By: Matt Scher, [email protected]
Coralville, IA – A Gaige Allen pin wrapped up Humboldt’s fifth place finish at the 2024 Iowa High School Athletic Association State Dual Tournament Saturday at Xtream Arena in Coralville.
The Wildcats entered the tournament as the No. 8 seed and would face off against perennial power and No. 1 Seed Osage. The Wildcats had the Green Devils on the ropes, but would fall 37-33 to move to the consolation side of the bracket. Humboldt Wildcats head boys wrestling coach Chad Beaman said it was a tough dual loss for his team.
Humboldt’s 132-pound junior Cyler Cirks picked up his 100th win of his career in the dual against Osage, earning a major decision (15-4) over Easton Sonberg.
The Wildcats would next face off against No. 4 seed West Delaware Manchester and would defeat the Hawks in a statement victory 51-22 to advance to the 5th Place Dual.
Humboldt would face off against No. 6 Independence. After finding themselves down late in the dual, Landon Halverson at 175 would get a much needed decision in the second tiebreaker period and says he was trying to give his team a shot at the win late.
Humboldt was down six points going into the final weight class at 190 with senior Gaige Allen, who would deliver with a pin to give Humboldt a 30-30 tie and with a tiebreaker of total wins 8-6, would win the 5th place dual. After suffering an injury in the Regional Duals at Ballard, Allen did not know if he would be able to wrestle at Coralville.
Humboldt wrapped up a 22-2 duals season this year and now heads into their individual season postseason with districts at Roland-Story High School on Feb. 10