How wrestlers from the Ames area fared at the Iowa state tournament
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DES MOINES — Easton Enyeart keeps getting closer.
The Ballard junior fell just short of a state title for the second year in a row on Feb. 21 at the Casey's Center.
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Enyeart lost to Union's Brayden Bohnsack by a 3-2 decision in last year's Class 2A finals at 120 pounds. This time, he pushed undefeated Gage Spurgeon of Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont to sudden victory, plus two tiebreaker rounds, before losing, 5-1 in the state title match.
"We've wrestled him a couple of times and this is the closest we've (been)," said Ballard coach Dillon Combs. "We had a shot at the legs that he almost finished. He just ran out of bounds. That kid (Spurgeon) is crafty. In overtime, he's crafty, and we just couldn't get away."
The score was tied at 1-1 through the three periods of regulation. Spurgeon got an escape in the second period and Enyeart picked one up eight seconds into the third period.
Enyeart got his good shot in 55 seconds into the period, but he could not finish it off at the edge thanks to the savvy defense by Spurgeon.
Neither wrestler could gain the upper hand in the sudden victory period, so it went into tiebreaker rounds. Spurgeon took the bottom position to start the first tiebreaker period, and he was able to escape to take the lead.
In the second tiebreaker, Enyeart started on bottom. He gave everything he could to get away from Spurgeon, but it was to no avail.
Spurgeon held onto Enyeart for the entire 30 seconds, keeping him down on the mat as the final seconds ran off to secure his second state championship in three years and complete a 52-0 season.
Spurgeon is headed to North Dakota State next year. Enyeart was all too familiar with his foe — they are sparring partners at the Sebolt Wrestling Academy in Jefferson.
Spurgeon also earned a 7-2 victory over Enyeart earlier this season at the Rich Gray Men's Wrestling Invitational in Truro.
"He's tough," Enyeart said. "He's good at scrambling; he's good at rolling around, especially in that waterfall position. That's one of his strong suits on defense."
Even though he came up short, Enyeart still has plenty to be proud of this season. He went 35-5, pushing his career record to 110-15, and he made the finals for the second year in a row after placing fourth at 106 as a freshman.
At the 2026 state meet, Enyeart defeated Williamsburg's Hayden Albaugh by technical fall (15-0), Decorah's Mason Avila by a 10-3 decision and Crestwood's Carter Schmauss by a 5-1 decision to reach the finals.
"I think that I'm just developing," Enyeart said. "I'm catching up with these kids that are already committed to D1 schools and that's my goal. I want to surpass them."
Jaimon Mogard and Braxton Winkey both place third
The future for boys wrestling at Ames High is looking good following the conclusion of the 2026 state tournament.
Braxton Winkey and Jaimon Mogard both placed third at state in Class 3A competition.
Winkey, a junior, completed a busy 5-1 run through the tournament by avenging his sole loss at state. Winkey suffered a 3-1 loss to Waverly-Shell Rock's Easton Jorgenson in the quarterfinals on Feb. 19, but after winning three consolation matches, he got another crack and Jorgenson in the third-place match.
This time, Winkey was in complete control, scoring a takedown in the second period and later adding a reversal to claim a 5-0 victory and complete an impressive 6-1 run through the tournament.
"On the front side, my head wasn't right (and) he upset me, but on the backside, I had nothing to lose, came back and won three matches and got third," Winkey said. "It felt good to beat him."
Winkey finished his junior year at 43-4. He won his first match by fall over Marion's Lucas Stearns and then followed up his loss to Jorgenson with wins by decision over North Scott's Zach Green (4-0), Pleasant Valley's Soren Kelsall (8-3) and Clinton's Danny Peters (12-9) before gaining revenge on Jorgenson.
Mogard was a machine at 144 during state. His only loss was a tough 4-2 battle to No. 1 Wil Oberbroeckling in the semifinals.
Mogard won his first two matches by fall and technical fall, respectively, and then in the consolation round, he earned a 17-2 tech fall over Indianola's Stoney Wood and an 18-5 major decision over Waukee Northwest's Hayden Hutt to finish his freshman season at 44-4. The loss to Oberbroeckling was his only setback against a wrestler from Iowa.
"The match I needed to win didn't go my way, but I'm just a freshman," Mogard said. "I have three more years to do it."
With those two coming back and the hopeful addition of Iowa State recruit Yandro Soto-Rivera, who missed the season due to health issues, the Little Cyclones could have multiple state champions in 2027.
"I can't say enough good things about those guys," said Ames coach Andy Fecht. "They should hold their heads high and be proud of themselves. We're excited for next year, for sure."
Caiden Latch places seventh in 2A at 138
Roland-Story junior Caiden Latch picked up his first state wrestling medal by placing seventh at 138 in 2A.
"It's good," Latch said. "Not what I came for, but it feels good to be on the podium."
Latch went 4-2 during his second state tournament.
He scored an 18-3 technical fall over Humboldt's Jonny Hayden and a fall over Washington's Caden Greiner in the first two championship rounds before losing by major decision, 10-1, to Carter Cajthaml of New Hampton/Turkey Valley in the quarterfinals. Latch came back to top Benton Community's Jaxson Mehlert by a 12-6 decision in the consolation fourth round and then he suffered a 13-6 loss in a rematch with Greiner to put him in the seventh-place match.
In the seventh-place match, Latch rallied from a 4-0 deficit for a 6-5 win over EBF's Kaden Kirkpatrick thanks to a key takedown off a headlock near the edge.
"It was a good match," Latch said. "I respect (Kirkpatrick), he's a good kid all around."
Latch is looking forward to next season and the chance to move up even higher on the podium.
"I'm going to keep building off (this) getting ready for next year," Latch said. "I'm going to wrestle in the summer too, so that will help more for next year too."
Three other area wrestlers get multiple wins at state
Ames senior Braxtyn Brown, Ballard senior Carter Jeffs, Nevada senior Isaac Williams and Roland-Story junior Chance Georgius all earned at least two victories at state.
Brown wrestled at 157 in 3A. He went 2-2 at state with victories by fall over Ottumwa's Efren Huerta in the first round and Dowling Catholic's Caleb Amsden in the consolation second round to finish his final season at 34-19.
Jeffs ended his senior season at 29-15 after going 3-2 at 150 in 2A. His three victories were over Estherville-Lincoln Central's Warren Duitsman by major decision (15-6) in the first round, a 9-6 decision over Forest City's Aiden Frascht in the consolation second round and a 13-3 major decision over Algona's Barrett Morgan in the consolation third round.
Williams went 2-2 at 175 in 2A. He earned a 10-2 major decision over Humoldt's Tate Halverson in the consolation second round and an 11-5 decision over Osage's Tysen Stangel in the consolation third round to end his final year at 34-6.
Georgius went 2-2 at 190 in 2A. He defeated Keokuk's Jarod Anderson by sudden victory, 7-4, in the consolation second round and Sheldon/South O'Brien's Mitchel Fischer by a 10-3 decision in the consolation third round to end with a 37-13 record.
Gilbert's Mason Wibholm and Josh Fink both went 0-2 during state in 2A. Wibholm finished the season 34-17 at 157 and Fink 29-21 at 175.
Joe Randleman covers high school sports for the Ames Tribune. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @JoeRandleman
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: 4 from Ames area land on the podium at Iowa state wrestling tournament