Washington’s Kyle Anderson. Photo by KCII’s Sally Hart.

Fresh off their postseason opener Saturday, the No. 5 Washington Demon wrestling team will look for a win tonight to advance to state duals. Washington is hosting one of eight Class 2A regional dual tournaments, and will grapple No. 17 Albia (22-5), No. 19 Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont (28-3), and No. 13 Williamsburg (20-4) for one spot in the state dual next week in Des Moines.

Washington opens the regional dual tournament versus Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont. The two teams met one another in the Class 2A Section 4 tournament Saturday 10 times, including in four championship matches. Washington won six of the grapples including five by pinfall. The Rockets have two wrestlers ranked in The Predicament’s top 10 individual poll. Alex Hanna (132; 44-6) has been graded as the No. 10 wrestler, while Austin Angle (182; 40-8) is the No. 7 grappler. Washington wrestlers are named in multiple top 10 individual polls ahead of the postseason tournament. The Predicament has six Washington wrestlers ranked in their final Class 2A poll including: Walker Ikerd (No. 9-106), Kyle Anderson (No. 7-126), Austin Hazelett (No. 8-145), Trey Van Weelden (No. 8-152), Tristin Westphal-Edwards (No. 6-160), and Karlton Skubal (No. 3-195). IAwrestle rated six Demons including Ikerd (No. 9-106), Anderson (No. 8-126), Hazelett (No. 6-145), Van Weelden (No. 6-152), Westphal-Edwards (No. 6-160), and Skubal (No. 6-195). As a team, Washington sits at No. 5 in the Iowa Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association rankings.

The other semifinal dual pits Albia versus Williamsburg. Albia’s Aden Reeves (113; 45-1) is rated No. 1 by IAwrestle and is the No. 3 wrestler by The Predicament. Williamsburg has a pair of wrestlers ranked including Grayson Kesterson (106; 41-1) who’s the No. 1 wrestler according to IAwrestle and The Predicament. Josh Holub (195; 39-4) is ranked No. 6 by The Predicament and IAwrestle has him as the ninth-best wrestler.

The two winning teams of semifinal duals will have 20 minutes to recover before grappling in the regional championship. The winner of the title match will advance to the state dual tournament in Des Moines on February 15.

Last year, Washington advanced to the state dual tournament last year for the first time in program history and placed sixth out of eight teams.

KCII Sports will have live play-by-play coverage of the regional dual tournament, beginning with the predual show at 5 p.m. on KCII FM 106.1. The event will also stream live on KCIIRadio.com and on the KCII mobile app.