Two is better than one

DES MOINES -— Two is better than one. Ashton Honnold and Trent Warner will tell you so.

The Nodaway Valley Wolverine wrestling duo each brought home state championships. Nodaway Valley had six state qualifiers their team took to last week’s state tournament in Des Moines.

The two champions each went 4-0 on the weekend, Honnold winning the 215-pound bracket and Warner the 285-pound bracket. Honnold won his second state title in a row while Warner is a first-time champion his senior year.

Honnold collected career win No. 100 this season and Warner win No. 150, along with becoming the program’s all-time win leader. Both become the first tandem to claim state titles for Nodaway Valley since 1974 when Randy Swoyer and John Corcoran accomplished the feat. This was the fourth time in program history there were two state finalists from a Greenfield-based program.

“We started this season with big goals as a team and with several kids that had big goals,” said NV head coach Brad Honnold. “We are excited as a program for Ashton and Trent winning state titles and we are also happy with our qualifiers here at state. We had a team effort in getting a top-10 finish and I couldn’t be more proud as a coach for what we did this week.”

Ashton Honnold joined an exclusive club of Iowa high school wrestlers who have won back-to-back state titles. He went unbeaten on his quest to win his second straight title, winning all 52 matches he was in this year. Honnold will look to join an even more select group of high school wrestlers next season as he chases his third state title.

Honnold was top-ranked all season and the top seed at state. He won two state matches by pin and two by decision.

Honnold pinned Grady Joens from Underwood in the second round after getting a bye in 1:23 and pinned 43-win Alburnett freshman Eaghan Fleshman in the quarterfinals in 4:56.

In the semifinals, Honnold won his closest match at the state meet, a 5-4 decision over Carter Wright from Woodbury Central who had 40 wins and led 4-1 going to the final period.

In the finals, Honnold took a 7-0 decision over second-ranked and second-seeded senior Nathan Beitz from Maquoketa Valley, breaking open a scoreless match after the first period. Honnold will no doubt see his stock rise in the eyes of college recruiters after his second title. Honnold has already garnered attention from schools at the next level with a summer and high school season left to go.

“I’m grateful for the opportunities that I have been given. I’m thankful for my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who has given me these opportunities and helped me push through and strive to do the best with my abilities,” said Honnold.

Honnold said that a key to the championship match was how he came out and was physical.

“I just wanted to be physical out there, and I did just that,” said Honnold.

Warner capped off a senior season that many wrestlers would be happy with in one season. He finished the season 48-1 after going 4-0 at the state meet. Warner seemed like he was on a mission the whole tournament, a year after placing third at the 2024 state meet.

Like Honnold, Warner was ranked No. 1 all season and seeded first in the 285-pound weight class at this year’s state tournament. Warner won two matches by pin, one by decision and one by major decision.

Warner didn’t need long to win his first match in the second round, a pin over Jace Pedersen from South Central Calhoun in 1:45 to advance to the quarterfinals.

In the quarterfinals, Warner pinned Zach Teague from West Central Valley in 5:36 to advance to the semifinals.

Warner had his closest match of the tournament in the semifinals, winning a 6-0 decision over Tyler Sulsberger from Westwood to reach the finals.

In the finals, Warner dominated Lake Mills’ Wyatt Hanna, winning a 13-5 major decision. Hanna came in with 51 wins to his name and Warner was undaunted.

Warner recently signed to play football at Northwest Missouri State in Maryville, Missouri next season.

“It’s the best way I could have gone out (to get the state title),” said Warner. “I got right into it and was aggressive out there. Scoring early was helpful and I kept scoring. I had to get into the mindset that I needed to beat on guys and then went out and did it.”

The Wolverines had four other wrestlers at state last week. Of those, three won at least one match and all gained valuable state experience.

Freshman Josh Nelson ended his first varsity season on the highest stage at the state meet. He wrestled twice and did not win a match, ending the season 37-17. Nelson had a tough draw, opening against Justice Norman from East Union, a foe he lost to at districts a week before. The loss sent Nelson to the consolation round. He then fell by 13-10 decision to Lincoln Huck from Nashua-Plainfield who was 47-15.

Sophomore Caleb Christensen ended his season with his first state appearance. He won his first match at state last Wednesday, a 9-1 major decision over Carter Richter from ACGC to advance. He fell to Drew Lansing from Don Bosco in the next round and to Eli Kalainoff from Nashua-Plainfield in the consolation round to be eliminated. He ends the season 43-13.

Juniors Ty Strode and Keyin Steeve qualified for the state meet for the second and third times and each won matches. Strode was 2-2 in four state matches and finished the year 38-7. He beat CJ Rodriguez from Emmetsburg by pin in four minutes in the first round. In the second round, Strode met a familiar foe, Mount Ayr’s Brock Shaha, who he met at the district meet the week before. Strode fell by a 7-0 decision to Shaha. In the consolation round, Strode pinned Ryder Eklund from Ogden in 3:28 to advance. In the next round, Strode lost a 5-0 decision to Max Millage from Earlham to end his state run.

Steeve lost in the first round by a tough 18-15 sudden victory to Kane Forseen from New London. Steeve then had a bye in the consolation round and pinned Sam Egan from Sumner-Fredericksbug in 41 seconds. Egan had 34 wins. In the next round of the consolation round, Steeve dropped a 13-5 major decision to Gavin Sloss from ACGC to end his state run. Steeve ends 39-8 and collected career win No. 100 this season.

Don Bosco won the Class 1A state team title with 225 points after the Dons also won the state dual meet one week prior. Alburnett was second with 144.5 points and Wilton was third with 109 points. Osage was a fourth team with over 100 points, placing fourth with 100.5 points. The Wolverines collected a top-10 finish, placing ninth with 71 points.