DES MOINES — West Marshall wrestling crowned two state champions during Saturday night’s finals of the 100th IHSAA Boys State Wrestling Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Urijah Courter captured the 113-pound title and Shane Hanford won the 150-pound bracket, the second time in history that the Trojans have crowned two state champions in one tournament after Jason Kelber and Eric Eggers accomplished the feat at 119 and 167 pounds in 1986.

The Trojan stars were dominant this year, as each won a state title with undefeated seasons, but both of them had to dig deep and go the full six minutes on Saturday night to win gold.

“We always talk about the power of the mind and power of confidence, and they’ve been great examples of that throughout the year,” West Marshall head coach Stephen Adams said.

Jon Gonzalez was the other medalist for the Trojans this year with a sixth-place finish at 120 pounds. The Trojans finished tied for 11th in the team standings with 68 points; Burlington Notre Dame claimed the team title with 129 points followed by Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont with 107 1/2 points and Union Community with 103 1/2.

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Shane Hanford always has something to prove.

“He’s always been top tier, he’s always been deserving,” Adams said. “He’ll use anything as motivation, anytime he’s not ranked number one, he’s not getting the credit, he keeps that in mind.”

The senior was the top-ranked wrestler in Class 2A at 150 pounds heading into the state tournament, and in his first-ever state title match, and his last high school match, he proved that ranking right.

Hanford claimed a 4-2 decision over Nile Sinn of Williamsburg to claim the Class 2A 150-pound championship on Saturday night.

Tracey Malloy, an assistant coach for the Trojans and longtime wrestling coach at all levels at West Marshall who was in Hanford’s corner when he won his first state championship as a second grader, was the one to place the state-championship medal around Hanford’s neck.

“Getting the medal from Coach Melloy, it just means a lot,” Hanford said. “Winning this title means the world to me.”

His season ended with his arm raised and a reaction that Adams said defines so much of his success as a West Marshall wrestler — confident, consistent, competent, but also composed.

He was only taken down once this season, in a match where he bumped up a weight to take on top-ranked 157-pounder Lucas Kral of Garner-Hayfield-Ventura at an Iowa Falls tournament in December, a match Hanford went on to win by an 8-6 decision.

“You’re gonna have things go great as a wrestler, but you’ve got to stay composed,” Adams said. “You’ll have things go wrong — gotta stay composed. … That’s a big part of his mindset where if you don’t go to those crazy lows, you usually don’t go to those crazy highs as well. He’s put in a ton and he was very emotional [off the mat] afterwards, but he’s not the run-around screaming type.”

Tied 1-1 in the third period, the defense-minded Sinn tried to counter a Hanford shot to take him down but Hanford fought Sinn off, knocking Sinn to the mat, and when Sinn tried to scramble back to his feet, Hanford dove at the legs for a takedown with 1:15 to go in the match.

“That was very satisfying, I had only gotten in once on his legs before that,” Hanford said. “I needed to take advantage of any chance I could get.”

Once Hanford had gotten his offense, he turned up his equally-impressive defense, denying Sinn the rest of the way.

“His last three matches have been fairly identical,” Adams said. “I think it’s guys watching a lot of film and knowing Shane, because he’s been beyond explosive this year, dominant on his feet, and the last three guys just majorly tried to slow things down, limit his shots, and limit their attacks where Shane couldn’t counter attack because he’s very deadly there. He doesn’t like those slow matches, he wants constant action, but he wrestled it so smart, didn’t get nervous, didn’t expose himself.

“And then in that last minute, he’s very smart, very methodical, he always knows where he’s at, and what he can allow.”

He joins three-time state champ Jason Kelber and two-time champ Dale Hilleman as the only Trojans to medal three times in their career — Hanford was fifth as a sophomore and fourth as a junior.

Moreover, his reputation as a wrestling room leader will serve as a model in the years to come for the Trojans.

“Any wrestler that needs help in there, I’ll go with them, I’ll go with freshmen, help them out,” Hanford said. “I’m there for my team, because they’re there for me.”

Adams said the way Hanford carries himself will serve him well as he moves on to the next level at Central College.

“You’re top-tier now but when you go to college, it’s another level,” Adams said. “You’ve got to keep that composure and be ready to know you’ll take some hits early. But I’m excited to see what he can do at Central.”

Hanford added: “This helps me know that I can keep building. I’ve been building ever since freshman year, to be a state placewinner, and now a state champion. So I’ll keep building.”

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The walls were closing in on Urijah Courter.

The West Marshall sophomore had nearly lost it all in his 113-pound championship match on Saturday night, reversed into a pinning predicament by Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont’s Simon Bettis that saw Courter mere moments away from being pinned and, escaping that by the slimmest of margins, was still trailing in the match with two minutes to go.

In the mania of the moment in front of a packed Wells Fargo Arena, Courter’s confidence was rattled.

“I thought I was gonna be done, I really thought I was going to lose — I wanted to quit,” Courter said. “But I looked at my coaches, and they told me ‘You’ve got this, don’t give up.'”

Courter collected himself and went back to work in the third period, seizing his moment for the eventual match-winning takedown, leading to a 10-7 victory and a state championship in Class 2A.

“Looking at my corner [with West Marshall fans], I just thought of all the people who came here to watch me tonight, and I fought my hardest,” Courter said.

Courter scored the first takedown and added a second-period reversal for a 5-0 lead with the scrappy, scrambling Bettis. Looking for some more points late in the second, Courter went for a turn but Bettis halted the momentum of the turn and nearly had Courter pinning himself as Bettis rolled back with Courter’s head captured, and the sophomore strained to keep his neck and shoulders off the mat, saved by the bell as time expired in the period.

“Your world just gets turned upside down,” Adams said of Bettis’ six-point reversal. “But we always preach fighting like no other when we’re on our back and that match could’ve been over if he doesn’t bridge like you’ve never seen a kid bridge before.

“… Moments like that happen and there’s been plenty of matches where you can’t even get a guy’s attention, because they’re so upset over what happened. But on the biggest stage, that second period’s over, Urijah looks over at me, he gets his message, and it’s ‘OK, let’s go,’ and that’s huge. We’re going to point that out next year to the younger guys that this is what you do. You can’t let it rattle you. You stay composed, get your message, go attack.”

Bettis opted to go down to start the third and Courter surrendered the escape point before the first whistle, making it 7-5 in favor of Bettis. With just under 50 seconds to go, the E-B-F freshman took a shot that Courter flattened out to avoid, then spun around to Bettis’ back for a takedown and an 8-7 lead.

“I knew my technique was there,” Courter said. “I knew I was faster than him, I just had to get to my stuff and fight for the full match.”

Courter looked for another turn, and Bettis once again tried to use Courter’s momentum against him, but Courter put a stop to that and stuck Bettis for two nearfall points, as Courter rode out the final 30 seconds for his first state title.

As a freshman, Courter lost in the semifinals and eventually finished third.

“Ever since the beginning of my freshman year, I wanted to be on the top of the podium,” Courter said. “Last year, I was barely 100 pounds and couldn’t get it done. I didn’t want to cut weight anymore, I wanted to focus on practicing, so I went up a weight and just worked my hardest for the rest of the year.”

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Jon Gonzalez battled through two more matches on Saturday morning, a couple of close losses by decision to Linden Phetxoumphone of Clarion-Goldfield-Dows and Burlington Notre Dame’s Colt Boyles in the consolation semis and fifth-place match, respectively, finishing sixth in Class 2A at 120 pounds.

Adams said Gonzalez was pushing through a shoulder injury this week, creating a tough spot in a tough bracket.

“The tournament had its ups and downs,” Gonzalez said. “I’ve got work to do in the offseason and hope to come back better next year, really just working on my confidence, and trusting myself a lot more, especially when I’m working on top trying to turn or on bottom trying to escape as those were two big problems for me this weekend.”

He joins Jason Kelber as the only Trojan wrestler to medal as both a freshman and sophomore.

“He’s got to step back and look what he’s accomplished here,” Adams said. “He was so close to the guys he lost to even with the adversity he worked through and to do something only one other West Marshall wrestler has done in the past 60 years is very impressive. He’s so talented, so hungry, a great kid who had a great season and has a great future.”

Jon said he kept wrestling hard for his older brother, Ben Gonzalez, who missed out on the state tournament as a senior.

“He was always there for me this week to get me ready before a match, and I thank him for always being there for me,” Gonzalez said. “I wanted to win it all for him, and it didn’t happen, but maybe next year I’ll win it for him.”

Adams also credited his assistant coaching staff — Nathan McGrew, Tracey Malloy, Jace Moree, JD Downs, Jeff Arnold, Tom Hillers, Blake Benson and Ross Randall for their work all season long as well as helping get West Marshall’s five state qualifiers ready to go all week long.