T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING - Marshalltown Johan Gomez, right, tries for a takedown against Muscatine’s Evan Franke during their 195-pound match on Friday at the Iowa High School State Wrestling Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. Franke pinned Gomez in 1 minute, 28 seconds, to eliminate the Bobcat sophomore.

DES MOINES — The ‘blood round’ was not kind to Marshalltown boys’ wrestling Friday evening at the state tournament.

All three of the Marshalltown wrestlers who came into Friday’s Class 3A fourth consolation round looking to lock up a spot on the podium were instead eliminated, meaning no Bobcats will be on the podium Saturday night.

The night began with Luke Hageman, one of two Bobcat seniors taking the mat. As the No. 15 seed at 145 pounds, Hageman was matched up in the fourth-round quarterfinals with No. 6 seed Dom Rubino of Waukee Northwest. He went down early and got caught in a position that was difficult for him to manage given a left shoulder injury that’s bothered him all season, head coach Luke Cross said.

“We were trying to avoid the down position as much as possible, and when he got that early takedown against us it kind of sets the stage for the whole match,” Cross said. “It became kind of a chasing match rather than a controlling match.”

Hageman was down 6-4 in the late stages of the match and, despite multiple efforts and close calls, he wasn’t able to complete a two- or three-point move to change the outcome. He went 3-2 at the state tournament in his only appearance and was 38-9 on the season.

Cross said this is the type of loss that stings.

“Because of the way it ended and how close it really was, that’s going to bother him for a while I’m sure,” Cross said. “The gameplan was kind of set and it got blown up right away. It’s gonna sting for a while, that’s for sure. Now the biggest thing for him is to use it as motivation.”

Following him was Nick Rebik, the No. 8 seed at 170 pounds. Rebik was up against No. 12 seed Jackson Van Kley, and he was put on the defense early. Just after the halfway mark, Rebik was pinned in 3 minutes, 8 seconds to end his high school career with a 1-2 record in his only state appearance.

For the first time all week, Rebik said, the nerves of the moment got to him.

“It was probably the worst match I’ve wrestled the entire tournament,” Rebik said. “I just think it was nerves, honestly. I think it got me. I’ve never wrestled at state before so I didn’t know what to expect at all for how I was gonna feel. I didn’t wrestle how I should have wrestled. I think today was the first day that it got to me.”

Rebik went from three wins as a freshman wrestler to a 32-6 record in his senior season and a top-12 finish in the state at his weight class.

Sophomore Johan Gomez, the no. 11 seed at 195 pounds, was faced with a high-caliber matchup in the fourth consolation round against No. 7 seed Evan Franke of Muscatine.

In the first 30 seconds, Gomez was aggressive and pulled off a takedown to take a 2-0 lead. But after Franke got an escape point, he quickly put Gomez in a bad spot and picked up a pin in 1:28 to end Gomez’s state run at 3-2.

With a record of 36-9 on the season and having finished top-12 in the state despite battling a torn labrum, a wrist cartilage injury and a sore knee, Cross said he expects Gomez to come back stronger as a junior and potentially take a leading role for the Bobcats.

“He’s going to be driven in a positive way,” Cross said. “He already knew that after his first loss in this tournament, so now that’s going to be an even bigger driving force for him. Hopefully he not only does it for himself, but he does it for his teammates as well — because we’re going to need some new leadership to step up.”