CEDAR RAPIDS — The 14th-ranked Fort Dodge wrestling team continues to hit their stride.

The Dodgers placed six wrestlers in the J-Hawk Invitational here on Saturday, coming away with three championships.

Fort Dodge placed fourth with 178 points. Alburnett (224) was the champion, followed by Waukee Northwest (214.5). Pleasant Valley (182.5) was third.

Fourth-ranked (IAwrestle) freshman Knox Ayala (19-4) earned his first tournament title of the season, knocking off two-rated opponents on his way to the 106-pound crown.

No. 8 Trace Rial (120) and top-rated Dreshaun Ross (285) also captured gold.

Ross was named the most outstanding wrestler of the tournament.

“Our guys wrestled well and this is a tough tournament, so having six in the finals was good to see,” said FDSH head coach Bobby Thompson. “Dreshaun was the outstanding wrestler of the meet, and Trace was right there in the voting.”

Fifth-ranked Damien Yeoman (113), No. 7 Rylee Brown (165) and fourth-rated Jesse Egli (190) were all runner-ups for FDSH.

Ayala earned a 21-6 tech fall over No. 11 Vincent Moore of Valley in the semifinals, then a tight 2-1 TB-1 victory over sixth-rated Lucas Reeder of Pleasant Valley for gold.

“Knox had a tough weight class with three ranked kids,” Thompson said. “The kid he beat in the finals was an 18-year-old senior.

“It’s big for him to get his first tournament win.”

Rial (17-6) earned a 5-3 decision over No. 4 (2A) Atlee Dewitt of Alburnett in the semifinals. He then claimed a 6-3 decision over Liam Fitzgibbon of Pleasant Valley for the championship.

“Trace had a big weekend,” Thompson said. “For some reason, he was the sixth seed. He came out and beat the top-ranked kid (2A) in the semis and just took care of business from there.”

Ross (21-0) scored two tech falls and a pin. The senior superstar has won 123 consecutive matches as a Dodger and is 132-2 overall in his prep career.

In the 285-pound semis, the Oklahoma State recruit registered a 21-6 tech fall in 1:30 over fifth-rated Cary Cox (33-5) of Pleasant Valley. Ross then worked over No. 1 (2A) Eaghan Fleshman (34-2) of Alburnett, 21-6 in 1:52, for the crown.

“Dreshaun had another Dreshaun tournament,” Thompson said. “He came out and dominated two highly-ranked kids.”

Yeoman (17-8) picked up two falls and a major decision before losing to fourth-ranked Carew Christensen (27-2) of Waukee Northwest, 22-9. Brown (17-6) reached the finals with two falls. He then dropped a 15-4 major decision to sixth-rated Brayden Crosser (28-2) in the championship match.

Egli (18-6) had two major-decision wins before losing a 16-3 major decision to No. 1 Andy Franke (32-0) of Muscatine.

“Damien had a good performance and beat a solid kid in the semifinals to get to the finals,” Thompson said. “Rylee had another strong tournament. We just need to clean up a few things.

“Jesse’s only losses this season are to the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 ranked kids in the state.”

Amari McCaleb (150) was sixth for FDSH and Caiden Fraher (157) placed seventh.

“It was good to see Amari and Caiden place,” Thompson said. “They’re both making gains.”

With the postseason around the corner, Thompson is looking to see the Dodgers pick up more wins on the backside of the brackets at tournaments.

“We’re still dropping matches we should win,” Thompson said. “We need to score more points on the backside and close the gap without making the same physical and mental mistakes.”

The Dodgers are back in action on Thursday when they face Marshalltown for Senior Night in the FDSH gym.