WAVERLY - Joel Northrup is returning to the state wrestling tournament a free man this year.

There aren't any girls in his 132-pound bracket in Des Moines. He's checked to make sure.

"Oh, yeah," he said Saturday with a smile.

Northrup forfeited his first-round match at the state tournament last year to Cassy Herkelman of Cedar Falls rather than wrestle a girl, a decision he ended up explaining on national TV.

He was surprised by the furor his decision created. "I didn't expect it to get that big," he said.

The Linn-Mar junior doesn't have to worry about any gender controversies this year. He can just wrestle and try to help the Lions win the Class 3A state championship.

Northrup and the Lions claimed the Class 3A district title in Waverly Saturday and qualified nine wrestlers for the state tournament that will be held at the Wells Fargo Arena this Thursday through Saturday.

Herkelman competed for Cedar Falls in the 113-pound bracket at Waverly, but she finished third and did not qualify for the state meet this time. She congratulated Northrup for winning the district title and wished him well.

"We're friends," Northrup said. "She's nice to me and I'm nice to her."

Northrup said Herkelman hasn't talked to him about last year's controversy, which became a hot topic that was widely debated by the public. "She doesn't bring it up at all," he said.

Eight Lions won district titles with Matt Wempen (106), Alijah Jeffery (113), Damon Griffin (120), Northrup (132), Ross Lembeck (145), Mitch Wantock (170), Mark Atwater (182) and A.J. Garcia (220) all climbing to the top of the victory stand. Trevor Berry finished second at 126 pounds to complete the nine-man parade to Des Moines.

"That's pretty good numbers," Linn-Mar Coach Doug Streitcher said.

The Lions won the team title by a comfortable margin over Waverly-Shell Rock, 234.5 points to 207.5.

Atwater, a senior, made the state tournament after three near-misses as a freshman, sophomore and junior. He rarely shows emotion during an athletic event, but made an exception Saturday after nipping Adam Walther of Waverly-Shell Rock in the finals, 3-2.

He gestured to the Linn-Mar fans in the packed stands and raised his arms in triumph.

"I really try not to (show emotion), but it got the best of me," he said. "It's exciting for our team. We had a big day. We're really excited about the state meet. That's what I'm most excited about."

Linn-Mar is tied for the fifth-most qualifiers for the state tournament. Southeast Polk and Bettendorf, ranked 1-2 in the state, have qualified 11 grapplers for Des Moines. West Des Moines Valley and Mason City qualified 10 wrestlers, while Linn-Mar, Cedar Rapids Prairie and Iowa City West are sending nine apiece.

The Lions hope to make a run for individual and team honors.

"I think there are a lot of guys that have a chance," Streicher said. "It all depends on how we wrestle. Anything is possible. We'll be right there if we wrestle well."

The Xavier Saints claimed an individual title when senior Jack Boland took the 195-pound crown. Boland pinned Austin Ashbacher of Decorah in the finals in 2:49.

Boland, a four-year member of the varsity, qualified for the state meet for the first time. "It's kind of nice to finish it off with a state tournament berth," he said. "I remember I had like a 6-and-28 record as a sophomore. All the hard work really paid off."

Boland plans to play football at St. Ambrose this fall, but the college does not have a wrestling team. That means the state tournament will be the last time he puts on a singlet.

Sean Ickes placed second at 152 pounds for the Saints and earned a ticket to Des Moines. Xavier finished fifth out of eight teams in the standings with 106 points.

Ryan Chambers, in his first year as Xavier's head coach, was pleasantly surprised by his team's performance. "They had a lot of heart," he said.

The Saints defeated three Linn-Mar wrestlers during the district tournament, contributing to Linn-Mar's inability to get more than nine grapplers to Des Moines.

Linn-Mar will face West Des Moines Valley in the quarterfinals of the state dual meet tournament on Wednesday. The individual state tournament will be begin on Thursday, and Streicher may withhold some (or all) of his individual state qualifiers from the dual meet tournament to keep them fresh.

All eight teams that qualified for the state dual meet tournament will wrestle three times on Wednesday. Streicher was non-committal when asked his plans.

"There are a lot of moving parts to this. I'm not set on any one lineup or any one situation," he said. "I have a general idea of what we're going to do, but that could change a lot depending on what the other team does."

CLASS 3A DISTRICT
At Waverly

TEAM STANDINGS
(State qualifiers in parenthesis)

1. Linn-Mar 234.5 (9), 2. Waverly-Shell Rock 207.5 (8), 3. Decorah 160.5 (5), 4. Cedar Falls 152 (4), 5. Xavier 106 (2), 6. Waterloo West 85 (0), 7. Marion 49 (0), 8. Waterloo East 37 (0).

CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES

106 - Matt Wempen (LM) pinned Dan Kelly (CF), 3:40.
113 - Alijah Jeffery (LM) major dec. Bryce Steiert (WSR), 8-0.
120 - Damon Griffin (LM) dec. Andrew Steiert (WSR), 8-7.
126 - Eric DeVos (WSR) pinned Trevor Berry (LM), 0:40.
132 - Joel Northrup (LM) major dec. Zach Henning (DEC), 11-2.
138 - Spencer Derifield (WSR) pinned Sam Dagit (CF), 0:58.
145 - Ross Lembeck (LM) dec. Kolton Rottink (WSR), 8-3.
152 - Gayge Samuelson (DEC) pinned Sean Ickes (CRX), 4:45.
160 - Nick Hagedorn (CF) major dec. Landon Ashbacher (DEC), 8-0.
170 - Mitch Wantock (LM) dec. Terry Stover (WSR), 3-1 (ot).
182 - Mark Atwater (LM) dec. Adam Walther (WSR), 3-2.
195 - Jack Boland (CRX) pinned Austin Ashbacheer (DEC), 2:49.
220 - A.J. Garcia (LM) dec. Andy Hovden (DEC), 7-2.
285 - Kaleb Staack (WSR) dec. Nick Terpstra (CF), 4-3.

WRESTLEBACKS FOR 2ND
(Where necessary)

120 - Andrew Steiert (WSR) pinned Jerry Duball (CRX), 1:16.
126 - Trevor Berry (LM) pinned Alex Hunter (MAR), 4:41.
132 - Zach Henning (DEC) major dec. Corey Abernathy (WSR), 13-4.
152 - Sean Ickes (CRX) dec. Izaak Miller (WSR), 8-5.
220 - Andy Hovden (DEC) major dec. Devon Davis (CF), 10-1.

SEMIFINALS

106
Matt Wempen (LM) pinned Kyle Lower (WE), 1:53.
Dan Kelly (CF) dec. Justin Reiher (WSR), 8-5.

113
Alijah Jeffery (LM) pinned Dirk Clark (DEC), 0:31.
Bryce Steiert (WSR) pinned Cassy Herkelman (CF), 3:27.

120
Andrew Steiert (WSR) pinned Sean McKnight (WW), 1:52.
Damon Griffith (LM) tech fall Jerry Duball (CRX), 16-0 (3:30).

126
Eric DeVos (WSR) tech fall Alex Hunter (MAR), 17-0 (2:00).
Trevor Berry (LM) dec. Kellan O'Shea (DEC), 6-2.

132
Joel Northrup (LM) dec. Corey Abernathy (WSR), 7-2.
Zach Henning (DEC) dec. Aaron Brummel (CF), 8-3.

138
Spencer Derifield (WSR) pinned Kory Donithan (CRX), 1:12.
Sam Dagit (CF) dec. Levi Lochner (MAR), 10-4.

145
Ross Lembeck (LM) pinned Brandon Matthias (CF), 1:13.
Kolton Rottink (WSR) dec. Hans Holkesvik (DEC), 7-3.

152
Gayge Samuelson (DEC) major dec. Izaak Miller (WSR), 9-1.
Sean Ickes (CRX) major dec. Clayton Steimel (WW), 12-3.

160
Landon Ashbacher (DEC) tech fall Andrew Martin (WW), 17-2 (5:42).
Nick Hagedorn (CF) dec. John Conner (LM), 9-2.

170
Mitch Wantock (LM) dec. Peter Kephart (DEC), 5-2.
Terry Stover (WSR) dec. David Langley (CF), 3-1.

182
Mark Atwater (LM) major dec. Tyler Hovey (DEC), 11-1.
Adam Walther (WSR) dec. Marcus Harrington (WW), 3-0.

195
Austin Ashbacher (DEC) dec. Zach Rahnavardi (CF), 5-4.
Jack Boland (CRX) dec. Ryley Stancel (LM), 10-4.

220
Andy Hovden (DEC) pinned Mackenzie Jones (WW), 0:59.
A.J. Garcia (LM) dec. Devon Davis (CF), 5-1.

285
Kaleb Staack (WSR) dec. Justin Green (LM), 3-2.
Nick Terpstra (CF) pinned Darrell Caldwell (WE), 5:29.

PLACE WINNERS
(Top 2 Qualify For State)

106
1. Matt Wempen (LM), 2. Dan Kelly (CF), 3. Justin Reiher (WSR), 4. Kyler Lower (WE), 5. Gabe Ellifritz (WW), 6. Steven Holkesvik (DEC).

113
1. Alijah Jeffery (LM), 2. Bryce Steiert (WSR), 3. Cassy Herkelman (CF), 4. Dirk Clark (DEC), 5. Lucas Brockman (WW), 6. None.

120
1. Damon Griffin (LM), 2. Adnrew Steiert (WSR), 3. Jerry Duball (CRX), 4. Sean McKnight (WW), 5. Trey Hess (CF), 6. Justin Thompson (MAR).

126
1. Eric DeVos (WSR), 2. Trevor Berry (LM), 3. Alex Hunter (MAR), 4. Kellan O'Shea (DEC), 5. Nick Drahozal (CRX), 6. Cody Sahr (WE).

132
1. Joel Northrup (LM), 2. Zach Henning (DEC), 3. Corey Abernathy(WSR), 4. Aaron Brummel (CF), 5. Tyler Laska (CRX), 6. Bruno Genovese (MAR).

138
1. Spencer Derifield (WSR), 2. Sam Dagit (CF), 3. Kory Donithan (CRX), 4. Levi Lochner (MAR), 5. Cody Ritner (DEC), 6. Spencer Clabough (LM).

145
1. Ross Lembeck (LM), 2. Kolton Rottink (WSR), 3. Hans Holkesvik (DEC), 4. Brandon Matthias (CF), 5. Gabe Kruger (WW), 6. Nick Kramer (MAR).

152
1. Gayge Samuelson (DEC), 2. Sean Ickes (CRX), 3. Izaak Miller (WSR), 4. Clayton Steimel (WW), 5. Josh Pederson (LM), 6. Hunter Banes (MAR).

160
1. Nick Hagedorn (CF), 2. Landon Ashbacher (DEC), 3. Andrew Martin (WW), 4. John Conner (LM), 5. Tre Love (WE), 6. Thomas Foy (WSR).

170
1. Mitch Wantock (LM), 2. Terry Stover (WSR), 3. David langley (CF), 4. Peter Kephart (CF), 5. Kyler Mathews (WW), 6. Jarred Joens (CRX).

182
1. Mitch Wantock (LM), 2. Adam Walther (WSR), 3. Marcus Harrington (WW), 4. Tyler Hovey (DEC), 5. Jacob Meyers (CRX), 6. Dalton Gardner (MAR).

195
1. Jack Boland (CRX), 2. Austin Ashbacher (DEC), 3. Zach Rahnavardi (CF), 4. Ryley Stancel (LM), 5. Seth Meyne (WSR), 6. Jordan Laird (WW).

220
1. A.J. Garcia (LM), 2. Andy Hovden (DEC), 3. Devon Davis (CF), 4. Mackenzie Jones (WW), 5. Kyle Grandon (MAR), 6. Austin Gloede (CRX).

285
1. Kaleb Staack (WSR), 2. Nick Terpstra (CF), 3. Darrell Caldwell (WE), 4. Justin Green (LM), 5. William Wright (CRX), 6. Jack Rooff (WW).