Decorah's Mason Avila looks to fill it up for a fourth medal at boys state wrestling

DES MOINES — Decorah’s Mason Avila prides himself on his gas tank.

The 132-pound senior’s intense. He’s relentless. He could join an elite club by becoming a four-time medalist this week at the Iowa High School Athletic Association Class 2A state wrestling meet, but after his first match at Casey’s Center, he often feels his tank’s not fully topped off — not yet, anyway.

“I was a little tired,” said Avila, who won by decision, 9-6, over West Delaware’s Jarrett Engel in Thursday’s second-round tournament action. “I mean, the first one’s always tiring. Making weight every day, that really gets you, but I felt pretty good being out there. I feel like I can stay in my good position the whole time and control the attacks.”

The seventh-seeded Avila — who’s finished seventh, fifth, and seventh at previous state meets — is one of a school-record-tying 11 state qualifiers for the Vikings, who led the 2A team standings after the round of 16. Decorah had 43.5 points at that point and Independence sat in second with 40 points. The Mustangs’ unbeaten and top-seeded 157-pounder, Mikey Ryan, like Avila, is chasing a fourth straight medal at state, and he won by technical fall in his second-round bout.

Several other Gazette-area 2A wrestlers started out the state meet with gusto, including Solon’s No. 2-seeded 106-pound sophomore Anderson Osgood, who won by major decision (20-6) on Thursday.

“It was just like any other match,” Osgood said. “Just going out there and competing, no matter what the stage is, no matter who the guy is.”

Some of those guys he could face in the next couple of days are also Gazette-area wrestlers — and all scored bonus points on Thursday. Top-seeded 106-pounder Jackson Parmater of Vinton-Shellsburg won by fall, third-seeded Edisen Fullhart of Decorah won by technical fall, and fourth-seeded Tyler Gerhold of Alburnett pinned his foe in just over a minute.

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Ethan Humphrey of West Branch, the top-seeded 113-pounder, didn’t score a pin on Thursday but he did win by technical fall while yielding a single point.

“No matter my opponent, I know I can win anyway,” said Humphrey, a junior whose placed twice at state for his team in 1A. “So I just keep that mindset going, not really letting anything get ahead of me.”

Atlee Dewitt of Alburnett isn’t letting anything get in the way of being a senior leader for the Pirates, who like the Bears, bumped up from 1A to 2A this season.

He placed at state in each of the past two seasons and won his tense second-round match on Thursday by decision.

“It’s kind of different this year, but it’s fun,” Dewitt said. “The freshmen do their job. Tyler Gerhold went out there and got himself a (quick) pin. What more can you as for?”

Just heightened leadership from guys like Dewitt, along with fellow seniors such as Eaghan Fleshman, the Pirates’ top-ranked heavyweight who won by fall on Thursday in 1:22.

“We’re underclassmen heavy here, but I do a good job — and then when I slip up a little bit, Eaghan picks it up,” Dewitt said.

Decorah’s Avila hopes his fully-fueled tank picks up and leads him to the podium for that hallowed fourth time — and maybe even the top of it. He’d be the first Viking to medal four times at state since Lee Fullhart, who won three state titles while accomplishing the feat before starring for the University of Iowa and on the international stage.

“That would be a pretty big accomplishment,” he said.

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