Rollene takes No. 1 ranking and 45-0 record to state wrestling tournament

Sitting and talking to Ryan Rollene before last Saturday’s district wrestling tournament in Denver, we talked about the long path one of his two sons, senior Gideon, had taken to get to this point, just a couple of wins from his first state wrestling tournament berth.
Gideon, currently ranked No. 1 in  class 1A with a perfect 45-0 record and now on his way to Des Moines after dispatching his two opponents in Denver, both by fall, qualified for last year’s district tournament only to have to sit at home with an illness while another kid from Central Springs wrestled in his place.
We wondered, would the kid who came into this season with a career record of 83-53, really have been able to pull off this fairytale season without that motivation from last year? 
While we decided it’s impossible to know, one thing is for sure, the talented 220-pounder is the best in the state this season and will be the only Viking wrestling this year in Des Moines.
Gideon’s younger brother, a future star in the making in his own right, Treycen, got the day started for the Vikings at 106 pounds, where he lost his first match to the eventual district champion, Garret Rinken from Nashua-Plainfield.
Treycen, who is just a freshman, was still in contention and would have earned a wrestleback had he been able to defeat his second opponent, Kinser Hanson of Lake Mills. Unfortunitly he lost an 8-1 decision to Hanson and will end the season with a very impressive 38-18 record.
At 132 pounds, last season’s only district participant, senior Caden Schrage came into the day ranked as high a seventh in the state but lost a heartbreaking 8-6 decision to the Huskies Kyler Hackman in the semifinals.
Heading to the consolation bracket and a possible shot at a second-place finish and his first state tournament berth, Schrage dispatched the Bulldogs' Alex Beaty by fall, earning him a third-place finish but he failed to get an opportunity at a wrestleback.
Schrage ends his senior season with a 47-4 record and will step out of his Vikings singlet as one of the greats in N-K history with an incredible 148-38 career mark.
Last but certainly not least, sophomore Drake Tiedemann quietly came into the district tournament with an impressive 38-4 record, sliding in under the radar of many of his opponents.
Tiedemann lost his first match to McKade Munn in a 9-2 decision but rebounded in the consolation bracket to pick up a third-place victory over Isaac Backer of North Butler/Clarksville. Sadly, like Schrage before him, Tiedemann did not get the opportunity at a wrestleback and his season came to a premature end. Tiedemann will take a 69-15 career record into next season, easily in striking range of 100 wins in what would just be his junior year.
The state wrestling tournament gets underway this Thursday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. Class 1A first round and first round consolation matches get underway at 6 p.m.