DES MOINES — Three West Marshall wrestlers will represent the Trojan boys on the final day of the state wrestling meet Saturday.

What they represent is a program, a community, that is much bigger.

Jon Gonzalez will wrestle to place anywhere between third and sixth on Saturday morning, followed by finalists Urijah Courter and Shane Hanford going for gold under the bright lights of Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

“We had 38 kids in the room this year and that’s a good tribute to the success that we’ve had down here,” said West Marshall head coach Stephen Adams. “Even if they’re not here at state, the environment in the room has really helped us succeed here.”

Urijah Courter was the first to punch his ticket to the finals, controlling a 113-pound semifinal with Sioux Center’s Bryce Oostenink with a technical fall at the 4:23 mark after racking up a 19-0 lead.

Coming back from his loss in the semifinals as a freshman, to now the top seed and wrestling for a state title as a sophomore, was oh-so-sweet for Courter.

“I have one more,” Courter said. “Ever since my freshman year, I’ve been looking forward to being on top of that podium, and now I have the chance. Looking forward to tomorrow and gonna try to get it done.”

Courter had Oostenink taken down in roughly 30 seconds and the rout was on. He finished with a flourish, a big headlock for a takedown and for four nearfall points right in front of his corner, being sure to flash a winning smile to the West Marshall section cheering him on before breaking down the door to the finals.

“I felt really good — felt fast, smooth,” Courter said. “I felt like it was time to prove that I’m the best. … And I have so much support, so many people come down here to watch me, and I’m so grateful for that.”

What looked on paper like a brewing rematch for Courter against Cael McCabe of Fairfield, who eliminated him from last year’s tournament, has been crashed by another upstart underclassman — Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont’s Simon Bettis toppled McCabe with a 9-4 decision in the other semifinal, and will surely be motivated to give Courter a run for his money as the Rockets try to chase down a 2A team title on Saturday night.

“I can’t quit now,” Courter said. “I gotta go after it the whole match. Work my hardest, get my offense, do what I can to win.”

Shortly after, it was Shane Hanford’s turn, surviving a tense 150-pound semifinal with Hudson Scranton of Anamosa by a 2-1 decision for Hanford’s first-ever state finals appearance, which will also be the final high school match for the Central College commit.

“No words, really,” Hanford said. “It’s just been a dream.”

A critical moment in the match came in the second period after Scranton escaped from bottom position.

The two were working tie-ups for an angle to shoot, as they had for most of the match before, but as Scranton backed away from one tie-up, the official hit Scranton with a stalling warning.

Scranton still led 1-0 to the third period and it was evened up when Hanford escaped from bottom to start the third period.

Hanford dodged a dangerous takedown attempt from Scranton by being just slightly out of bounds, and the two continued scrapping.

“He knew what I was doing, I knew what he was doing, and I just couldn’t really get to my ties and my good shots,” Hanford said.

With 45 seconds left, Scranton was continuing to battle through ties with Hanford as he backed off the mat without circling to center, ruled as stalling once again by the official in a divisive call, and awarding what was eventually the deciding point of the match to Hanford.

“They’re buddies and they know each other well,” Adams said. “They’ve wrestled multiple times, he got Shane a couple times this summer and Shane got him this winter, and when Shane won he had a pretty good day on his feet, so I think you could see that in his strategy today.

“We had a lot of attacks and mainly they were for being ready for counterattacks and they weren’t really pushing us. So I think that’s where that stalling came in, which I think was warranted. … But as great as Shane’s offense is, man, his defense, how he gets out of all the things he does, it’s hard to say whether his offense or defense is better.”

The 150 final will pit Hanford against Nile Sinn of Williamsburg, who upended Mount Vernon’s Mikey Ryan in the other semifinal with an escape for a 3-2 win in the ultimate tiebreaker.

“I want to open up my shots more,” Hanford said. “I have to look for more than just my go-to shots. Move the guy more, get some open shots.”

Hanford is just one of the many senior representatives for West Marshall that, along with nine reliable assistant coaches, have built a winning culture in the West Marshall wrestling room.

“So deserving for him to be in the finals,” Adams said. “He’s the ultimate role model in the room, and it’s so cool for all our young guys to see him in the finals.”

Adams credits all of his senior class for setting that tone, even if they didn’t wrestle at Wells Fargo Arena this year.

“It’s been cool this week to see a guy like Ben Gonzalez, who had a really tough district tournament, a really sad result where he didn’t get his fair shake to prove that he should be down here, to come down here and be our workout partner,” Adams said. “He’s been here every single day with them, super positive, supportive, just showing the type of man he is, the type of character he is. It’d be easy for him to not want to be here this week, but he cares about his teammates, and that shows to those guys who feed off that.”

Jon Gonzalez is one of those teammates that needed a lift after a loss in the 120-pound quarterfinals yesterday.

The West Marshall wrestling community — coaches, wrestlers, fans — was there for him as Gonzalez gritted his way to two wins to reach the consolation semifinals tomorrow and a guaranteed top-6 finish.

“Right after my loss, the coaches came to me and told me to let go of it, to come back tomorrow and that I’ll be just fine,” Gonzalez said. “I thank them for being next to me the entire time and helping me out. … You really just have to let go of the pity. Take a few minutes to feel sorry for yourself and come back to get the next best thing.”

Adams added: “Jon is a top-tier guy. You can always tell the character of the guy by how he responds, and he did great today. Battled to two wins, and I’m really proud of him, he’s proven who he is.”

Gonzalez will have two matches on Saturday, starting with Linden Phetxoumphone of Clarion-Goldfield-Dows in the consolation semis.

“If I can just finish fast, stick to my shots, I think I can get the job done,” Gonzalez said.

Saturday’s schedule

Consolation semifinals and finals, 9 a.m.

120 pounds — Jon Gonzalez, soph., West Marshall, 41-4 vs. Linden Phetxoumphone, jr., Clarion-Goldfield-Dows, 34-3

Grand march and finals, all classes, 5:30 p.m.

113 pounds — Urijah Courter, soph., West Marshall, 42-0 vs. Simon Bettis, fr., Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont, 37-3

150 pounds — Shane Hanford, sr., West Marshall, 45-0 vs. Nile Sinn, sr., Williamsburg, 49-4