DES MOINES - Prairie senior Zach Witte was a bloody mess after winning the 152-pound title at the Class 3A state wrestling tournament Saturday night.

Bloody forehead, bloody nose and bloody proud.

Witte became the sixth multiple state champion in school history when he defeated Dylan Blackford of Southeast Polk, 5-3, before a packed house at the Wells Fargo Arena.

Witte captured the 145-pound title last year and did not lose a single match as a junior or senior.

"I had a goal all year and last year. I accomplished it, so it feels really good," he said.

Witte (23-0) began the championship match with white tape around his head, covering a gash on his forehead, but the blood seeped through several times and trainers had to make hasty repairs.

He also suffered a bloody nose during the match, requiring more repairs, and there were red splotches all over his chiseled body after the match ended.

"That's the way it's supposed to be, right?" he said with a big, happy smile.

Witte's victory clinched fifth place in the team standings for Prairie, giving the Hawks a slight edge over West Des Moines Valley in the final tally.

Prairie sophomore Chris Walters was defeated by Tyler Willers of Pleasant Valley, 3-1, in the championship match at 120 pounds. Walters finished the campaign at 40-4. Willers (51-2) won the 103-pound title in 2010 as a sophomore and finished his career with two state crowns.

Kennedy senior Luke Kremer was trimmed by Dakota Bauer of Iowa City West, 6-4, in the finals at 132 pounds. Kremer (39-6) placed sixth at the state meet as a sophomore, finished third last year and placed a notch higher this time around.

Witte joined Barry Davis, Dan Dubishar, Matt Hatcher, Dan Osborn and Jim Zalesky as Prairie wrestlers with multiple state titles. Davis won three crowns in 1978-79-80 while all the others finished their careers with two titles.

Witte place second at the state meet as a freshman in 2009, but failed to qualify as a sophomore. That proved to be a turning point in his career.

"That definitely motivated me," he said. "I was not happy. I don't think anyone would be happy after that. I made my goal not to let that ever happen again."

Prairie Coach Blake Williams said Witte returned to the wrestling room as a junior with great determination.

"He wanted to remember that feeling. And he did," said Williams. "And from last year (after winning the state title), I said 'Now remember THAT feeling.' He remembers both of those."

Williams thought Witte's considerable state tournament experience was a pivotal factor Saturday night. Blackford placed fourth as a freshman in 2010, but could not match Witte's track record.

Witte trailed, 1-0, after two periods, but kept his cool, kept wrestling and got two takedowns in the third period.

"Zach didn't panic, he didn't come out of his game plan or anything," said Williams. "He stayed in position and did what he does best.

"The great thing about Zach, being in that situation (the state finals) two times before, he was so relaxed and so loose. He knew exactly what he needed to do and he went out and did it.

"It's great, a great way to go out for him," said Williams.

Witte missed the first six weeks of the season with a broken bone near his left wrist, thanks to a mishap during the football season, but returned in January and began his quest for another title.

Witte, who will wrestle at Northern Iowa next year, was a happy guy Saturday night. He was also a hungry guy after maintaining his weight all season.

"I'm going to have a steak and potatoes," he said. "And a nice dessert."

STATE TOURNAMENT
At Des Moines
(Wells Fargo Arena)

Saturday's Results

CLASS 3A

Team Standings 
(Final)

1. Bettendorf 170.0
2. Southeast Polk 156.5
3. Iowa City, West 126.5
4. Linn Mar, Marion 126.0
5. Prairie, Cedar Rapids 86.5
6. Valley, West Des Moines 84.0
7. Mason City 70.0
7. Pleasant Valley 70.0
7. Waverly-Shell Rock 70.0
10. Lewis Central 64.0
11. Urbandale 59.5
12. Ankeny 58.5
13. Indianola 44.0
14. Spencer 43.0
15. Burlington 39.0
16. Johnston 33.5
17. Des Moines, Roosevelt 28.0
18. Fort Madison 26.5
19. Cedar Falls 22.0
20. Cedar Rapids, Kennedy 21.0
21. North Scott, Eldridge 19.5
22. Dowling Catholic, West Des Moines 18.0
23. Clinton 17.0
23. Sioux City, East 17.0
25. Fort Dodge 16.0
26. Keokuk 15.0
26. Oskaloosa 15.0
28. Epworth, Western Dubuque 13.0
29. Dubuque, Hempstead 12.5
30. Cedar Rapids, Washington 9.0
30. Davenport West 9.0
30. Sioux City, North 9.0
33. Iowa City, City High 8.0
33. Knoxville 8.0
35. Des Moines, North-Hoover 7.0
36. Council Bluffs, Thomas Jefferson 6.0
36. Decorah 6.0
36. Muscatine 6.0
39. Dubuque, Senior 5.0
40. Davenport Central 4.0
40. Mount Pleasant 4.0
42. Ames 3.0
42. Council Bluffs, Abraham Lincoln 3.0
44. Marshalltown 2.0
44. Xavier, Cedar Rapids 2.0
46. Boone 1.0
46. Davenport North 1.0
46. Des Moines, East 1.0

Championship Bouts

106 pounds
Matt Wempen (Linn Mar, Marion) 48-2 won in overtime over Travis Willers (Pleasant Valley) 50-3 (OT 3-1)

113
Phillip Laux (Iowa City, West) 50-3 won by decision over Fredy Stroker (Bettendorf) 42-2 (Dec 3-1)

120
Tyler Willers (Pleasant Valley) 51-2 won by decision over Chris Walters (Prairie, Cedar Rapids) 40-4 (Dec 3-1)

126
Cory Clark (Southeast Polk) 46-1 won by decision over Eric DeVos (Waverly-Shell Rock) 44-4 (Dec 6-2)

132
Dakota Bauer (Iowa City, West) 52-2 won by decision over Luke Kremer (Cedar Rapids, Kennedy) 39-6 (Dec 5-4)

138
John Meeks (Des Moines, Roosevelt) 45-0 won by decision over Connor Ryan (Bettendorf) 39-5 (Dec 9-6)

145
Gabriel Moreno (Urbandale) 41-0 won by decision over Ross Lembeck (Linn Mar, Marion) 48-3 (Dec 8-1)

152
Zach Witte (Prairie, Cedar Rapids) 23-0 won by decision over Dylan Blackford (Southeast Polk) 44-4 (Dec 5-3)

160
Zeb Wahle (Lewis Central) 50-2 won by decision over Justin Koethe (Iowa City, West) 53-2 (Dec 3-2)

170
Alex Meyer (Southeast Polk) 46-1 won by decision over Colbey Vance (Bettendorf) 39-6 (Dec 10-4)

182
Jared Bartel (Mason City) 49-0 won by decision over Mark Atwater (Linn Mar, Marion) 31-4 (Dec 5-0)

195
Ross Larson (Ankeny) 41-0 won by pin over Bud Smith (Southeast Polk) 37-5 (Pin 1:21)

220
Willie Miklus (Southeast Polk) 47-0 won by pin over Zach Renshaw (Lewis Central) 48-3 (Pin 1:49)

285
Nate Shaw (Bettendorf) 31-1 won in overtime over Don Dawson (Indianola) 37-3 (OT 6-4)

Consolation Bracket

Fourth Round

106
Kaz Onoo (Mason City) 41-8 won by decision over Tanner Rohweder (Dowling Catholic, West Des Moines) 34-6 (Dec 4-1)
Jake Koethe (Valley, West Des Moines) 45-4 won by decision over Bryce Meyer (Fort Madison) 36-6 (Dec 6-1)

113
Alijah Jeffery (Linn Mar, Marion) 44-6 won by decision over Hunter Genco (Clinton) 38-6 (Dec 5-3)
Josh Wenger (Prairie, Cedar Rapids) 45-5 won by decision over Joe McGinnis (Indianola) 39-11 (Dec 2-0)

120
Andres Gonzalez (Mason City) 40-2 won by decision over Ernest Willis (Iowa City, West) 40-14 (Dec 4-2)
Colby Knight (Urbandale) 32-2 won by decision over John Gioffredi (Indianola) 38-10 (Dec 2-1)

126
Tyler McWilliams (Sioux City, East) 45-7 won by decision over John Christopherson (Spencer) 27-3 (Dec 5-2)
Jack Hathaway (Iowa City, West) 50-4 won by pin over Trey Blaha (Prairie, Cedar Rapids) 35-7 (Pin 3:31)

132
Joel Northrup (Linn Mar, Marion) 44-6 won by decision over Randy McPhee (Davenport West) 18-7 (Dec 3-1)
Kyle Larson (Valley, West Des Moines) 39-2 won by decision over Logan Ryan (Bettendorf) 37-12 (Dec 5-1)

138
Jack Randall (Spencer) 44-4 won by pin over Nate Harms (Urbandale) 30-5 (Pin 5:10)
Dakota Gray (Fort Madison) 36-5 won by pin over Alex Caldwell (Clinton) 40-7 (Pin 2:15)

145
Kolton Rottink (Waverly-Shell Rock) 37-9 won by major decision over Austin Boyd (Burlington) 35-9 (Maj 11-2)
Bubba Hernandez (Bettendorf) 37-8 won by decision over Gradey Gambrall (Iowa City, West) 39-13 (Dec 2-1)

152
Trey Lewis (Valley, West Des Moines) 23-5 won by decision over Dalton Witte (Burlington) 35-10 (Dec 9-6)
Drake Chase (Bettendorf) 20-10 won by decision over Tanner Schaefer (Spencer) 35-4 (Dec 10-5)

160
Nick Hagedorn (Cedar Falls) 19-8 won by decision over Clint Underwood (Valley, West Des Moines) 39-12 (Dec 11-5)
Brady Letney (Pleasant Valley) 38-14 won by decision over Max Krieger (Mason City) 42-7 (Dec 4-3)

170
Carson Powell (Ankeny) 37-5 won by pin over Cameron Rathje (Prairie, Cedar Rapids) 38-7 (Pin 0:40)
Ben Schwery (Lewis Central) 50-2 won by decision over Mitch Wantock (Linn Mar, Marion) 26-4 (Dec 5-2)

182
Matt Seabold (Burlington) 36-4 won by decision over Adam Walther (Waverly-Shell Rock) 39-11 (Dec 8-6)
Bryan Levsen (Bettendorf) 39-5 won by major decision over Casey Marnin (Southeast Polk) 37-11 (Maj 10-0)

195
Dane Jones (Oskaloosa) 35-7 won by decision over Keaton Jurevitz (Bettendorf) 31-9 (Dec 5-3)
Tarin Phillips (Valley, West Des Moines) 43-2 won by decision over Cegan Long (North Scott, Eldridge) 44-11 (Dec 3-2)

220
AJ Garcia (Linn Mar, Marion) 42-11 won by pin over Jake Melik (Pleasant Valley) 36-11 (Pin 2:24)
Joe Scanlan (Johnston) 34-5 won by decision over Andrew Netolicky (Prairie, Cedar Rapids) 41-8 (Dec 4-0)

285
Bryce Fisher (Southeast Polk) 41-7 won by pin over Tyler Burrell (Cedar Rapids, Washington) 39-4 (Pin 5:14)
Jake Scanlan (Johnston) 34-6 won by decision over Shaquille Wells (Urbandale) 31-15 (Dec 3-1)

Placement Matches

106
3rd Place - Jake Koethe (Valley, West Des Moines) 46-4 won by decision over Kaz Onoo (Mason City) 41-9 (Dec 3-0)
5th Place - Tanner Rohweder (Dowling Catholic, West Des Moines) 35-6 won in overtime over Bryce Meyer (Fort Madison) 36-7 (OT 13-11)
7th Place - Chase Lynn (Dubuque, Senior) 35-7 won by decision over Alec Vogel (Muscatine) 27-7 (Dec 3-2)

113
3rd Place - Alijah Jeffery (Linn Mar, Marion) 45-6 won by decision over Josh Wenger (Prairie, Cedar Rapids) 45-6 (Dec 5-3)
5th Place - Joe McGinnis (Indianola) 40-11 won by decision over Hunter Genco (Clinton) 38-7 (Dec 10-9)
7th Place - Bryce Steiert (Waverly-Shell Rock) 35-14 won by decision over Jay Fresh (Knoxville) 33-10 (Dec 4-2)

120
3rd Place - Andres Gonzalez (Mason City) 41-2 won by decision over Colby Knight (Urbandale) 32-3 (Dec 4-2)
5th Place - Ernest Willis (Iowa City, West) 41-14 won by decision over John Gioffredi (Indianola) 38-11 (Dec 9-3)
7th Place - Andrew Steiert (Waverly-Shell Rock) 41-10 won by decision over Damon Griffin (Linn Mar, Marion) 41-11 (Dec 4-0)

126
3rd Place - Jack Hathaway (Iowa City, West) 51-4 won by pin over Tyler McWilliams (Sioux City, East) 45-8 (Pin 1:28)
5th Place - John Christopherson (Spencer) 28-3 won by pin over Trey Blaha (Prairie, Cedar Rapids) 35-8 (Pin 6:23)
7th Place - Jacob Woodard (Bettendorf) 28-14 won by pin over Miles Bostic (Davenport Central) 33-12 (Pin 3:12)

132
3rd Place - Kyle Larson (Valley, West Des Moines) 40-2 won by decision over Joel Northrup (Linn Mar, Marion) 44-7 (Dec 7-3)
5th Place - Logan Ryan (Bettendorf) 38-12 won by decision over Randy McPhee (Davenport West) 18-8 (Dec 5-4)
7th Place - Zach Henning (Decorah) 34-9 won in overtime over Nick Steger (Epworth, Western Dubuque) 47-6 (OT 8-6)

138
3rd Place - Jack Randall (Spencer) 45-4 won by pin over Dakota Gray (Fort Madison) 36-6 (Pin 5:03)
5th Place - Nate Harms (Urbandale) 31-5 won by pin over Alex Caldwell (Clinton) 40-8 (Pin 3:12)
7th Place - Kegan Wakefield (Iowa City, West) 26-8 won by decision over Spencer Derifield (Waverly-Shell Rock) 35-16 (Dec 8-1)

145
3rd Place - Bubba Hernandez (Bettendorf) 38-8 won by decision over Kolton Rottink (Waverly-Shell Rock) 37-10 (Dec 10-7)
5th Place - Gradey Gambrall (Iowa City, West) 40-13 won by decision over Austin Boyd (Burlington) 35-10 (Dec 6-4)
7th Place - Brayton Taylor (Fort Dodge) 11-3 won by injury default over Brian Warren (Des Moines, North-Hoover) 36-6 (I-D)

152
3rd Place - Trey Lewis (Valley, West Des Moines) 24-5 won by decision over Drake Chase (Bettendorf) 20-11 (Dec 6-5)
5th Place - Dalton Witte (Burlington) 36-10 won by decision over Tanner Schaefer (Spencer) 35-5 (Dec 10-8)
7th Place - Derek Rose (Keokuk) 31-6 won by decision over Dustin Fuller (Sioux City, North) 39-10 (Dec 7-3)

160
3rd Place - Brady Letney (Pleasant Valley) 39-14 won by decision over Nick Hagedorn (Cedar Falls) 19-9 (Dec 6-4)
5th Place - Max Krieger (Mason City) 43-7 won by major decision over Clint Underwood (Valley, West Des Moines) 39-13 (Maj 10-1)
7th Place - Isaiah Patton (Dowling Catholic, West Des Moines) 24-22 won by decision over Duke Egli (Fort Dodge) 33-9 (Dec 4-3)

170
3rd Place - Carson Powell (Ankeny) 38-5 won by pin over Ben Schwery (Lewis Central) 50-3 (Pin 2:52)
5th Place - Mitch Wantock (Linn Mar, Marion) 27-4 won by decision over Cameron Rathje (Prairie, Cedar Rapids) 38-8 (Dec 11-6)
7th Place - Parker Sturges (Mason City) 16-9 won by decision over Justin Kreiter (North Scott, Eldridge) 37-16 (Dec 11-8)

182
3rd Place - Bryan Levsen (Bettendorf) 40-5 won by major decision over Matt Seabold (Burlington) 36-5 (Maj 8-0)
5th Place - Casey Marnin (Southeast Polk) 38-11 won by pin over Adam Walther (Waverly-Shell Rock) 39-12 (Pin 1:00)
7th Place - Brad Boden (Indianola) 23-5 won by decision over Layton Fritsch (Dubuque, Hempstead) 29-8 (Dec 4-3)

195
3rd Place - Tarin Phillips (Valley, West Des Moines) 44-2 won by decision over Dane Jones (Oskaloosa) 35-8 (Dec 3-1)
5th Place - Keaton Jurevitz (Bettendorf) 32-9 won in double overtime over Cegan Long (North Scott, Eldridge) 44-12 (2-OT 3-2)
7th Place - Nick Jepsen (Urbandale) 34-14 won by decision over Austin Lear (Lewis Central) 35-20 (Dec 5-4)

220
3rd Place - Joe Scanlan (Johnston) 35-5 won by pin over AJ Garcia (Linn Mar, Marion) 42-12 (Pin 1:33)
5th Place - Andrew Netolicky (Prairie, Cedar Rapids) 42-8 won by pin over Jake Melik (Pleasant Valley) 36-12 (Pin 5:24)
7th Place - Brett Haas (Dubuque, Hempstead) 28-3 won by pin over Colton Aplara (Mount Pleasant) 28-12 (Pin 0:59)

285
3rd Place - Bryce Fisher (Southeast Polk) 42-7 won by decision over Jake Scanlan (Johnston) 34-7 (Dec 2-1)
5th Place - Tyler Burrell (Cedar Rapids, Washington) 40-4 won by decision over Shaquille Wells (Urbandale) 31-16 (Dec 2-1)
7th Place - Nick Terpstra (Cedar Falls) 37-16 won by decision over Colin Foerstner (Iowa City, West) 29-25 (Dec 4-3)