Dodgers compete in regional duals
PLEASANT HILL — The 24th-ranked Fort Dodge wrestling team will have one last stop before lining up for the individual postseason.
The Dodgers (8-4 overall) square off with Cedar Rapids Prairie in a Class 3A regional dual at Southeast Polk on Tuesday.
Action begins at 6 p.m. here on Tuesday night, with the winner facing the top-ranked Rams.
Fort Dodge finished third in state duals last year, and has competed at state in seven of the last seasons. They were state champions in 2018, runner-ups in 2017, and took third in 2020.
“We are focusing on preparing for traditional state,” said FDSH head coach Bobby Thompson. “We need to worry about getting our seeding correct and avoiding injuries between now and (districts on February 15).”
The Dodgers are coming off their third straight Iowa Alliance Conference title, crowing seven individual gold medalists on Saturday in Des Moines.
Top-seeded defending state champion and newly minted Oklahoma State signee Dreshaun Ross (215) won his third championship.
Ross (15-0) is now 106-2 in his career and has won 99 consecutive matches. He is 29th on Fort Dodge’s all-time wins list.
Koy Davidson (31-2) became a two-time champion and is 138-18 in his career and ninth on the all-time list.
Davidson now trails 2024 FDSH graduate Damarion Ross (141-34) and for eighth.
Also winning titles for the Dodgers were Trace Rial (22-4), Damien Yeoman (113), Rylee Brown (157), Jesse Egli (175) and Joe Constable (285).
Egli is 83-59 in his career for the Dodgers and Brown is 86-60.
“We want to continue to ride last weekend’s momentum into next weekend,” Thompson said. “We have a very favorable district, so we want to keep our confidence going and get the candy at districts and build for state.”
The Dodgers will host a Class 3A district meet on Saturday Feb. 15 in the Dodger gym. The top three place finishers, including a true third place, will advance to the state tournament (Wednesday, Feb. 19 through Saturday, Feb. 22).
DODGER PROBABLE LINEUP
106 — Trace Rial, so., (20-4); 113 — Damien Yeoman, fr., (32-15) 120 — Hunter Kasperbauer, jr., (10-26); 126 — Drake Hayes, fr., (7-6); 138 — Amari McCaleb, fr., (12-17); 144 — Koy Davidson, sr., (31-2); 150 — Hunter Richardson, sr., (16-23); 157 — Rylee Brown, jr., (31-15); 165 — Jayce Skow, so., (13-20); 175 — Jesse Egli, jr., (30-11); 190 — John Phan, sr., (5-6); 215 — Dreshaun Ross, jr, (15-0); 285 — Joe Constable, so., (35-6).