Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: St. Edmond's Sam Myer is a 19-9 sophomore who took second at the NCC Tournament in Hampton.

Saturday will mark a change for the wrestling postseason, as all three classifications go through districts and step the sectionals stage.

For the first time, both Class 1A and 2A wrestlers will compete just like 3A with district competition to determine state qualifiers. A total of 12 districts will be used in 1A and 2A to determine the 24-wrestler field for each weight class, with first and second place finishers advancing.

St. Edmond heads to Ogden for a 1A meet with Emmetsburg, Manson Northwest Webster, West Bend-Mallard, AGWSR, Collins-Maxwell, North Tama, Ogden, South Hamilton and West Hancock.

The Gaels are led by sophomore Sam Myer, a North Central Conference finalist who is 19-9 on the season. Senior Nano Guillen is 21-9. Senior Ronnie Orres is 23-14.

West Hancock is ranked sixth and Emmetsburg is 10th, with the Eagles featuring four rated wrestlers and the E-Hawks six.

Jace Nelson-Brown is third at 170 and Ben Saxton third at 195, while Ryan Brennan (sixth, 145), Gage Jorgenson (ninth, 285), Cade Shirk (10th, 182) and Justin Wirtz (12th, 160) are also ranked.

Manson Northwest Webster’s Ian Kohnen is sixth at 170 pounds.

West Hancock’s ranked wrestlers are Kellen Smith (first, 152), Teague Smith (third, 120), Kale Zuehl (fourth, 195) and Creighton Kelly (sixth, 182), while Ogden also has four in Kolton Munson (third, 126), Kale Munson (seventh, 152), Kinnick Munson (12th, 113) and Aiden Kathman (12th, 220).

AGWSR’s Aiden Heitland is 10th at 220.

Other Class 1A district sites featuring area teams include West Monona, where East Sac County and South Central Calhoun compete, along with Western Christian, where Pocahontas Area will be.

In 2A, Webster City will host with Humboldt, Southeast Valley and Greene County in attendance, while Algona goes to Estherville. Both Clarion-Goldfield/Dows and Eagle Grove are in Iowa Falls.

The 1A state wrestling meet begins Wednesday in Des Moines from Wells Fargo Arena at 9 a.m. The 2A first round takes place at 1:30 p.m. that same day with quarterfinals on Thursday, semifinals on Friday and Saturday for the placement and championship matches.