Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Cyler Cirks of Humboldt reacts during his match at the state wrestling tournament on Wednesday. For more photos, visit CU.messengernews.net

DES MOINES — Jase Goodell knows his time is almost up as a Humboldt wrestler, so the senior wants to make the most out of his last state appearance.

Goodell (40-4 at 152) is here for the third time, but the first since his sophomore season. He has yet to medal, but the Wildcat is hoping to have a breakthrough moment this week.

Goodell, along with Humboldt teammate and sophomore Cyler Cirks (113), won their first round matches after receiving byes on Wednesday.

“Keep moving forward and to the right of the bracket is the goal,” said HHS head coach Chad Beaman. “Those falls in those matches were just bonuses (by Goodell and Cirks).

“They are excited to be here and want to take advantage of their opportunities.”

Goodell, the eighth seed, pinned ninth-seeded Coy De Boer (40-3) of Sheldon in a 1:26. The Wildcat will have a tough foe in the quarterfinals, meeting top-seed Cooper Sanders (44-1) of Vinton-Shellsburg.

“It means a lot, especially because I didn’t make it last year and it feels great to get a quick win,” Goodell said. “This being my last season is definitely sad, but I’m just trying to squeeze the most out of these last few days that I can.”

Cirks (35-7), a state qualifier a year ago as a freshman, also picked up a fall in the first round.

“It’s a great feeling to be back here,” Cirks said. “Every high school wrestler’s goal is to make it down here, so it’s special to be able to come down here two times in a row.”

The No. 5 seed pinned 12th-seed Brayden Maury (35-6) of West Delaware in 5:02 in his opener.

Cirks will now face fourth-seed Kaden Weber (28-0) of Nevada in the quarterfinals.

“Winning the first match is huge for me. I was very glad to be able to pull that one off,” Cirks said. “It puts me in a better position to hopefully be able to get a medal at the state tournament, which is my goal for this year.”

Jayden Gargano (39-7), also a three-time state qualifier, won his first match at 126 pounds, beating Oskaloosa’s Kaiden Parker, 7-3.

Gargano ran into a familiar North Central Conference foe Barrett Morgan (44-2) of Algona. Morgan earned a 1-0 decision over the 10th-seeded Gargano.

Next up for Gargano is No. 24 Ragen Hasche (20-13) of Central Lyon.

No. 15 seed Gaige Allen (182) earned a tight 5-3, SV-1 victory over 18th-seeded Wayne Johnston (28-13) of Knoxville in the first round, but suffered a fall loss to second-seed Jarrett Roos (41-0) of Sheldon.

Allen will compete against No. 16 Chase Diaz (23-12) of Davenport Assumption on the backside.

Algona

The Bulldogs will send three wrestlers to the quarterfinals after early victories.

Jacob Zabka (113), Barrett Morgan (126) and Tate Slagle (138), who all had first-round byes, picked up victories in the championship second round.

Zabka (26-5), the eighth seed, won a tight 4-3 decision over Carter Schmauss (34-10) of Crestwood. Up next will be top-seed and unbeaten Jace Hedeman (45-0) of Union LaPorte.

Morgan (44-2) edged a familiar foe in North Central Conference opponent Jayden Gargano of Humboldt, 1-0.

Morgan, the No. 7 seed, will now meet second-seeded Derrick Bass (32-1) of Davenport Assumption.

Slagle (44-4), the No. 4 seed, earned a major decision over Anamosa’s Easton Wheeler (32-6) by a 10-0 count. Up next will be No. 5 Keegan Nesen (41-4) of Winterset.

Isaac Wilson (120) won his first match by a 12-8 decision over Ben Walsh of Sioux City Heelan, then lost by fall to Gavin Jensen (43-6) of Williamsburg.

Wilson (39-9) will face No. 21 Dylan Jones (29-13) of Okoboji.

Taevyn Zinnel (132) had a major decision over Charlie Showalter of Hampton-Dumont/CAL, 14-2 and lost to Central DeWitt’s Royce Butt (33-5), 5-0.

Zinnel (36-10), the 11th seed, will face the No. 21-seeded Gabe Johnson (36-12) of Southwest.

Ashton Moreno (145) lost to Cooper Ludwig (41-3) of Carroll by a final of 7-0. Moreno (31-18), the 23rd seed, will meet No. 9 Alex beaty (15-3) of Forest City.

Cohen Reffer (285) lost by fall to Trent Patton (35-10) of Glenwood. Reffer (27-12), the 16th seed, will compete against No. 2 Sam Graves (31-5) of Central Dewitt.

Clarion-Goldfield/Dows

It was a rough first day for the Cowboys, as all seven of their 2A state qualifiers moved to the backside of the bracket.

Kaden Hanson (138) and Ashtin Willms (220) won their first matches of the day. Hanson (27-13) beat Peyton Pilgrim (26-20) 10-4 in his opener and lost to three-time state finalist McKinley Robbins of Greene County by fall.

The 16th-seeded Hanson will face No. 18 Tristin Sorgenfrey (45-12) of Tipton.

Wilms (25-17) won a tight 8-7 decision over Cole Binning (44-6) of Clarke. He then lost by fall in 56 seconds to Henry Christensen (42-7) of Ballard.

The No. 22 Wilms has No. 21 Jackson Van Keuren (34-16) of Maquoketa.

Ryan Hartwig (106) fell to Estherville-Lincoln Central’s Austin Hansen (33-8) by fall (1:49).

Hartwig’s (21-14) next opponent is Jesse Jens (36-10) of Harlan.

Rigo Bobadilla (113) lost by fall to Brayden Maury (35-6) of West Delaware. Bobadilla (20-19) will face No. 11 Gabino Vargas (33-12) of Boyden-Hull.

Ethan Traub (126) dropped a tight 6-5 decision to Sergeant Bluff-Luton’s Dalton VanWhyle (40-17). Traub’s (25-16) next foe is No. 20 James Dorrian (37-17) of Woodward-Granger.

Caleb Seaba (145) fell to Abe Bushong (40-7) of Winterset, 9-1. Seaba (30-12) will meet No. 12 Brent Dennhardt (37-6) of Greene County.

Mack Seaba (27-13) fell to William Bolinger (43-9) of Creston, 15-2, after a bye in the first round. The fifth-seeded Seaba will meet Cole Storm (39-13) of Columbus on the backside.