C-M’s Sykes, Dybevik win twice at state wrestling tournament

Colfax-Mingo senior Caden Sykes was able to do in one season what many high school wrestlers are unable to do in their entire four-year careers.

And then he came to Wells Fargo Arena and won a pair of matches during the Iowa High School Boys State Wrestling Championships.

“It was an experience, and it was an honor to be here,” Sykes said. “I give all the glory to my coaches. I’m here because of them. They are amazing people and amazing coaches. Having them in my corner has made my first and only season of wrestling pretty special.”

Sykes and C-M junior Teagan Dybevik both finished 2-2 at the state wrestling tournament. They needed a few more wins to reach the medal stand, but the Tigerhawks ended their seasons on the biggest stage despite facing some challenges along the way.

Sykes (39-8) had to overcome simply not having as much experience as others because the only season in which he finished was this one.

Dybevik (21-5) was in and out of the lineup with injuries this winter and spent some of this state tournament battling through a shoulder injury that sidelined him for stints during the season.

They also both ran into some tough opponents along their paths and scored impressive wins, too.

Sykes won his opening round match at 175 pounds, 9-3, against Kingsley-Pierson’s Calvin Harvey. And defeated South Central Calhoun’s Cooper Nattress 5-2 in his first elimination match.

Sykes’ losses came against 1A No. 3 Justin Wirtz of Emmetsburg and 1A No. 8 Bode Stanley of Interstate 35.

Dybevik pinned both Hudson’s Alston Loeb and Treynor’s Maverrick Kalb at 285 but lost by fall to Missouri Valley’s Vinny Zappia.

He also suffered a 9-6 loss in SV-1 to ninth-ranked Grant Gray of Northeast.

“(The tournament) is hard and a lot of it’s not a perfect system,” Colfax-Mingo head boys wrestling coach Stacey Rice said. “Some of it has to do with where you fall in the bracket.”

Sykes led Harvey (37-14) 3-1 after one period and 3-2 after two. He won the match with a takedown with 32 seconds left and added a takedown in the closing seconds for the 9-3 win by decision.

He moved to the back side of the bracket after the loss to Wirtz. Sykes trailed Wirtz 6-1 after one and then lost by fall in the second. Wirtz (40-3) ended up fifth on the medal stand.

In his first elimination match, Sykes jumped out to an early lead against Nattress (41-16) and got back points to go up 5-0. It was 5-1 after two and ended up that way after three, too.

The Tigerhawk senior was never really in the match against Stanley, who won by technical fall. It was 3-0 after one and 7-0 after two before Stanley (42-10) won 16-1.

“I was pushing for the podium, but you can see the different levels to this thing when you get here,” Sykes said. “I tried to have the mindset of I’ve been here before, but in reality, most of these guys wrestle all year round and doing offseason freestyle.

“They take it very serious. Those guys are special, and I definitely experienced that with my last match.”

Dybevik rallied to win his first match against Loeb (30-12) but lost a big lead against Zappia.

In the win over Loeb, Dybevik trailed 6-1 after one and 11-6 in the second before winning by fall.

The closest match for Dybevik came against ninth-ranked Gray (45-4) in the second round. He led 3-0 early and 5-2 after the first but trailed 6-5 in the second.

Dybevik got an escape in the third to tie it, but Gray scored a takedown in the final seconds of SV-1 to win 9-6. Gray finished seventh in the weight class.

“Teagan lost to a guy in overtime yesterday and then comes back today to win a match,” Rice said. “The kid he lost to yesterday lost a close one today. That’s how close Teagan is.”

His first elimination match came against Kalb (22-22). He scored the first takedown but led 3-2 after one. He got an escape in the second to go up 4-2 before winning by fall.

Dybevik could not get to Friday though after losing by fall to Zappia. He led 6-1 after one and 12-3 after two. The lead grew to 15-5 in the third, but Zappia (42-13) won by fall with 1:14 to go.

“His mindset has transitioned from I don’t believe I can get there to maybe I can get there to now I know I belong here,” Rice said about Dybevik. “It’s driving him a little more.

“We’ve talked. He’s made huge strides, but there things he absolutely needs to work on.”