Left-right: Asaiah Martinez, Blake Stanford, Kale Wadle, Victor Esparza

Norwalk junior Victor Esparza became a state wrestling medalist last weekend, placing fifth at 190 pounds in the Class 3A State Wrestling Tournament at the Casey’s Center. Additional state qualifiers for the Warriors included senior Asaiah Martinez at 126 pounds, junior Blake Stanford at 132 and senior Kale Wadle at 150.

Esparza went 3-2 at the state meet and finished the season 38-7 overall. Following a first-round bye, he advanced to the semifinals with a pin in 2:34 and a 17-0 technical fall. Esparza lost to eventual state champion Brayden Koester of Bettendorf 8-3 in the semifinal round and lost his consolation semifinal 4-1 in sudden victory before finishing with a 7-2 decision over Jesse Egli of Fort Dodge.

Norwalk coach Jake Brown tells KNIA Sports that Esparza finished the season with a great final week and a half of wrestling, which included a district championship win over the eventual state runner-up. Brown added that Esparza avenged a regular season loss with his quarterfinal technical fall, and was the only competitor not pinned by Koester at state. Brown calls Esparza the ultimate competitor and says he is far from satisfied going into the off-season.

Martinez won a pair of matches in his second trip to the state tournament and finished the season with a 27-11 record. Stanford and Wadle both went 0-2 at the state meet. Stanford finished the season at 36-17 and Wadle went 26-16.