Ballou finishes fourth at state

BOYS STATE WRESTLING

   At the 2026 IHSAA State Championships on Feb. 18-21 at the Casey’s Center in Des Moines, Dane Ballou and Wyatt Christiansen represented the Midland boys wrestling team, after qualifying at the district tournament in Lisbon on Feb. 14.

   In Des Moines, Ballou, the no. 7 seed, went 5-2 to finish fourth in the Class 1A, 175-pound bracket.

   After a first-round bye, Ballou earned a 17-2 technical fall over Underwood’s Kaleb Nelson, who was seeded 10th. In the quarterfinals, Ballou fell to the no. 2 seed, Don Bosco’s Ethan Christoffer, in a 17-1 technical fall.

   The loss put the Midland junior into the fourth round of consolations, where he topped Beckman’s Cody Hageman, the no. 6 seed, in a 20-2 technical fall.

   Ballou kept on winning, beating the 11th-seed, Landen Schnuelle, of South Winneshiek, via major decision (10-0) in the fifth round of consolations. He then beat Iowa Valley’s Mason Hoyt, the no. 4 seed, by fall (4:33) to wrestle in the third-place match.

   Lawton-Bronson’s Lane Mitchell, seeded fifth, won a 4-2 decision to hand Ballou his second loss of the tournament and put him fourth on the coveted medal stand.

   Christiansen, who was the 23-seed in the Class 1A, 157-pound bracket, went 0-2 at the Casey’s Center.

   The Midland senior fell to the no. 10-seed, Caleb Skogen, of Lake Mills, in opening round in a 7-1 decision.

   After a bye in the first round of consolations, Christiansen dropped a 23-11 major decision to the eighth-seeded Devon Blanchard, of Nashua-Plainfield.