Action is slated to begin at noon.

Joining the Hawks in the field will be Baxter, Colfax-Mingo, Collins-Maxwell, Martensdale St. Marys, Ogden and Pleasantville. The top two individuals at each of the 14 weights will push on to next weekend’s district tournament, which will be hosted by Pleasantville. The first- and second-place teams will advance to Tuesday’s regional duals.

Joining the Pleasantville district will be individual qualifiers from the Interstate 35 sectional, which will include host I-35, East Union, Lynnville-Sully, Moravia, Mount Ayr, Southeast Warren/Melcher-Dallas and Wayne.

Saturday’s Ogden sectional appears to be wide open, which gives South Hamilton several opportunities to push grapplers on to the next round.

South Hamilton junior Colton Willis (top) will make the jump from 220 pounds to heavyweight for Saturday’s Class 1A sectional in Ogden. DFJ photo/Troy Banning

“I think we have the right mentality going into Saturday with a lot of guys, and what’s awesome about sectionals is there’s a true wrestle back,” South Hamilton head coach Dan Brodie said. “You have to go out and put good matches together and give yourself an opportunity to maybe advance to the next round.”

Brodie says all of the heavy lifting has been done. In the postseason, it’s the mental preparation that separates the men from the boys.

“The physical nature of wrestling will take care of itself,” he said. “It’s those that are mentally tough that will see more success, so we’ve talked a lot about mental toughness in practice this week.”

South Hamilton will have 10 wrestlers in the field, led by junior Heart of Iowa Conference champion Lane Swenson, who has compiled a 34-3 record at 170 pounds. Trevor Thompson (195) has also topped 30 wins — he’s 31-8 — while Colton Willis (285) enters the postseason at 22-11.

Swenson and Thompson will both be favored to advance to districts.

“Saturday is a great opportunity for those guys,” Brodie said.

Willis spent the regular season competing at 220, but opted to bump up to heavyweight because of the depth at the lower weight. Third-ranked Blake Haub of Ogden and ninth-ranked Cole Anthony of Pleasantville are the favorites at 220.

Brodie says Willis weighs in around 215, so he’ll likely be at a significant size disadvantage on Saturday.

“Colton can handle it,” Brodie said. “He wants this, he wants to move on to the next round, and we looked at it and said this was his best chance. He’ll be an underdog at (285), but you just have to go out and prove that weight doesn’t matter.”

The only other ranked grappler in the field will be No. 2 Cole Cassady (132) of Martensdale St. Marys.

AT A GLANCE

What: Class 1A sectional wrestling tournament.

Where: Ogden High School.

When: Saturday, noon.

Teams: Baxter, Colfax-Mingo, Collins-Maxwell, Martensdale St. Marys, Ogden, Pleasantville, South Hamilton.

Ranked Individuals: 132 — (2) Cole Cassady, Martensdale St. Marys. 220 — (3) Blake Haub, Ogden; (9) Cole Anthony, Pleasantville.

South Hamilton Lineup

106 — Open. 113 — Open. 120 — Open. 126 — Alan Gandara, soph, 4-19. 132 — Jose Galdeano, sr, 12-23. 138 — Kaelen Miller, soph, 10-19 OR Justin Wilson, soph, 9-13. 145 — Connor Caudle, soph, 5-23. 152 — Sheldon Tapper, sr, 7-26. 160 — Brent Greenfield, soph, 16-22. 170 — Lane Swenson, jr, 34-3. 182 — Elijah Balderas, soph, 15-11. 195 — Trevor Thompson, jr, 31-8. 220 — Open. 285 — Colton Willis, jr, 22-11.