Two boys wrestlers finish state runner-up, team 18th overall

Photo courtesy: Adam Atkinson

Two Little Cyclone boys wrestlers landed a spot in Saturday night’s championship round in front of a packed Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Jabari Hinson entered the state tournament seeded third at 126. After pinning Ryan Young (Indianola) in 1:52 in the second round, Hinson secured a spot in the semifinals with a victory sixth-seeded John King of Waukee Northwest. In the semis, Hinson scored a takedown in the first overtime period to top No. 7 Maximus Riggins (Southeast Polk).

Hinson got Iowa City High’s top-ranked Cale Seaton in the championship match. Hinson ended up falling by a narrow 4-3 decision, matching the same score from when the two wrestlers squared off at the Mendenhall Invitational on January 7th in Ames.

At 195, Danarii Mickel pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the tournament in the semifinal round to book his place in the finals. Up 3-1 in overtime, Mickel won by injury default over top-ranked and two-time state champion McCrae Hagarty of Waverly-Shell Rock. After taking down Collin Velky (Cedar Rapids Prairie) by fall in the second round and AJ Petersen (North Scott) in the quarterfinals by an 8-4 decision, Mickel had the chance to become the first-ever freshman to win a state title in weight class above 160.

Mickel’s opponent in the final was Iowa Alliance Conference foe Dreshaun Ross of Fort Dodge. The tall and lengthy Ross, also a freshman, controlled the tempo of the finals match, topping Mickel by an 8-1 decision.

Kyler Hall also earned points for the Little Cyclones at heavyweight. Fourth-seeded Hall collected a second round pin over Jacob Klostermann (Western Dubuque) before topping Logan Huckfelt (Spencer) via an 4-2 decision. In the semifinals, top-ranked Maddux Borcherding-Johnson (Norwalk) edged out a 6-4 decision to send to Hall to the consolation bracket.

Hall would drop the consolation semifinal match to seventh-seeded Cooper Martinson (Southeast Polk) by fall. Hall would rebound by pinning Logan Huckfelt in a rematch in the 5th place match to finish his prep wrestling career with a 104-37 varsity-level record. Hall went 38-5 this season.

Jackson Winkey’s matches went chalk in the 160 bracket. The 18th-seeded sophomore narrowly lost to No. 15 Dylan Marti (North Scott) in the opening round via a 5-4 decision and would then bow out after a defeat to Nicklas Martin (Southeast Polk) by fall. Winkey ended the season with a 38-13 record.

As a team the Little Cyclones finished 18th among the 58 schools that qualified at least one wrestler – ending the tournament with 61 total team points. Danarii Mickel accounted for 24 of the team points to lead the Little Cyclones. Mickel finished the season with a 31-8 record. Teammate Jabari Hinson concluded his sophomore campaign season with a 44-4 record.

Between the Ames boys and girls wrestling programs, the Little Cyclones were just one of two programs to place three or more wrestlers in both the IHSAA and IGHSAU tournaments this season. Only Waverly-Shell Rock matched that distinction.

COMPLETE RESULTS: https://www.trackwrestling.com/tw/predefinedtournaments/VerifyPassword.jsp?tournamentId=683671132