South Tama County’s Isaac Judge won his 2nd State Title in Class 2A at weight 152 on Saturday, Feb. 17 after defeating Kyler Riek of Spirit Lake Park 5-0. Top left - Judge works to keep Roberto Cardenas down during Round One of State Wrestling on Thursday, Feb. 15. Center right - Isaac Judge wins the quarterfinals match by major decision over Dylan Koresh of Charles City. Bottom right - Isaac Judge holds on to Joe Kelly of West Liberty to prevent Kelly from getting an escape in the semifinals match on Friday, Feb. 16. Judge won the match 4-1. Chronicle Photos/Allison Graham

As music blared through the speakers of Wells Fargo Arena on Saturday evening, wrestlers from all corners of the State stepped on the mats for the ultimate culmination of their season. For some their dreams would come true. For others, dreams would be dashed. Some would even make history. South Tama’s Isaac Judge was one of those wrestlers. He secured green bands to each ankle and took position facing Spirit Lake Park’s Kyler Rieck.

This was a big year for Judge. He came in as the defending state champion and was the consensus number one ranked wrestler at 152 all season. Before the opening whistle of the match there was a pause in action to allow medals to be awarded to 145-pounders. It may have taken seconds but felt much longer. As Judge and Rieck waited, they starred each other down but then Judge took a step back and began to pace the mat. Whether it was out of nerves or whether Judge was just tired of holding the same stance, it was hard to tell. No one could blame him if he did have some nerves though. There was a lot riding on this match. Judge had a title to defend and potential history to make for his team. After all, STC had yet to see a two-time high school state champion despite turning out several college wrestlers and even a few NCAA All-Americans.

When the first whistle of the match finally sounded, it became clear that the t-shirt reading “I got this” Judge wore before several matches was true. Judge had it.

He scored an early takedown in the first period then added another three points off an escape and a takedown in the second period to finish with a 5-0 victory.

As Judge stood up following the final whistle he faced his family and put his arms in the air, holding up two fingers on each hand. Judge then jumped into the arms of his coach, Nate Van Dyke to celebrate. As he walked off the mat Judge flashed his signature gesture to his family. It’s a gesture to him that means hang loose, something he and his teammates have been doing since his sophomore year.

“I got it done and it’s a great thing, great season, great team to be with and I am very proud,” Judge said. “I wanted to push the pace a little more, I should have scored another takedown or maybe even two, give him a point, but I wrestled a smart match, got my points when I needed and rode him out. He wasn’t doing (much) on bottom so I had to wrestle the match that he gave me.”

Judge’s path to the top spot at the podium started on Thursday. He pinned Roberto Cardenas of Sioux Center in the first period. In the quarters Judge earned a major decision win over Dylan Koresh of Charles City.

Next up, Judge faced Joe Kelly of West Liberty in a rematch from last year’s state tournament. The two faced off twice last year, once during the regular season and once at state. Kelly got the first win in 2017 but Judge got the one that counted in the quarterfinals of the 2017 State Tournament. Kelly and Judge never met during the regular season this year and Judge ended up winning the rematch at state over Kelly 4-1.

“The biggest thing was having a target on my back. Last year Joe Kelly, a good competitor, he had the target on his back and I was ready to go get him,” Judge said. “Now this year was ‘Isaac Judge is No. 1, Isaac Judge needs to start doing stuff,’ and I did. I beat a lot of ranked kids badly and I came up short twice, so that really just drove me to be the best I could be.”

Judge has really had a storied career for the Trojans. He transferred to South Tama from East Marshall to start his freshman year. “I came here for one reason, I came here to be with the team and I came here to wrestle the Trojan tradition,” he said. It means a lot, there are probably people who should have won two times before this, but it’s a great tradition and I wanted to be a part of that and now that I made history, it’s really fun.”

Following the disappointment of having no wrestlers move on to State in 2015, the team regrouped. Judge took third at State the next year and followed it up with a State Championship his junior year. He is a three time District Champ, two time WaMaC conference champ, with over 150 wins and is now the first wrestler in South Tama history to win two State Championships.

“He has a high level of confidence and that comes from earning it,” coach Nate Van Dyke said. “He’s worked very hard and he’s earned it over a long period of time. Not just this season but all the time he put in during the summer and since he was a little kid.”