaun and Cal are really hitting their strides, opening up and scoring a lot of points,” Thompson said. “Jesse Egli really wrestled well. He won a match and had a tough 4-3 loss to a top-five kid (Lucas Bruhl) and a 7-2 loss to (ranked) Elijah Mendoza, who is tough.”

Damarion Ross recorded an 11-3 major decision over Jordan Roberts. Hartman followed with a 37-second fall over Armon Williams.

The last win came in a one-minute fall from Dreshaun Ross over Ronan Numkena.

The showcase match of the day was top-rated Ayala against No. 2 Jake Knight at 113 pounds. Ayala beat Knight earlier this season, but the Bettendorf 113-pounder evened the season series with a 3-1 victory.

This was the sixth appearance at the state dual tournament in the last seven seasons for Fort Dodge. The team had qualified nine total times from 1987 through 2016.

“Right now, our focus has to be sharpening ourselves mentally,” Thompson said. “We have to be ready for the good, bad and ugly coming up. We have to clear everything out and get right for districts in our home gym.”

The Dodgers, ranked third as a tournament team, host a Class 3A district meet on Saturday.

BETTENDORF 56, FORT DODGE 16

126 — Cody Trevino, B pinned Kane Butrick, 3:46; 132 — Jayce Luna, B pinned Rylee Brown, 3:50; 138 — Lincoln Jipp, B pinned Koy Davidson, 5:53; 145 — Tycho Carmichael, B pinned Bo Cowell, 1:47; 152 — Elijah Mendoza, B dec. Jesse Egli, 7-2; 160 — Damarion Ross, FD major dec. Jordan Roberts, 11-3; 170 — Cal Hartman, FD pinned Armon Williams, :37; 182 — Cooper Agosta, B won by forfeit; 195 — Dreshaun Ross, FD pinned Ronan Numkena, 1:00; 220 — Zander Glazebrook, B dec. Collin Munter, 5-2; 285 — Aiden Lee, B pinned Keaton Nichols, 4:51; 106 — Jayden Luna, B pinned Sam Davidson, 4:16; 113 — Jake Knight, B dec. Dru Ayala, 3-1; 120 — Timothy Koester, B tech fall Max Bishop, 20-5.

FORT DODGE 37, ANKENY CENTENNIAL 30

132 — Cael Wiener, AC pinned Brown, 1:14; 138 — Davidson, FD dec. Isaac Bruhl, 7-2; 145 — Tyler Brennan, AC major dec. Cowell, 9-0; 152 — Lucas Bruhl, AC dec. Egli, 4-3; 160 — Ross, FD pinned Will Morris, 1:00; 170 — Hartman, FD major dec. Ari Ehlts, 12-1; 182 — Logan Song, AC won by forfeit; 195 — Ross, pinned Brook Keller, :49; 220 — Mitchel Grider, AC pinned Munter, 3:22; 285 — Nichols, FD pinned Max Dickinson, 1:08; 106 — Cale Vandermark, AC pinned Davidson, 3:49; 113 — Ayala, FD pinned Cody Vandermark, 2:54; 120 — Bishop, FD dec. Payton Bright, 10-6; 126 — Butrick, FD, dec. Andrew Roland, 6-1.

THIRD PLACE MATCH

FORT DODGE 45, VALLEY 30

138 — Davidson, FD major dec. Owen Walker, 13-4; 145 — Nic VanAnkel, V pinned Cowell, 2:25; 152 — Egli, FD tech fall Maxwell Blocher, 17-2; 160 — Ross, FD dec. Cinsere Clark, 2-1; 170 — Hartman, FD pinned Don Hwang, :48; 182 — Chase Hutchinson, V won by forfeit; 195 — Ross, FD pinned Colin Straker-Seay, 1:21; 220 — Trystin Irvin, V pinned Munter, :23; 285 — Jacob Mohler, V pinned Nichols, 4:12; 106 — Davidson, FD pinned Jase Brumfield, 3:42; 113 — Ayala, FD pinned Kash Kiner, 2:46; 120 — Bishop, FD tech fall Caden Miller, 16-0; 126 — Nate Bierma, V pinned Butrick, :57; 132 — Brown, FD major dec. Carson Maurath, 10-0.