One week ago, 13 area wrestlers made their way past the section tournament to get to the cusp of wrestling in the Iowa State Wrestling Championships this week. After battling through Saturday’s district tournament, three wrestlers achieved the dream of competing on Iowa’s biggest stage.

In the Class 1A-District 2 tournament in North English, Highland’s Bryce Thompson at 106 pounds and Cael Yeggy at 182 pounds advanced to Des Moines. While in the Class 2A-District 4 meet in Center Point, Mid-Prairie’s Isaac Boucher advanced to state at 195 pounds. Four wrestlers competed in each weight class with the top two in each class advancing to Des Moines.

Thompson came in as the top seed in his bracket and that held true to form as he had little trouble in claiming the championship. He defeated Paul De Jong of North Mahaska-New Sharon with a 13-9 decision. The junior raced out to an 8-2 lead after two periods with the help of three takedowns and then staved off a late charge from his opponent to secure victory. In the championship, Thompson was in a tight bout against Zane Keim of Iowa Valley-Marengo until he earned a fall win 55 seconds into the second period to secure a bid to state.

Yeggy took the long route to claim a berth to Des Moines. He fell to Chase Wickwire of Belle Plaine in the first match of the day. Needing to win the next two matches, Yeggy fought back to top his opponents to take second in the weight class and earn a bid to state. He defeated Brody Hoyt of Iowa Valley-Marengo with a 2:24 fall to remain in the bracket then Gavin Holmes of New London in the second-place bout.

Mid-Prairie’s Boucher won his first match with a 15-4 major decision win over Lane Stender of Maquoketa at 195 pounds. He led 8-2 after the first period then used a pair of 3-point nearfalls to clinch the major decision. After forfeiting his match against 34-1 Wyatt Voelker of West Delaware, Boucher dominated Clark Younggreen. He led 10-2 before earning the fall win at 3:01.

Thompson, Yeggy, and Boucher begin their state tournament run Thursday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. The Class 2A tournament with Boucher will begin with first round and first-round consolation action at 1:30 p.m. The Class 1A tournament beings at 6 p.m. with first round and first-round consolation battles. Action will continue Friday and Saturday.