Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Fort Dodge's Knox Ayala works his way toward a third-place finish at state in Des Moines.

DES MOINES — Knox Ayala’s first state tournament run experienced just one bump in the road.

The Fort Dodge freshman entered the Class 3A 106-pound bracket as the fourth seed, and Ayala finished his maiden voyage as a bronze medalist.

“I didn’t get what I wanted, but there’s always room for improvement,” Ayala said. “I love the atmosphere (at state) and the Fort Dodge wrestling program.”

The only blemish for Ayala (31-6) was a loss in the semifinals to top seed phenom and eventual champion Amir Newman-Winfrey (45-1) of Southeast Polk.

Ayala advanced to the third-place match with an 11-3 major decision over 11th-seeded Vincent Moore (41-14) of West Des Moines Valley. He then clinched the podium’s third step with an 8-7 decision over No. 3 seed Abe Heysinger (33-10) of Dubuque Senior.

“Knox had a great tournament,” said FDSH head coach Bobby Thompson, who is also Ayala’s uncle. “He had a great season for an undersized freshman. He lost to the No. 1 seed and battled back from there.

“He wrestled hard. His first two wins of the tournament were against two 18-year old seniors.”

Ayala beat Eddie Salgado (34-12) of Ankeny, 25-9 in 4:29. He then won his quarterfinal match, 4-0, over Lucas Reeder (50-5) of Pleasant Valley.

Ayala, is the youngest brother of three-time FDSH champion Drake Ayala and two-time finalist Dru Ayala. Both are currently wrestling for Iowa.

This is the ninth medal for the Ayala brothers. Drake was a runner-up to go along with the three state titles, while Dru was second twice, fourth and fifth.