HAMPTON – He never slows down. He never rests. He never gives an opponent even a millisecond to breathe.

Welcome to the world of tangling with Drake Doolittle, and good luck. You’re going to need it.

Webster City’s fifth-ranked (Class 2A) 113-pound freshman cemented himself as a state title contender during Saturday’s 49th annual North Central Conference tournament by picking up a title that surprised the majority of the raucous crowd inside the Hampton-Dumont High School gymnasium.

But did it surprise him? Unless the kid already has a world class poker face, the answer is a resounding no.

Doolittle’s never-ending motor supplied nine third-period points, as he rallied to chop down top-ranked and 2015 state champion Justin Portillo of Clarion-Goldfield-Dows, 11-9, in the gold medal bout.

One quick lap around the mat was all he took afterwards, but he was quickly swallowed up by his teammates and coaches standing close by.

“I just wanted to go after him and push the pace,” Doolittle said. “It’s a big win, but I’ve still got a long way to go.”

Trailing 4-2 entering the third period, Doolittle amped the crowd with a three-point tilt to take his first lead.

The combatants spent the next minute trading four reversals that put Doolittle in front 9-8 with under 30 seconds remaining.

On a restart with less than two ticks left, Doolittle picked up two insurance caution points when Portillo attempted to time the whistle.

“In the third period I figured I’d give it all I’ve got and I picked it up as much as I could,” Doolittle said. “I just finished … it was nice to get it.”

It was Portillo’s first loss to someone other than No. 1-ranked (3A) and returning state champ Brody Teske of Fort Dodge since the 2014 state finals.

And you better believe it energized the entire Lynx team.

“I was going crazy during his match,” WCHS senior 126-pounder Cole Nokes, who followed with a championship of his own two weight classes later, said. “That’s a good win for Drake and I’m proud of him. It pumped me up for sure.”

“We were on a different level and Drake was sky high after that match,” No. 1-ranked 220-pounder Gavin Dinsdale, also a gold medalist, said. “His mental focus was great. He’s a phenomenal wrestler and he beat (Portillo) fair and square. It wasn’t a fluke.”

Portillo – ranked 18th in the country by Intermat – beat Doolittle, 5-4, when the two met during the dual season in December. The two will likely butt heads again at sectionals, districts and maybe, just maybe, state next month.

“We’re going to see that same kid over and over again,” WCHS coach Chad Hisler said. “But Drake is one we don’t ever have to worry about getting over-confident. He’s going to be ready to go whoever he wrestles.”

WCHS claimed a field-best four individual titles, one more than Clear Lake and two clear of CGD. Second-ranked heavyweight Cooper Lawson joined Doolittle, Nokes and Dinsdale on the top of the podium.

A first-time tournament finalist and champion, Nokes had to overcome his fair share of adversity before being handed the over-sized cardboard bracket. Trailing CGD’s Lucas Lienemann 11-5 with 30 seconds left in the semifinals when the two collided at the forehead, a dazed Nokes somehow hit two throws in rapid succession, the second of which scored him the fall with just two seconds left in the match.

Nokes didn’t need any heroics in the finals. He scored on a pair of blast doubles and put Humboldt’s Zane Russell on his back for good in 2:23.

“I was pretty dazed (in the semifinals), but getting my head hit gave me a spark. I just got mad. I wanted to be a conference champion,” Nokes said. “It’s a good feeling.”

A two-time finalist, Dinsdale had the easiest day of anyone in a singlet. He walked, literally, into the finals after a quarterfinal-round bye and a win by injury default over CGD’s Cadan Hanson in the semifinals. Hanson returned to the mat later and placed third, and Dinsdale noticed.

“It’s frustrating to see people wrestle and then not wrestle me because I’ve worked hard, too,” Dinsdale said.

Dinsdale put in a little work against Iowa Falls-Alden’s Zack Duncan by notching four takedowns before decking him in 3:26. The WCHS senior was happy to win a league crown, he just wishes it had happened sooner.

“It took long enough,” he said. “But it’s pretty cool to be up there on the wall (in the practice room) with some really good wrestlers. It will be there forever.”

Lawson outscored his two opponents 34-11 – all 11 points allowed were on intentional releases – en route to gold. He navigated his way flawlessly through a number of throw attempts in the semifinals against Hampton-Dumont’s Pablo Gonzalez (a 19-7 win) and again in the finals against Clear Lake’s Kyle Willms (a 15-4 win).

Lawson was a conference runner-up as a freshman in 2015.

“The tradition is here, so everyone wants to win a conference title,” Lawson said. “I just wanted to go out there and keep scoring points and I think I wrestled really well.”

The Lynx put six in the finals, trailing only CGD with seven.

WCHS senior Ryan Ferrari, ranked No. 9 at 160, settled for silver for a second consecutive year. He scored the match’s first takedown against sixth-ranked Josh Strohman of Algona, but Strohman – a two-time NCC champ – responded with two takedowns of his own in a 5-3 finals win.

Lynx freshman 170-pounder Caleb Olson was a pleasant surprise in the finals, but ninth-ranked Michael Kent of Iowa Falls-Alden was too much in a 21-6 technical fall result.

Olson reached center stage by pinning CGD No. 2 seed Mason Carpenter early in the second period in the semifinals.

“He’s worked his butt off and he’s got a bright future,” Hisler said of Olson. “He just keeps getting better and better.”