Xavier senior Josh Gerke collected three pins at the Class 3A district  wrestling tournament Saturday and is headed to the state tournament  with 101 pins in his career.

Gerke, Patrick Chambers and Alex Francois all finished second in their  weight classes for the Saints and qualified for state as district  runners-up.

Gerke lost to Caleb Conway of Marion, 4-2 in overtime, in the  championship at 145 pounds. Gerke (38-3) has lost only three times all  season, and all three setbacks have been to Conway.

Gerke began the tournament with pins in 2:18 and 2:42 before being  nipped by Conway. Gerke got his third pin in the wrestle-back for  second place to make the state meet for the second straight year.

Gerke is only the third wrestler in Metro history to reach 100 pins.  Matt Wycoff recorded 124 pins for Marion from 1997-2000 and is the  all-time Metro leader. Alijah Jeffery had 105 pins for Linn-Mar from  2011-14.

Chambers (29-18) collected a pin in his wrestle-back for second place  at 126 pounds to earn a trip to Des Moines next week.

Francois (22-16) is headed to the state meet as the district runner-up  at 220 pounds.

Keegan Schultschik (120), Erik Rodriguez (195) and Tommy Pudil (285)  finished third for the Saints. Only the district champion and  runner-up advance to the state tournament.

Dubuque Hempstead won the district title at Jefferson with 218 points.  Xavier placed fifth out of eight teams.

TEAM STANDINGS

1. Hempstead 218, 2. Linn-Mar 163, 3. Kennedy 147, 4. Clinton 127, 5.  Xavier 126, 6. Marion 117.5, 7. Jefferson 116.5, 8. Washington 85.