The Fairfield boys wrestling team finished sixth out of eight teams at the IHSAA District 3 Tournament in Centerville on Saturday, February 14th, but secured two state tournament qualifiers in the process.
Dain Burkhart (175 pounds) captured Fairfield’s only district championship, while Cael McCabe (113 pounds) finished second to punch his ticket to the state tournament. Both wrestlers will compete at the Casey’s Center in Des Moines later this week.
Team Standings
Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont (EBF) dominated the district, scoring 254.5 points. Fort Madison finished second with 132 points, followed by Albia (124), Centerville (112.5), PCM (102.5), Fairfield (92.5), Clarke (73), and Chariton (60.5).
Dain Burkhart: District Champion
Burkhart, the top seed at 175 pounds, dominated his way through the bracket with three consecutive victories, while only giving up two points across the day.
In the first round, he pinned eighth-seed Erick Hernandez of Clarke in 1:13 of the first period. He followed that with a technical fall victory over fourth-seed Cliff Stewart of Fort Madison in the semifinals, winning 17-2 in 3:24 of the second period.
The championship match saw Burkhart take on second-seed Tatian Freeman of EBF. After building an 11-0 lead, Burkhart sealed the district title with a pin at 5:22 of the third period.
Burkhart will enter the state tournament as the sixth seed with a 37-6 record, facing either 11th-seed Easton Beyer of Clarion-Goldfield-Dows or 22nd-seed Tatian Freeman of EBF—the same wrestler he defeated in the district finals.
Cael McCabe: Second Place, State Qualifier
McCabe, seeded first at 113 pounds, had a dramatic run through the bracket that included a heartbreaking championship loss but ended with a state tournament berth.
After receiving a first-round bye, McCabe dominated fourth-seed Chris Guzman of Chariton in the semifinals, pinning him in just 46 seconds of the first period.
The championship match against second-seed Garrett Pumphrey of EBF proved to be a thriller. McCabe fell behind 9-0 before mounting an incredible comeback, scoring nine points in just 18 seconds to tie the match at 9-9 in the third period. His scoring flurry included points for Pumphrey stalling, an escape, a takedown, and a nearfall that almost resulted in a pin before the wrestlers went out of bounds.
However, Pumphrey responded with a two-point reversal with 20 seconds remaining in the period and held on for an 11-9 victory to claim the district title.
McCabe bounced back in the wrestle-back match for second place, facing third-seed Josiah Kaster of Albia. He took care of business quickly, building an 11-0 lead before pinning Kaster in 1:27 of the first period to secure his spot at state.
McCabe will enter the state tournament with an 18-2 record as the eighth seed. He’ll face either ninth-seed Sebastian Brooks of Winterset or 24th-seed Evan Gleason of Solon. This will be McCabe’s fourth trip to the state tournament, where he finished second in 2024 and third in 2025. He’ll be looking to capture that elusive first-place finish as a senior.
Noah Patel: Third Place
Patel, seeded third at 106 pounds, had a strong tournament that included a comeback victory but fell just short of qualifying for state.
He opened with a first-round pin over sixth-seed Joseph Dorsch of Albia in 1:50 of the first period. However, he suffered a tough loss in the second round to second-seed Angel Gomez-Perez of Clarke. Despite building an 8-0 lead, Patel was pinned at 2:36 of the second period.
Patel responded with grit in the consolation bracket. He defeated fourth-seed Zane Houtz of Fort Madison after trailing 10-9, scoring four points on a reversal and nearfall to take a 13-10 lead before securing the pin at 3:37 of the second period.
In the third-place match, Patel dominated fifth-seed Brenden Lahart of PCM, building a 9-1 lead before pinning him in 3:16 of the second period.
Unfortunately, Patel’s road to state ended when Gomez-Perez lost the championship match. Since Patel had already lost to Gomez-Perez, there was no wrestle-back opportunity, and he finished in third place.
Other Fairfield Results
Calvin McClain (190 pounds, sixth seed): Had an impressive tournament with two upset victories. He opened with a comeback pin over third-seed Rainer Johnson of Fort Madison in 1:43 of the first period after trailing 7-0, cutting it to 7-3 before securing the fall. After a technical fall loss to second-seed Logan Gardner of EBF, 18-2, McClain won another upset, pinning fifth-seed Easton Brokaw of Clarke in just 44 seconds. He lost the third-place match to fourth-seed Landon Siedlecki of PCM by fall at 1:45 of the first period to place fourth.
Kohda Higdon (120 pounds, fourth seed): Lost by fall in 37 seconds to top-seed Simon Bettis of EBF in the semifinals. Bettis, who finished second at 113 pounds at last year’s state tournament, proved too much for Higdon. He then lost to third-seed Lucas Anderson of Chariton by major decision, 12-2, to finish fourth.
Hayden Bowman (126 pounds, third seed): Lost by technical fall, 18-3, to second-seed Matt Genobana of Centerville in the semifinals. Bowman rebounded with a pin over fifth-seed Leighton Overton of PCM at 5:08 of the third period after building a 22-11 lead in a competitive match that featured five nearfalls between the two wrestlers. He lost the third-place match to fourth-seed Oliver Schelich of Fort Madison by pin at 3:16 of the second period to finish fourth.
Jasper Carpenter (132 pounds, fourth seed): Suffered a heartbreaking first-round loss to fifth-seed Triton Thom of Centerville. Carpenter led 7-6 but was pinned at 5:48 of the third period—just 12 seconds away from winning by decision. He bounced back with a 15-2 major decision over eighth-seed Wesley Coleman of Chariton before losing to third-seed Wyatt Yule of Albia by pin in 1:00 of the first period.
Ezekiel Moore (138 pounds, sixth seed): Lost to third-seed Karver Hart of Centerville by technical fall in the third period (4:29) with a score of 19-4. After a bye in the second round, he lost by fall in 1:46 of the first period to seventh-seed Bowen Page of Clarke.
Aaron Wellnitz (144 pounds, sixth seed): Lost to third-seed Jared Sutton of PCM by fall in 1:15 of the first period. After a bye in the second round, he lost by fall in 1:15 of the first period to seventh-seed Connor Horn of Fort Madison.
Dusty Haynes (150 pounds, fifth seed): Lost his opening match to fourth-seed Kiptyn Lawrence of Albia by major decision, 12-3. He won his consolation match with a pin over eighth-seed Easton Morris of PCM in 1:35 of the first period. However, he suffered another tough loss, falling to three-seed Ryker Peters of Fort Madison by pin at 2:21 of the second period despite leading 11-0.
Aiden Holthus (157 pounds, sixth seed): Lost by fall in 33 seconds of the first period to third-seed Lincoln Hill of Clarke. After two byes in rounds two and three, he lost by fall in 1:08 of the first period to fourth-seed Peter Seyb of Fort Madison.
Kenneth Houston (165 pounds, seventh seed): Lost by fall in 32 seconds of the first period to second-seed Urijah Frye of Clarke. After a bye in the second round, he lost by major decision, 23-13, to sixth-seed Hayden Bratz of Centerville.
Sebastian Ftwi (215 pounds, fourth seed): Lost by fall at 3:39 of the second period to fifth-seed Dace Dyer of Chariton and lost by fall in 44 seconds of the first period to third-seed Kael Patzel of EBF.
Alex Hudson (285 pounds, fifth seed): Lost by fall in 39 seconds of the first period to fourth-seed Angel Torres of Clarke and lost by fall in 1:33 of the first period to second-seed Eli Mcgriff of PCM.
Challenging District
Fairfield competed in a particularly challenging district featuring EBF, which sent 11 wrestlers to state with eight district champions. EBF was coming off a state championship in the 2A Team Duals, making this one of the tougher districts in the state in this class.
State Tournament Schedule
The Class 2A state wrestling tournament will take place at the Casey’s Center in Des Moines with the following schedule:
Thursday, February 19
- 2:30 p.m. | Session 3 | Class 2A First Round, 2nd Round, 2nd Round Consolations
Friday, February 20
- 9:00 a.m. | Session 4 | Class 1A & 2A Quarterfinals, Consolations
- 5:00 p.m. | Session 5 | Class 1A, 2A, & 3A Semifinals, Consolations
Saturday, February 21
- 9:00 a.m. | Session 6 | All Classes, Consolation Semifinals & Finals
- 5:15 p.m. | Session 7 | All Classes, Awards, Grand March, Finals
Both Burkhart and McCabe will begin their state tournament runs on Thursday afternoon in Session 3.
Photography courtesy of Amy Burkhart.
