PHOTO COURTESY OF MARK BEAR - STC senior Marcus Bear during his competition at the 2026 boys state wrestling tournament in Des Moines.

DES MOINES — STC senior Marcus Bear competed at the boys state wrestling tournament on February 18-21 in Des Moines. Going 2-2 during his time there, Bear wrapped up his highly successful wrestling career for the Trojans.

Bear came in as the #15 seed at 175 lbs. His tournament began with a matchup against the #18 seeded Tysen Stangel of Osage. After a scoreless opening period, Bear scored an escape and takedown in the second period to go up 4-0. After another takedown in the third period, Bear was in command with a 7-0 lead. With the score holding there, the clock expired and Bear had his first victory at his first trip to state.

Bear advanced to face the #2 seed Kyler Crow of Mediapolis. Crow earned a victory over Bear by fall at the :35 second mark of the first period. Crow went on to finish the tournament as the runner-up at 175 lbs., losing the championship match to Christian Dunning of Clear Lake.

With Bear continuing in the consolation portion of the bracket, his next opponent was the #16 seed Terrin Lawrenson of Woodward-Granger. Bear found himself dominating and ahead 10-2 in the second period before Lawrenson made a comeback. After his lead had been cut to 10-9 in the third period, Bear scored a late escape and takedown to seal his second victory, 14-9.

Bear next faced Glenwood’s Nile Lundvall, who came into the state tournament as the #10 seed at 175 lbs. After a scoreless first period, Ludvall scored a reversal in the second period and went on for the pin over Bear at the 3:08 mark. The loss ended Bear’s experience in Des Moines and put his final season record at 34-11. Earlier this season, Bear celebrated his 100th career victory for the Trojans.

Bear was the lone representative for STC this season at state. However, several Trojans narrowly missed out on the trip for first-year head coaches Bailey Chyma and Levi Kaufman. Five Trojans finished in third place at the state qualification meet, finishing one spot away from state qualification. These included returning athletes: freshman Nolan Arp (106), junior Eli Cruikshank (138), senior Josh Strong, junior Manny Cervantes (215), and sophomore Lakyr Peska (285).