Tristan Hansmeier wrestles to sixth-place finish in 170-pound State Tournament bracket; joins father to become first father-son State Tournament placewinners
Hansmeier finishes sixth among Class 2A 170-pound elite ... Waukon wrestling 170-pound senior Tristan Hansmeier (second from left) stands in the sixth-place position on the Class 2A 170-pound State Tournament podium Saturday, February 17 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. Hansmeier won his first two matches of the three-day season grand finale but then suffered three consecutive losses to end up as a sixth-place finisher among the Class 2A 170-pound elite. Pictured, left to right, are the top eight placewinners in the 2018 Class 2A 170-pound weight bracket: Charles City sophomore Jack Sindlinger - eighth place; Waukon senior Tristan Hansmeier - sixth place; Mount Vernon junior Paul Ryan - fourth place; Dubuque Wahlert senior Kolton Bartow - Class 2A 170-pound Runner-Up; PCM-Monroe junior Lucas Roland - Class 2A 170-pound Champion; New Hampton senior Noah Glaser - third place; Estherville Lincoln Central junior Lincoln Coakley - fifth place and West Delaware sophomore Jack Neuhaus - seventh place. Photo courtesy of the Iowa Newspaper Association Photo Pool.
Sixth place in 1990 ... Waukon High School 1990 graduate Dave Hansmeier is pictured above from a yearbook photo during his senior wrestling season, when he wrestled to a sixth-place finish at the State Tournament at 140 pounds. That finish set the table for the first-ever father-son State Tournament placewinnings for the Waukon wrestling program, as Dave Hansmeier’s son, senior Tristan Hansmeier, wrestled to a sixth-place finish in the Class 2A 170-pound bracket at this season’s State Tournament, with his father, Dave, serving as one of this season’s volunteer assistant coaches guiding Tristan to that podium finish.
Waukon wrestling 170-pound senior Tristan Hansmeier controls Algona junior Carson Devine in their quarterfinals match at the Class 2A State Wrestling Tournament Friday morning, February 16. Hansmeier pinned Devine in 3:15 for his second consecutive match victory to start out the season grand finale but ended up falling in his final three matches of the tournament to end up in sixth place in the Class 2A 170-pound State Tournament bracket. Being the first State Tournament semifinalist since 2008 Waukon High School graduate Frank Weymiller when he finished fifth at 189 pounds in his senior season, Hansmeier’s state championship hopes were ended in that semifinal round by the eventual Class 2A 170-pound runner-up, senior Kolton Bartow of Dubuque Wahlert. Hansmeier also becomes the first State Tournament placewinner for the Indians since senior Adam Benzing placed sixth at 145 pounds in 2015. Hansmeier joins his own father, volunteer assistant coach Dave Hansmeier, in being the only father-son duo in Waukon wrestling history to each wrestle to a State Tournament placewinning, Dave Hansmeier also finishing sixth in his senior season in 1990 at 140 pounds. Photo courtesy of the Iowa Newspaper Association Photo Pool.
Like father, like son the old saying goes, and for Waukon 170-pound wrestling senior Tristan Hansmeier, his first-ever State Tournament qualification ended up telling that tale, as he joined his father, Waukon wrestling volunteer assistant coach Dave Hansmeier, as a sixth-place State Tournament finisher for the wrestling Indians. Hansmeier won two of five matches in his season grand finale debut to finish as this year’s Class 2A 170-pound sixth-place finisher, getting those two wins early in the tournament before falling in his final three matches.
Dave Hansmeier wrestled to a sixth-place State Tournament finish at 140 pounds during his senior season in 1990. Although the first father-son duo to win State Tournament placewinnings, the Hansmeier pair actually followed the father-son pair of Dale and Garrett Kurth in being the first father-son tandem to earn State Tournament qualification for the Indians, according to the Waukon wrestling room Wall of Fame listing of State Tournament qualifiers for the mat Tribe. Dale Kurth was a State Tournament qualifier at 112 pounds in 1973 and Garrett Kurth was a two-time qualifier for the season grand finale, finishing fourth at 125 pounds in 1997 and placing as the State Tournament Runner-Up at 125 pounds in 1998.
Tristan Hansmeier became Waukon’s first placewinner since senior Adam Benzing finished sixth at 145 pounds in 2015. Winning his first two matches of the tournament, Hansmeier also became the first State Tournament semifinalist for the Indians since Frank Weymiller, who wrestled to a fifth-place finish at 189 pounds in 2008.
Hansmeier’s State Tournament road began Thursday morning, February 15 with a familiar face in fellow Northeast Iowa Conference senior Noah Glaser of New Hampton (48-3), who had defeated Hansmeier (40-4) by a 6-3 decision in the Northeast Iowa Conference Tournament finals, was ranked one place higher than Hansmeier and is also a signed recruit of the University of Northern Iowa wrestling program. Hansmeier wasted no time in trying to rewrite that earlier fate, throwing Glaser to his back early in the first period for a takedown and three nearfall points for a 5-0 early lead. Glaser worked his way out of that situation to reverse Hansmeier and gain some nearfall points of his own, closing the scoreboard gap to just 5-4, but Hansmeier worked a reversal of his own to build a 7-4 lead by the end of period number one.
With Glaser starting on the bottom for the second period, he was able to reverse Hansmeier once again, narrowing the gap once again to a single point, 7-6, heading into the final frame. Hansmeier had the third period choice, and choosing the down position was able to work an early escape and then avoid all of Glaser’s final efforts to record the 8-6 first-round win.
That Thursday morning win advanced Hansmeier to the quarterfinal round Friday morning, February 16, where Hansmeier continued his early success with his only win by fall at the State Tournament. Hansmeier took unranked Algona junior Carson Devine (22-7) down early for some nearfall points and a 4-0 first quarter lead. Starting in the top position for the second period, Hansmeier worked his calling card cradle against Devine, rocking him to his back for a pin in 3:15 and advancement to the semifinal round later Friday afternoon.
Hansmeier’s semifinals opponent was top-ranked senior Kolton Bartow of Dubuque Wahlert (43-3), who had finished third at 160 pounds last season and had pinned both of his first two opponents of the tournament. Taking Hansmeier down and putting him to his back late in the first period, Bartow jumped to a 4-0 headstart. He then worked escapes in both the second and third periods to build his lead over Hansmeier to 6-0 before taking him down again and ultimately adding him to his list of State Tournament pin victims in 4:39 to derail Hansmeier’s state championship hopes.
Bartow advanced to the Class 2A 170-pound championship with the win. Although ranked number one and facing second-rated Lucas Roland (48-1), a junior from PCM-Monroe, Bartow actually fell to Roland by a 5-1 decision in that title match to end up as the Class 2A 170-pound runner-up.
With that first loss of the tournament, Hansmeier headed to the consolation semifinals Saturday morning, February 17. As fate would have it, his consolation semifinals opponent ended up being Glaser from New Hampton. Learning from their first encounter of the season grand finale and also with the extra incentive of trying to gain as many points for his team as they were in contention for the Class 2A team title (but ultimately ended up second), Glaser was the first to strike, getting the five-point takedown and nearfall this time in the first period to jump to the 5-0 headstart over Hansmeier. With Hansmeier in the top position to start the second period, he worked Glaser into a cradle for two nearfall points, but Glaser was able to work a reversal and gain those two nearfall points back before Hansmeier earned an escape to make for a 9-3 deficit for the Indian heading into the final frame.
That same scenario worked out in the third frame as well, Hansmeier working Glaser to his back for early nearfall points, but Glaser reversing his position. Hansmeier worked one final escape but could only close the gap to the eventual 11-6 loss to Glaser, who went on to win his consolation championship match as well to finish as the Class 2A 170-pound third-place finisher.
That second loss of the tournament for Hansmeier moved him to his final match for fifth or sixth place. Hansmeier was matched up with Estherville Lincoln Central junior Lincoln Coakley (36-8). Coakley took Hansmeier down late in the first period and worked him to his back for a fall in 1:41, leaving Hansmeier as the Class 2A sixth-place finisher at 170 pounds.
Of note, West Delaware sophomore Jack Neuhaus (32-14), who had beaten Hansmeier in both the championship matches of their respective Class 2A sectional and district tournaments the previous two Saturdays, ended up in seventh place in the Class 2A 170-pound State Tournament bracket, one place behind Hansmeier. Winning three of his five matches at the season grand finale, Neuhaus had his championship hopes derailed by eventual champion Roland by an 8-3 decision in the quarterfinals and was also sidelined to the seventh/eighth place match by an 8-1 loss to Glaser, but ended his tournament on a winning note with a 13-1 win by major decision to finish in seventh place.
