DES MOINES — Chalk it up to experience.

West Marshall’s trio of three-time state qualifiers all advanced through the opening day of the IHSAA State Wrestling Championships, but so did the Trojans’ newcomer on Thursday at the Casey’s Center in Des Moines.

Defending state champion Urijah Courter moved into the Class 2A quarterfinals for the third year in a row, scoring a 22-6 technical fall over Atlantic’s 10th-ranked Keaton Schroeder at 120 pounds, and watched as the rest of his teammates endured the back side of the bracket.

Fellow junior Jon Gonzalez (126) and senior Kinnick Geers (150) both survived second-round losses by winning by pin in the blood round, avoiding elimination, while junior Ben Buck (144) overcame a first-round defeat to stay alive with a second-round consolation triumph by fall.

Courter, last year’s 113-pound titlist, received a bye along with the No. 2 seed and broke through the first day with a convincing victory in his first match since his first loss in a West Marshall singlet.

Courter (40-1) dropped a 7-6 decision to No. 5 Rowan Berndt of Burlington-Notre Dame in the district finals, but showed no signs of stumbling at state. He had four takedowns against Schroeder and racked up eight near-fall points along the way.

“I got two takedowns right away, really good takedowns, and I set up my shots,” said Courter. “It was great. And then when I was close to the tech fall I just started diving (at my opponent’s feet) again, and that’s when he took me down. So I’m just gonna stay away from that and I think I should be good.”

Ranked No. 1 by IAwrestle, Courter will face No. 7 seed Tyson DeWall of Spirit Lake Park (20-1) in Friday’s quarterfinals.

Gonzalez, a two-time medalist for the Trojans, pinned Humboldt’s Henry Kramer in 2 minutes, 30 seconds, in his opening-round bout, but bowed to No. 2 Adam Carey of Independence, 17-6, in the second round.

With two previous trips to state to draw experience from, the seventh-ranked Gonzalez (40-5) readjusted his goals from the top of the podium to however high he can step on it this year. He stuck Austin Bradley of Estherville-Lincoln Central in 1:10 in the blood round to bounce through to Friday.

“I know that there is pressure, but I try not to let that get to me,” Gonzalez said. “I think it’s more of me just wanting to get back up there (on the podium), but I’ve got nothing else to do but get myself back together tomorrow and come back and get to the next best thing I guess.”

Geers, a senior, saw no other option than to rebound from his second-round loss.

“It is a different feeling,” he said. “We’ve got guys who have been down here before, but you still feel nervous. It’s always fun coming down here, competing — it’s still fun to compete.

“You don’t have to hype yourself up and accidentally warm up for half an hour, an hour before the match. You know how the routine goes and you just know the feeling out there.”

Geers (33-13) began the day by pinning Lane Pennington of Davenport Assumption in 50 seconds, but was ousted by No. 2 Ben Walsh of Sergeant Bluff-Luton (50-1) in the quarterfinals, 12-7. Geers let it fly with the full arsenal, leading 7-3 during the first period, before Walsh recovered and pulled away for the win.

The Trojan senior took control against Albia’s Kiptyn Lawrence, racking up three takedowns and eventually a pin in 2:26.

“I wasn’t as nervous as I was three years ago,” Geers said. “The blood round is called blood round for a reason — if you win you go on toward placing, if not you’re done, so it’s a good feeling.”

Buck (33-17) tussled with Jayse Jensen of Winterset in his state debut but could neither escape nor take down his opponent in a 3-0 loss. Trailing 6-1 against Webster City’s Gavin Wynkoop, Buck caught his opponent out of position and got the reversal and a pin just before the end of the first period.

“I’m pretty used to being in that situation, I’m there all year long, so it’s just another match when I’m down,” Buck said. “I looked to my corner every time during my matches because I’m not very skillful, but they just tell me what to do and I try to follow it.”

Buck, Geers and Gonzalez need two more wins on Friday to find their way to the medal stand.

Bruner blanked in debut

South Hardin-BCLUW sophomore Garett Bruner bowed out on the opening day of his state tournament debut, going 0-2 in the Class 2A 126-pound bracket on Thursday.

Bruner closed the season with a 40-11 record and plenty of motivation toward next season. He was edged out in his opening-round match by Jayden Steapp of Solon, 3-0, and then suffered blood-round defeat against 11th-ranked Mason Glotfelty of Decorah, 12-3.

As the No. 14 seed, Bruner found himself with scoring opportunities throughout his opener against Steapp (37-16), seeded 19th. A late back cradle never came to fruition and Bruner was bounced into the consolation round.

Glotfelty (31-13) took Bruner down four times but was unable to turn him, but the BCLUW sophomore couldn’t find his own offense and headed home after Day 1.

Meling comes up empty

East Marshall senior Jordan Meling was unable to advance through the opening day of his second-straight trip to the state tournament, suffering consecutive defeats on Thursday during the first session of Class 1A action.

The Mustang 138-pounder, ranked 10th by IAwrestle, got an unfriendly draw that ran him into two more ranked foes. Meling, with state meet experience, got the No. 14 seed and drew No. 19 Ryker VanDenHeuvel of Sigourney in the opening round. VanDenHeuvel (28-5), ranked ninth, rattled off a 10-0 major decision to send Meling to the back side of the bracket.

In the consolation second round, Meling’s season came to a close with a second-period pin at the hands of seventh-ranked Luke Schroeder of Missouri Valley. Meling scored the first points with a takedown in the opening period, but Schroeder (43-11), seeded 13th, turned a second-period takedown into a pin at the 3:34 mark.

Meling closed his senior season with a 35-15 record.