Tigers’ Zarate, Gusman punch tickets to state

Red Oak’s Izic Zarate and Dayton Gusman are headed to state.
Zarate and Gusman both finished as runners-up in their respective weight classes at the Class 2A District Wrestling Meet in Glenwood Saturday to punch their tickets to Iowa State Wrestling Meet this week in Des Moines.
The state tournament opens today with Class 3A matches at the Casey’s Center in Des Moines. The Tigers and Class 2A competition commences Thursday at 2:30 p.m.
Glenwood won the district title with a team score of 202.5. Atlantic was the runner up with 184.5 points. The Rams sent seven wrestlers to state and the Trojans eight.
The top two individual place winners at districts qualify for state.
Red Oak coach Tiegen Podliska said his team’s mindset heading into the district meet was “records don’t matter, everyone now has a clean slate.”
“You are going to have the opportunity to beat some kids you haven’t beat before, but they are going to have the same opportunity,” Podliska said. “Upsets are inevitable. We did a good job flipping some results from the season at several weight classes.”
Zarate (113 pounds) was the benefit of one of those flips. The Tiger sophomore was 0-2 this season against Glenwood’s Quinn Lane but in their semifinal Saturday, Zarate got the better of the Ram freshman by fall.
 “We knew if we slowed the match down and took what was there instead of forcing positions we could see success,” Podliska said. “He did just that controlling the entire match, in every position, before getting the fall. He had some opportunities in his finals match, but they were all on the edge of the mat. We have to be able to control the center.”
Zarate lost his final by fall to Winterset’s Sebastian Brooks.
According to district seeding, Gusman was the only Tiger predicted to be a state qualifier, Podliska said.  But that didn’t make the senior’s journey any easier.
Gusman battled and scrapped with Creston’s Colby Brammer in the semifinals before pulling out a 12-7 win to reach the finals. The 150-pounder nearly went the distance before going down by fall to Atlantic’s Jayden Harter in the finals at 5:27 mark.
“We knew the semifinal match was going to be tough as we had a very close match earlier this season with that individual,” the coach said. “He controlled positions and got a five-point win. He lost a couple positions in the finals, and the score probably wasn’t indicative of the match as he had to try to force things to battle back.”
The Tigers’ added a trio of fourth place finishes from Jacob Woodend (126), Jared Scriver (190) and Oliver Dykes (215).
Woodend, a sophomore, is in his first year out for wrestling and Scriver, a junior, battled through injuries much of the season. Dykes was perhaps the most disappointed in his results. The junior put a lot of work in this season, and it showed on the mat.
“Oliver was upset with his results, because he has invested a tremendous amount of time and effort throughout the offseason which increases his expectations,” Podliska said. “He was a couple positions away from a state berth and doubled his wins from last season.
“One of the biggest things to look at, is the guys who improved on results the most from last season are the kids who put in the most work in the offseason. We talk about it a lot but there is no greater example than these guys.”
Zarate (19-14) will open his first state meet against Anamosa’s Charlie Lindley (40-10) in Thursday’s opening round in Des Moines. Gusman (32-12) will face Hayter (51-8) in a rematch in his opener. The state meet runs through Saturday.

Class 2A Districts
Team Results
1. Glenwood, 202.5. 2. Atlantic, 184.5. 3. Creston, 132. 4. Winterset, 117.5. 5. Harlan, 109. 6. Shenandoah, 79. 7. Red Oak, 65. 8. Clarinda, 18.

State Qualifiers
106: 1. Ace Cochrane, Glenwood. 2. Dayton Van Horn, Atlantic. 113: 1. Sebastian Brooks, Winterset. 2. Izic Zarate, Red Oak. 120: 1. Brody Black, Glenwood. 2. Keaton Schroeder, Atlantic. 126: 1. Joseph Leick, Glenwood. 2. Judah Gurwell, Winterset. 132: 1. Braxton Hass, Atlantic. 2. Cade Harlan, Winterset. 138: 1. Lane Travis, Creston. 2. Landon Hagen, Atlantic. 144: 1. Hayden Roush, Shenandoah. 2. Jayse Jensen, Winterset. 150: 1. Jayden Harter, Atlantic. 2. Dayton Gusman, Red Oak. 157: 1. Chayton Snethen, Harlan. 2. Jose Avila, Creston. 165: 1. Jacob McGargill, Shenandoah. 2. Jax Jensen, Winterset. 175: 1. Nile Lundvall, Glenwood. 2. Dreven Smith, Atlantic. 190: Donovan Hedrington, Atlantic. 2. Jacob Aust, Glenwood. 215: 1. Mason Koehler, Glenwood. 2. Travin Thomas, Atlantic. 285: 1. Drake Buthe, Glenwood. 2. Gunner Martwick, Creston.