South Tama’s Gavin Bridgewater, center, raises his arms in celebration of his third-place match victory over Zane Bendorf of Harlan in the Class 2A 195-pound bracket last Saturday, Feb. 18, at the state wrestling tournament at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. Photo by Noah Rohlfing.

DES MOINES — Once the final whistle blew and his arm was held up by the referee, South Tama County junior Gavin Bridgewater ran right off of mat 3 at the state boys’ wrestling tournament and into the arms of his mother, Tiffany.

Having taken photos of South Tama matches throughout the week, Tiffany was present for each of Bridgewater’s five battles at state. The heartbreak and frustration of the 6-3 loss to Ballard’s Gabriel Christensen in the semifinals on Friday was evident — but so was the relief and elation Saturday afternoon, when a third-period reversal put the No. 1 seed at 195 pounds in position for a 7-6 victory in the third-place match against No. 5 seed Zane Bendorf of Harlan.

Dealing with defeat in the semifinals a year after making a surprise run to the finals was difficult to take, Bridgewater said, but his close bond with his mother helped push him forward. He was also driven to make amends and get as high of a finish as he could on his father’s birthday.

“Every time I looked up, I saw family everywhere, whether they were blood or not,” Bridgewater said. “I wanted to win this whole thing for my dad because I knew it was going to be his birthday, but at the same time, I do everything for my mother.

“Seeing her right next to my mat, it’s huge. I can’t even explain how much it means. No matter if she’s there or not, I feel her presence always.”

South Tama junior Amare Chavez, top, tries to turn Dalton VanWyhe of Sergeant Bluff-Luton during their second-round match at 126 pounds last Wednesday, Feb. 15, in Des Moines. Chavez won the match by fall in 3 minutes, 35 seconds, to advance. Photo by Noah Rohlfing.

To get to this point, he had to take down No. 6 seed Will Ward of West Delaware in the consolation semifinals. Going down 2-0 and taking the lead in the second period, he was able to take command heading into the final two minutes. With an aggressive finishing move, he pinned Ward after 4 minutes and 55 seconds to advance to the consolation final.

Trailing 4-2 in the third-place match and 6-4 in the third period, he found himself needing to find something to get across the finish line. After an escape, he put in a reversal to take a slim lead. Riding out the final minute was tough, but he said there was relief and happiness once the final whistle blew.

“No matter how much time’s left, the match is never over,” Bridgewater said. “No matter how much time is left, I can do anything. The match isn’t over until the final bell.

“I know how close I am.” Bridgewater’s season ends with a 39-2 record.

Two more South Tama wrestlers picked up medals Saturday, and all three won their final match of the week.

STC senior Rudy Papakee, top, tries for a takedown against Ashtin Willms of Clarion-Goldfield-Dows during their fourth-round consolation match last Friday, Feb. 17, at the state wrestling tournament in Des Moines. Papakee won the match by decision, 10-5. Photo by Noah Rohlfing.

Senior Rudy Papakee entered the state tournament Wednesday, having not won a single match in his two previous trips to Wells Fargo Arena. Coming in as the No. 7 seed at 220 pounds, he set out to make sure that wasn’t his legacy at STC — and with a 7-3 victory over No. 9 seed Mason Koehler of Glenwood in the seventh-place match, he did just that. With the win, Papakee ends his high school career as a winner and a state medal-holder after a 27-4 senior season with the Trojans. The win also meant he ended his final state tournament with a 3-2 record.

He said early in the match, Koehler was trying to do “some dirty stuff,” and he injured his shoulder in the first period but fought through.

Papakee said the feeling of victory was hard to beat.

“It feels great man, I feel satisfied,” Papakee said. “It’s my senior year, so this just topped everything.”

Following a sixth-place finish in 2022 in his first year at state, junior 126-pounder Amare Chavez had his eyes on a bigger prize. Entering the semifinals, the No. 3 seed Chavez found himself with a chance at a finals berth. A hard-fought but frustrating 1-0 loss sent him into the consolation bracket.

South Tama junior MaCael Bear tries to turn Tucker Vitzthum of Ballard during their third-round consolation match at 132 pounds. Bear lost by decision, 7-4, and was eliminated in his state debut. Photo by Noah Rohlfing.

His first Saturday match was against the No. 1 seed Kaiden Dietzenbach of Burlington Notre Dame. Chavez was unable to get any moves to connect, he spent much of the match in defense, and Dietzenbach went onto the third-place match with a 7-0 decision.

Ahead of his fifth-place battle with No. 10 seed Jayden Gargano of Humboldt, Chavez said he knew he didn’t want to have the same result as last season.

“It feels absolutely amazing,” Chavez said. “I knew coming into this one that it’s one more guy, last match of the season, I’m in the same place as last year, and I’m not going to let history repeat itself.”

In the match, Chavez was controlled and picked his spots. He put together a move late for a 5-2 lead and rode out the rest of the match to seal an improved result in his second run at state.

With his two years of experience and the highs and lows, Chavez said he feels prepared to make one more push next season as a senior.

Trojan junior 145-pounder Jacob Youngbear, bottom, is pinned by Carroll’s Cooper Ludwig in the second round of consolations during the Class 2A state wrestling tournament in Des Moines. Photo by Noah Rohlfing.

“This makes me feeling good knowing that junior year I made it all the way to the semifinals,” Chavez said. “Knowing that if I put in the same hard work, and even more than I did last year, that I could be seeing a ticket to the finals.”

In his first day at the state tournament, junior MaCael Bear went 1-1 to find himself in the 132-pound second-round consolations. In a tough, drawn-out match with No. 24 seed Ryan Wilson of Crestwood, the No. 10 seed Bear found a takedown when he needed it to get a 4-2 decision in his favor. His third-round consolation matchup was with No. 15 seed Tucker Vitzthum of Ballard.

In a hard-fought match, Bear (38-10) was tied 4-4 with Vitzthum heading into the third and final period. He couldn’t find the points to pick up the win and lost a 7-4 decision but went 2-2 in his two-day stay at The Well. Bear put on a clinic in a strong first-round showing against No. 23 seed Gavin Grunhovd of Forest City.

Bear won 11-5 and advanced to a second-round battle with No. 7 seed Cadyn Wild of Davenport Assumption, and despite coming up short via a 14-4 major decision, Van Dyke said he was impressed with the performance.

“He was still trying to win the match late in the match when he was down big,” Van Dyke said. “I think he represented our school well, and I think he competed hard.”

Jacob Youngbear, at 145 pounds, went 0-1 on the opening day. The No. 24 seed matched up with No. 9 Alex Beaty of Forest City and was pinned in 1:11 after getting caught in a bad situation he hadn’t seen, Van Dyke said.

On the second day of the tournament, Youngbear was pinned in 33 seconds by No. 10 seed Cooper Ludwig of Carroll to end his junior year with a record of 23-25.