Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Matthew Crimmins of St. Edmond works his way toward a technical fall victory at the state tournament on Thursday in Des Moines. For more photos, please visit CU.messengernews.net

DES MOINES — Matthew Crimmins showed his ability to finish matches on his way to winning a district championship and qualifying for the state wrestling tournament.

That continued here on Thursday, as the St. Edmond sophomore earned a technical fall victory over Kendrin VanBeek of West Sioux in the Class 1A 144-pound bracket.

With the win, Crimmins now squares off with Bryce Carroll from Cascade in the quarterfinals. Crimmins, the No. 4 seed, is now 36-6 on the season. Carroll, the fifth seed, has an identical record.

“It felt great to start the tournament off with a win,” Crimmins said. “Getting my hand raised after working hard all year felt amazing.”

Crimmins, who went 1-2 in his state debut last year, started fast with a three-point takedown 12 seconds into the match. He added a second takedown later in the period before scoring a third takedown to open the third.

After making it 10-2, Crimmins recorded back-to-back four-point near-falls to earn the technical fall.

“Matthew has been wrestling great these last couple of weeks,” SEHS head coach Kaden McClintock said. “It’s nice he was able to keep that going into his first match. Anytime you can score bonus points down at state is huge.

“Matthew is on a mission. He is locked in and ready to face Carroll in the quarterfinals Friday morning.”

The winner between Crimmins and Carroll takes on either top-seed and two-time defending state champion Dawson Youngblut of Don Bosco or Jase Jones from Sumner-Fredericksburg Friday night in the semifinals.