State Wrestling Pre-Game Notebook

The traditional Iowa High School State Wrestling Tournament is back to a three-day event, down from the four it has been since 2004, starting Thursday at 9 a.m. at Wells Fargo Arena.

Some of the names to be the buzz of the tournament are John Meeks, Cory Clark and Megan Black.

Meeks of Des Moines Roosevelt is the overwhelming favorite at 138 pounds in Class 3A. The Iowa State University recruit , who is the No. 1 ranked prep nationally at 138 , is 41-0 this winter. Meeks has a chance to achieve four state championships and a perfect high school record by sweeping the competition this weekend. Meeks is 164-0 for his career coming into Thursday.

Meeks is aiming to become the 20th, or 21st, four-time state champion in history. Why 20th or 21st? That’s all up to how the murderer’s row Class 3A 126-bracket shakes out.

Three nationally ranked wrestlers will take the mats at 126, led by three-time state champion Clark of Waverly-Shell Rock. The University of Iowa recruit is 175-1 for his career. He is ranked No. 6 nationally.

But Clark is not the only competitor at 126 with three state titles.

Eric DeVos of Waverly-Shell Rock is ranked 20th nationally and has signed with Penn. DeVos won two golds in the state of Minnesota and one as a Go-Hawk.

Jack Hathaway of Iowa City West stands at No. 14 in the national rankings and will compete collegiately at Oregon State. The Trojan senior handed Clark his only loss earlier this season.

The two are lined up for a quarterfinal showdown on Friday, if they advance.

Black of Eddyville-Blakesburg is the first female to qualify for the state tournament twice. She went 0-2 last year, but did not receive half the attention that Cassy Herkelman of Cedar Falls did. Black became the first female district champion on Saturday, and she is looking to be the first to win a contested match at state. Herkelman won in the opening round last year by forfeit after her opponent would not wrestle her due to his religious beliefs in what became a national story.

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Marshalltown Effect

Marshalltown senior David Hughes will make his state debut Thursday and the 170-pounder is ranked eighth in the state. He has a first-round match with ninth-ranked Matt Collins of Dowling Catholic. Hughes defeated Collins 7-4 in the third-place match at the CIML Invitational.

Hughes has been in the stands at Wells Fargo to watch, but is well aware things will be different at mat level.

“It’s going to be big, just big. I’ve got to stay focused,” Hughes said. “A lot of people talk about they get out there and they lose focus.”

The Bobcats have had a state placewinner in each of the last three seasons.

“We’re pleased with where he’s sitting at,” said MHS head coach Dan Lovell. “A lot of times you don’t get a great draw, but he’s got an ideal draw where he’s at.”

“His only losses (the last few weeks) come to the top ranked kids,” Lovell added. “He knows who he can beat and he knows where he should be. Now it’s all just a matter of wills and how far can you take it down there.”

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Duals Effect

This is the first year the state duals will be held on Wednesday with the traditional state tournament to follow on Thursday. With the format change – the duals usually were the following Saturday after the traditional – there are several schools of thought on attacking the duals.

Looking at Wednesday’s results, it looks as if some teams went all-in, some cashed out right away and there were plenty in the middle. Rest for its individual qualifiers and the chance of injury led to some teams holding back.

Nashua-Plainfield, according to reports, lost one of its ranked wrestlers to injury (a broken hand) during Wednesday’s duals.

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Meling/Walz, Walz/Meling

No introductions are necessary for Blake Meling of East Marshall/GMG and Tyler Walz of South Tama. The two from neighboring schools also know their way around Wells Fargo Arena on a Saturday.

The seniors both are at the state championships for the fourth time.

In the Class 2A 152-bracket, the third-ranked Meling (32-5) faces Dylan McLaughlin of Union (39-10) in the first round. Meling is a three-time semifinalist that has placed sixth, second and third at state. For his career, Meling has a 164-26 record, one of the best marks in Mustang history.

The fourth-ranked Walz (34-3) draws sixth-ranked Jake Voss of West Delaware (39-3) in the first round. Walz went 1-2 at state as a freshman, took seventh as a sophomore and fifth last winter.

During the postseason this winter, Walz defeated Meling for the sectional championship, while Meling took the meeting in the district final in overtime.

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The West Marshall Seven

West Marshall has seven entries in the Class 1A field, only Clarion-Goldfield (9) and Don Bosco (8) have more.

Not a bad haul at all for the Trojans, which did not have a state participant in 2011.