TJ Koester ended his high school career on top — literally. Teammate Jake Knight did the same figuratively. Koester, a Bettendorf senior, won his third Iowa high school wrestling state title Saturday night when he took down Southeast Polk's Carter Pearson to his back and pinned him with 44 seconds remaining in the Class 3A 132-pound final in Wells Fargo Arena.
Koester had tied the match 1-1 earlier in the third period with an escape and repeatedly had forced Pearson to the edge of the mat with his offensive attack. Koester had just been awarded a point for stalling when he pulled off the winning move. Koester, who also won titles his freshman and junior seasons, improved to 42-1.
His lone loss was 4-1 in sudden victory to Ankeny's Calvin Rathjen at the Jack Mendenhall Invitational in January. Rathjen, whom Koester pinned earlier in the year, placed fourth. Moments earlier, Knight won his second title in three years with a dominating 11-4 win against Cale Vandermark of Ankeny Centennial.
Knight recorded a pair of first-period takedowns for a 6-1 lead, added an escape and another takedown in the second to make it 10-1 and survived a late takedown to finish off the win at 120 pounds. He improved his season record to 48-1. Bettendorf's hopes for a third title didn't materialize.
Jacob Helgeson of Johnston tossed the Bulldogs' Lincoln Jipp to his back for a pin at the 1:21 mark of the second period in the final at 175. By placing five wrestlers in the top three Bettendorf claime.
