His second-straight state meet berth already in the bag, Nicholas Wise stood without an opponent on the mat for the 144-pound district championship.

He’d rather have wrestled and lost than advanced without contestation.

Wise claimed his first district title during Saturday’s Class 3A District 7 wrestling tournament in the Roundhouse, leading a team of five Bobcats back to Des Moines as part of its largest season-ending entourage since 2004.

Wise was one of four Marshalltown seniors to secure their spots at this week’s state tournament, joined by fellow district champion Dalton Zednichek (190 pounds), runner-up Ignacio Macias (285) and third-place finishers Carson Wright (165).

Sophomore Nicholas Million (113) cinched his first trip to the IHSAA State Wrestling Championships with a third-place finish as well, marking Marshalltown’s largest group of qualifiers since six Bobcats went in 2004 and the most in the modern format that takes 24 wrestlers per weight class.

“It’s really cool,” said MHS head coach Lucas Cross. “I don’t like to compare it to the past because it’s different now, so I can’t say that we’re any better than any of those teams previously, but five is really cool. And we’re going to celebrate it and we’re gonna do everything we can to get those five as far in the state as we can.

“Five is cool. I wish we had seven.”

The state meet commences at 4 p.m. Wednesday inside the Casey’s Center for 3A qualifiers, which will include Wise for the second year in a row. Seventh place, however, won’t cut it for the third-ranked and second-seeded senior who has dedicated himself to the sport for so long now.

“To go back to state is amazing,” said Wise, boasting a 35-1 record. “Not just to go back to state, but to go back to state seeded high and having a chance to win state. I never throught I’d have that chance, so to be able to go and compete with the best of the best and have the opportunity to win state is a dream come true.”

Wise spent just 68 seconds on the mat Saturday, scoring a pair of pins to reach the 144 finals where he expected to face Dowling Catholic’s ninth-ranked Airic Conn (30-13). Instead, Conn took a medical forfeit in hopes of salvaging a better seeding at state, so Wise went to the mat to have his hand raised without conflict.

“My finals match was very confusing and unexpected,” said Wise. “I didn’t think he would medically forfeit. I was planning on having a tough final match today, and I ended up not getting that.

“I mean, it’s still a championship, still a district win, but I wish I could have wrestled it. Yes I would (rather lose in the finals than not wrestle) because I would like to see those tough matches, because then I know how to beat them next time.”

Wise and Conn will have to meet in the finals or on the back side of the bracket, however, after Wise received the No. 2 seed and Conn was seeded eighth. Conn’s potential quarterfinal matchup would be against No. 1 Wil Oberbroeckling (27-3) of Southeast Polk.

“The way the seeding criteria works for state, I’m curious to see where it all falls,” Cross said, “and if not wrestling pays off for that kid or not. But that’s a risk they wanted to take, but it’s a bummer for our crowd. You know they wanted to see [Wise] wrestle.”

Wise pinned James Thomas of Cedar Rapids Washington in 40 seconds and Waterloo East’s Trent Keller in 28 seconds just to reach a final he didn’t get to wrestle, so instead he spent the day in his teammates’ corner, cheering and coaching them through a challenging district.

“The thing I can speak most about Nick is his ability to go from wrestler to also like cheerleader,” Cross said. “He was in everyone’s corner. He was supportive of everyone, ups and downs, and that really amped up our wrestling today and I think it really pays off. He made the most of the other opportunities to try to get more to have his teammates there.”

He was there in the corner for Macias, when the Bobcat heavyweight scored a 12-8 semifinal win over Cedar Rapids Washington’s Willie Davis.

“‘Nacho’ you’re going to state!” Wise yelled, just in case Macias wasn’t aware.

After all, Macias nearly missed his first match of the day. He was warming up in the team’s practice room when his quarterfinal was called to the mat, but he wasted no time in pinning Des Moines Roosevelt’s Jackson Niyongabo in 39 seconds.

After defeating Davis, Macias (17-4) was pinned by second-ranked Brady Hagan (33-4) of Dowling Catholic in 1:32 in the finals. No wrestleback match was needed, awarding Macias the silver.

“My time to qualify for state was in eighth grade, and that was when I barely came to the U.S., so that was a big achievement,” he said. “Now it feels much better because I’m more developed and I know what I’m doing.

“Now the goal is to win state, whatever it takes.”

Zednichek (14-1) endured adversity this season to get his chance at a first state berth, overcoming a broken bone in his hand and missing all of January during his recovery. The eighth-ranked Bobcat made it worth the wait, pinning both of his district opponents in the second period en route to the 190 title.

“I got to where I want to be, but I want to say really it’s like just a stepping stone to my next actual goal,” he said. “I want to be a state finalist this year, so it’ll be a tough road along the way, but [districts] just helps. It’ll help seeding at state. It’ll just help me get that actual goal of making that podium.”

A year after finishing fourth at districts, Wright wasn’t about to let it happen in his senior season. The senior 165-pounder used those faded memories to help get him through to the next step of the postseason.

Despite a semifinal loss to 11th-ranked Kinnick Thompson (30-11) of Johnston, Wright (24-10) worked his way back to the consolation finals with a 28-second pin of Des Moines Roosevelt’s Skyler Jenkins before topping Cedar Rapids Washington’s Kobe Sindt by major decision, 16-2, to claim the third-place match.

Thompson fell in the finals, awarding Wright with third place and his first trip to state.

“Last year being fourth on the podium, that wasn’t where I wanted to be,” he said. “So that got me up every day, it got me to practice. That was the motivation every day in practice.”

With less of a high school wrestling memory to call upon, Million just went out and wrestled. The sophomore, ranked 11th by IAwrestle, moved to 26-9 for the season with a 2-1 day on the mat. His first match was a frustrating 4-2 loss to No. 10 Wyatt Iburg of Clear Creek-Amana, but be battled back to pin Johnston’s Jackson Gilbert before tallying an 18-2 technical fall over Dubuque Hempstead’s Ike Heysinger in the third-place match.

Million didn’t get the chance to wrestle back for second after Iburg lost in the 113 finale, but he didn’t need it to get to state.

“I’ve wanted this really bad,” he said. “I’ve been putting in the work and time in the wrestling room. I’m just excited and ready to go wrestle.”

Cross was hoping to have more of his team going to wrestle in Des Moines, including his son Colby. The junior, who qualified for state a year ago, came up one match short in his quest of getting back.

Cross (21-13) opened the 150-pound bracket with a 39-second pin of Marcello Rios-Martinez of Des Moines Roosevelt, but fell to No. 9 Jayden Zachary of Dowling in the semifinals. Cross kept going with a 13-4 major decision over D’Angelo Moreno of Cedar Rapids Washington, but Rios-Martinez capitalized on a misstep by Cross and pinned him in 37 seconds in their third-place match.

“He kind of got in a situation where he was on his butt and the kid just put on a cow-catcher and ran it like heck,” coach Cross said. “Colby probably beats him nine out of 10 times, in fact he did beat him early in this tournament. That stings.”

Freshman 106-pounder Jamis Piscitelli was one point away from his state debut, falling 7-6 to Johnston’s Samuel White in the third-place match. White had defeated Piscitelli (13-21) twice previously, including a 13-2 major decision during the regular season and 9-2 earlier in the district bracket, but the Bobcat rookie just ran out of time in his comeback attempt.

Anthony Chavez Ordaz (18-21) was the lone senior unable to advance past Saturday. Juniors Josue Corral Coronado (8-10), Derek Rivera Acosta (11-13), Kieron Sharp (8-10) and John Schoenfelder (16-17), and sophomores Israel Garcia (17-20) and Yandel Manning (9-15) were unable to advance as well.

“Obviously that’s not what we want, but it’s gonna motivate them to drive to the next level for next year,” coach Cross said. “Kids like Israel and Derek and Colby and Anthony, who all should have punched a ticket to state, put themselves in situations that were not enough to get the job done.

“Those guys will use that as fuel. Obviously that’s not what we want, but it’s gonna motivate them to drive to the next level for next year.”

Dowling, ranked second in 3A, won the district team title with 236 points, followed by Johnston (194.5), Clear Creek-Amana (128), Dubuque Hempstead (120.5) and Marshalltown (119.5). Waterloo East (49), Des Moines Roosevelt (40) and Cedar Rapids Washington (38) rounded out the field.

Dowling advanced 12 wrestlers to state while Johnston is sending 11. MHS, Hempstead and CCA all moved five wrestlers through to Des Moines.