Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Carson Doolittle of Webster City earns his first semifinal win on Friday in Des Moines. For more photos, visit CU at messengernews.net

DES MOINES — Webster City’s Carson Doolittle will enter uncharted territory here Saturday night.

He will do so with plenty of familiar faces surrounding him, though.

Doolittle and teammate Linden Phetxoumphone each punched tickets to the state wrestling championships with one-sided semifinal round victories inside Wells Fargo Arena on Friday morning.

Now, they get their shots at adding their names to not only the program’s legacy but their respective family ones as well.

Doolittle, a three-time bronze medalist, would join his brother and current WCHS head coach, Drake Doolittle, as a Lynx state champion with a win at 126 pounds. He improved to 42-0 when he bested Amare Chavez of South Tama County, 14-3.

“It feels great to know that I will be able to wrestle on Saturday night alongside Linden,” Doolittle said. “I’ll just be focused on keeping my composure, scoring points and trying to control the match.”

A four-time North Central Conference champion who also claimed titles at the Don Miller Invitational and Andy Davidson Mustang Invitational this past season, Doolittle will try to derail Jace Hedeman’s pursuit of history.

“I think my conditioning is really good and helps me a lot when it gets into the match and I put them under attack,” Doolittle said. “This week, I’ve just been focusing on staying calm and not getting overwhelmed before my matches (mentally).”

Hedeman, a junior from Union LaPorte City with two titles, has lost just once in three seasons. That came earlier this year to 3A finalist and two-time champ Koufax Christensen of Waukee Northwest, 1-0.

For Phetxoumphone, he can also give his family another state title to boast about. A victory over Hedeman’s teammate, Brayden Bohnsack, in the 113-pound finals would add to the two championships won by his brother, Cam, in a Lynx singlet.

“It feels great. Getting here is what I worked for,” Phetxoumphone said. “Staying on my A-game, staying calm and not getting nervous.

“I’m ready to wrestle on the big stage and excited to compete in front of everyone.”

Phetxoumphone pushed his sophomore season record to 36-1 in the semifinals with a 12-2 domination of Jon Gonzalez from West Marshall. Gonzalez upset Hampton-Dumont/CAL’s Jayson Stevens in the second round.

A third place finisher as a freshman, Phetxoumphone has scored two major decisions and a technical fall this week.

Bohnsack, a defending state gold medalist who also placed eighth as a freshman, is 41-4 on the year and 128-17 in his career.

Both Doolittle and Phextoumphone are the No. 2 seeds at their respective weights, with their opponents Saturday night each earning the top seed in the bracket.

Webster City senior Landon Griffin will compete for seventh after going 1-1 in the consolation rounds. Griffin, now 33-9 after winning four matches at state this week, bested Trent Patton of Glenwood before falling to Ethan Wood from Mount Vernon, 3-1.