CORALVILLE — Fort Dodge’s veteran finalists are in line to start the year out as champions.

Seniors Dru Ayala (120), Damarion Ross (175), junior Koy Davidson (138) and sophomore Dreshaun Ross (215) are in the finals of the Dan Gable Donnybrook.

The Dodgers, who have never had a Donnybrook champion, are currently in seventh place with 187 points.

Liberty, of Missouri, is in first with 326.5 points, followed by Mount Carmel (of Chicago), 313, Joliet (Illinois) 292.5, Bettendorf (268), Marmion Academy (223.5) and Waverly-Shell Rock (189).

“We’re hanging in there with a young team,” said Fort Dodge head coach Bobby Thompson. “This is definitely a measuring stick tournament for us. We are young at a lot of weights.

“We lost a couple of close matches and some of these young guys are getting their feet wet.”

The four Dodger, who have five finals appearances between them, reached the semifinals on Friday.

Ayala fought through a tough quarterfinal against Devon Harrison of Liberty, who is a Fargo All-American. Ayala won a 4-2 contest in the ultimate tie-breaker. Ayala had a major and tech fall in his opening matches.

“He (Harrison) is a couple of time runner up and a Fargo All-American,” Thompson said. “It was a good match for him to win.

“We have to get to the leg attack and get moving a bit.”

Davidson, who earned the No. 1 seed, won by fall in 54 seconds and then beat Elias Gonzalez (14-1) of Joliet.

“Koy is wrestling really well in a tough bracket,” Thompson said. “This tournament for the last two years has set the tone for Koy. He has placed third the last two seasons.”

Damarion Ross had a fall, medical forfeit and beat Logan Kawa of Medford Area, 9-5 to reach the semifinals.

“It was a good day for Damarion,” Thompson said. “He wrestled a tough kid in the quarters and will have a tough match in the semifinals.”

Returning state champion Dreshaun Ross beat Isaiah Hung of Liberty, 13-7 in the quarterfinals. He also had two falls in 20 and 27 seconds.

“Dreshaun had a real solid kid from Liberty,” Thompson said. “It was a close match, points wise, but he dominated that match.”

Cal Hartman (190) won his opening round match 5-2 and lost a tight 5-3 contest to Rylan Breen of Mount Carmel. He bounced back with a fall over Landon Fernandez of Don Bosco.

Freshman Trace Rial (106), Kane Butrick (132), and Jesse Egli (165) won their first round matches.

Luke Fierke (285) and Rylee Brown (144) lost their first round contests, but bounced back with two straight victories. Both Fierke and Brown came back with two falls each.

“Rylee, Cal and Luke had good matches on the backside,” Thompson said. “Cal really should have won that second round match, but bounced back.”

Action begins at 10 a.m. on Saturday and session three runs through 2 p.m. Session 4 runs from 3 p.m. until 6 p.m. The finals will begin at 7 p.m. with first, third, and fifth place.

“Now we just have to take it one match at a time,” Thompson said. “We just have to keep making improvements and use it as a measuring stick.

“Afterwards we have to take it back to the room and work on it and keep getting ready for the next week.”