Chickasaws take lead at Class 2A state tournament

New Hampton will have three wrestlers compete for state championships and racked up an impressive day on the mat Friday to take the lead at the Class 2A state wrestling meet."Good day, but we have plenty of work to do," New Hampton coach Nick Hemann said. "I like the position we're in, but we can't let up now."Michael Millage advanced to a state title match for the third straight year as he picked up a major decision and a pin at 126. Millage won the 106-pound title for Crestwood at 106 his freshman year and was second at 120 for the Cadets last winter. He will be joined in the finals by 138-pound senior Keaton Geerts, who won the 132 title in 2016, and 160-pound senior Ryan Gorman.Geerts picked up two pins to advance to the finals while Gorman had a quarterfinal pin and then scored a takedown in the final 10 seconds to beat Dubuque Whalert's Kolton Bartow 3-1 in the 160-pound semifinals. Two other Chickasaws - Noah Fye at 132 and Noah Glaser at 170 - fell in the semifinals and will have a chance to place as high as third place during Saturday's consolation round.The lone New Hampton wrestler who fell in the quarterfinals - 220-pound senior Noah Hopp - fought back to win a do-or-die wrestleback against Charles City's A.J. Maloy to clinch a spot on the medal stand. He will wrestle for seventh place on Saturday.New Hampton entered the day in third place but vaulted to the top of the leaderboard by the time the lights dimmed at Wells Fargo Arena Friday night. The Chickasaws, who also won the Class 2A state dual meet title on Wednesday, have 88 points while second-place Solon has 80.5.- For more on the state wrestling tournament, refer back to nhtrib.com or follow @NHTribune on Twitter.