The 10th-seeded Dodger senior pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament so far, beating second seed Noah Hawk-Erwin (25-5) of Linn-Mar in the Class 3A quarterfinal round on Thursday night, 6-5.

“It feels awesome after the first day,” Brown said. “I wrestled so well that I put it in my head after my two matches, I told myself I can do this. Once I sat in the hotel room (Wednesday) with my teammates, they kept me going, telling me they knew I could do it.

“It feels good to keep going with them.”

Not to be out done, classmate and seventh-seed Jesse Egli (190) pulled off the same feat minutes later, upsetting No. 2 Andy Franke (40-2) of Muscatine by a score of 4-2.

Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Jesse Egli of Fort Dodge celebrates his quarterfinal upset victory in Des Moines on Thursday.

“Being in the semis means a lot to me because I have never placed before,” Egli said. “My coaches gave me a good gameplan and gave me so much confidence going into that match.

“I prayed that God would give me peace and confidence, and He delivered.”

Brown is the lowest seed alive on the championship side. Four second-seeded wrestlers were eliminated in the quarterfinals; half were by Dodgers.

Top-ranked heavyweight senior Dreshaun Ross kept his historic run in line, advancing to the semifinals. Freshman Knox Ayala (106) gave FDSH four in the semifinals after cruising to a victory himself.

This marks the seventh time in the last 12 years the Dodgers have punched at least four semifinal tickets.

Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Dreshaun Ross controls his quarterfinal match on Thursday in Des Moines.

Brown (30-7) came out aggressively against Hawk-Erwin, earning a takedown with 17 seconds left for a 3-0 lead. Brown escaped to make it 4-0, then Hawk-Erwin earned a reversal to make the score 4-2.

The Dodger senior took a 5-2 lead with an escape at 1:14. Hawk-Erwin tied it at 5-5 with a 1:44 takedown. Brown got loose as the clock expired, though, for the victory.

“He just knocked off the No. 2 seed. Rylee has wrestled three outstanding matches and has been wrestling the full six minutes,” Thompson said. “He’s a medalist now, but he can’t be satisfied.”

Brown will now have third-seeded Calvin Rathjen (26-2) of Ankeny in the semifinals. Brown lost to Rathjen 13-7 at the Mendenhall Invitational in Ames during the regular season.

“Rylee is letting loose,” Thompson said. “He’s done with school (as an early graduate), doesn’t need any more credits, and he moves on after this.”

Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Knox Ayala of Fort Dodge works his way toward a quarterfinal win on Thursday in Des Moines.

Both Brown and Egli entered the tourney with eight combined state appearances but no medals despite clearing the 100-win plateau.

Egli (28-8), the youngest of the Egli brothers, will now bring home his first medal, joining his brothers Duke, Jonah, Ben and Levi.

“Being with my brothers on that placement wall means the world,” Egli said.

The Dodger senior was down 1-0 heading into the third period. Egli escaped early and recorded a takedown with 25 seconds left for a 4-1 lead before giving up a late takedown.

Egli had lost to Franke 16-3 at the J-Hawk Invitational earlier this season.

“After Jesse’s match, (two-time Fort Dodge state champion) Sam Cook sent me a message: ‘Dodger Tough.’ That’s exactly what Jesse was. He went out and that kid didn’t know what hit him,” Thompson said. “That’s a huge upset as well; that kid had beaten him big earlier in the year.

“When Jesse got that takedown and nearly got back points, that kid knew he was in a backyard brawl with a Dodger.”

Egli will now look for a title shot against sixth-seed Louden Bloxham (22-3) of Cedar Rapids Prairie. Earlier in the year Egli fell 7-1 to Bloxham.

Ross (33-0) continued his dominance, winning his 14th state tournament match and advancing to the semifinals for the fourth time.

“Watching (Brown and Egli) win and both get upsets was absolutely amazing. Words can’t even describe it,” Ross said. “I couldn’t even calm down before my own match. I was too excited for them. It kind of fueled me to make it quick and go celebrate.

“It’s definitely different, knowing it’s my last time here. It just makes every moment so much more special.”

The Oklahoma State University recruit, along with Blake Fox of Osage, are looking to become the 33rd and 34th four-time state champions in Iowa High School history.

Ross is aiming to become Fort Dodge’s 68th state champion and also bring the family total to six state titles, with one from Damarion and one from Alexis as well.

Ross pinned Southeast Polk’s Cael Roberts (22-14) in 41 seconds, his seventh career fall at state to go along with four technical falls. It’s also his 10th consecutive state victory by fall or tech.

“The worst thing that could have happened for Roberts (Ross’ opponent) was Dreshaun seeing Jesse win,” Thompson said. “I was in the hole waiting with Dreshaun, and when Jesse got the takedown, Dreshaun went vertical and nearly lept over the top of my head.

“I’ve seen it for four years…Dreshaun gets more excited for that kind of stuff. When he brought down Roberts, it was hard and that was for Jesse Egli. He was jacked up.”

The top recruit in the nation has now won 137 consecutive matches and is 144-2 in his career. It was his 88th career fall.

Ross will now face fourth-seeded Cary Cox (47-6) of Pleasant Valley. Ross earned a 21-6 tech fall over Cox in 1:30 at the Cedar Rapids Jefferson J-Hawk Invitational during the regular season.

Ayala’s win makes it nine trips to the semifinals for the Ayala brothers. Drake and Dru combined for eight trips.

“It’s super exciting in such a great atmosphere and everything,” said Ayala, who improved to 29-5. “But the job isn’t finished.

“I’ve looked up to my brothers my whole life, so to do what they did is great.”

The fourth-seeded Dodger rookie dominated fifth-seed Lucas Reeder (47-4) by a 4-0 decision to reach the semifinal round.

“That was a big semifinal win for Knox,” Thompson said. “In his first two matches, as a 15-year old, he has wrestled two 18-year-old opponents. What he did to ride out an 18-year old senior for two minutes is impressive. Those two had the physicality, but Knox is technical and has the right mindset.

“He had some huge mat returns in that two minutes.”

Ayala will now face top-seeded freshman Amir Newman-Winfrey (43-1) of Southeast Polk to advance to the title round.

Junior Trace Rial (29-10), making his third straight state trip, suffered a tough 9-8 TB-1 loss at 120 pounds to Max Panosh (29-14) of Cedar Rapids Kennedy to be eliminated from the tournament.

In his second-straight trip, sophomore Damien Yeoman (28-13) won his first match with a 19-3 tech fall over Cole Bruck (22-19) of North Scott at 113 pounds. Yeoman then lost by fall in 4:45 to Cain Crosson (35-3) of Indianola, the district champion in Fort Dodge.

“The light at the end of the tunnel for Trace and Damien is they get to come back,” Thompson said. “The sad part is there are multiple guys on the podium that we’ve beaten.”

The Dodgers are back in action on Friday. Semifinal action begins at 5 p.m.