DES MOINES - Defending champion Waverly-Shell Rock and Iowa City West were the two teams that separated themselves from the Class 3A state wrestling field after day one at Wells Fargo Arena Wednesday.

A clutch, first-period pin in the back draw by Anthony Walther allowed the Go-Hawks to overtake the Trojans for the day one lead, 32-31.5. Southeast Polk sits in third place with 24 points.

"Anthony Walther came back with a big fall in consolations," W-SR coach Rick Caldwell said.

The Go-Hawks earned bonus points in their eight first-round wins, but still trailed Iowa City West - which posted more bonus points in its eight victories - until the consolation round where Walther made the difference.

Overall, it was an outstanding opening day for the Go-Hawks.

"We're pretty excited about our first round," said Caldwell. "It couldn't have gotten much better. … Here at state, we'll take a first round like that every year."

In what's shaping up to be a race to the wire, W-SR 140-pounder Keelan Moore highlighted the Go-Hawks' first-round success by scoring a last-second takedown and three back points for an 11-3 major decision over No. 6-rated Brett Sams of Oskaloosa, whom he defeated by just two points earlier this season.

"It was great to get a bonus point for the team, and that's what we need," said Moore, who finished sixth in last year's state tournament. "I'm feeling good. We've got most of our guys back (for the second round of the winner's bracket), and we're doing what we need to do."

The Go-Hawks' four top-rated wrestlers each coasted through the opening round with pins. They were Eric DeVoss (1:08), Cody Caldwell (2:16), Jake Ballweg (0:51) and Cody Krumwiede (1:53). Third-rated 119-pounder Jordan Rinken also posted a pin in 3:04.

Sophomore 103-pounder Tanner Werner and senior 130-pounder Luke Pint won by major decision.

"First day is the first day," Rick Caldwell added. "You can't win it on the first day, but you can lose it. We didn't lose it, we put ourselves into a position to be in the hunt."

Waterloo West heavyweight Johntrell Humphrey recorded one of the biggest upsets on day one as he tallied a last-second, overtime takedown and back points to hand 34-1 Kevin Harp of Iowa City High his second loss, 9-4.

Harp had defeated Humphrey three times this season. The West senior was determined not to make it a fourth.

"This is the only match I really wanted because I had been beaten too many times by this kid," Humphrey said. "I hate losin, so I had to come get this one."

Humphrey led 4-3 late in the third period, but the match went into overtime when he was penalized a stalling point. Determined not to go to the mat, the West senior saw an opening late in overtime and made his move.

"I know that I can't deal with (Harp) on the ground, so I couldn't let it go to a second overtime," Humphrey said. "When I saw 10 seconds left, my coach was telling me to go so I just took the shot. I got an underhook into his body, picked him up and dropped him."

Humphrey's upset was even more surprising considering the senior just picked up the sport last season.

"Some people thought I was a basketball player," Humphrey laughed. "My sophomore year I made it halfway through basketball season and it wasn't fun anymore. … Second semester I worked at the Dan Gable Invite and thought it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen. One random day I just ended up coming downstairs and wrestling. I took off from there."

Humphrey was the only one of West's five wrestlers to earn a first-round win. No. 2 Nick Sand was defeated 9-1 by top-rated and 35-0 freshman phenom John Meeks of Des Moines Roosevelt at 119.

Sand and 103-pound freshman Alonzo Henderson each recovered from their first-round losses with bonus point wins in the back draw. Taylor Steimel (135) and Tyler Schoo (140) dropped both of their day one matches.

Waterloo East accumulated 13 points and sits in ninth place. Demetrious Taylor (125), Kyven Gadson (171), Onazi Agbese (215) and Tray Pendleton (heavyweight) each advanced out of the first round. Fifth-ranked 152-pounder Quinten Hayes was upset by Cody Clark, 3-1, but recovered to win his consolation opener, 6-4, in overtime.

"That was a good round, but it would have been a great round if we would have just gotten our 152-pounder through," East coach Willie Gadson said. "He just couldn't seem to get going."

Taylor showed no signs of nervousness in his state tournament debut. He took a 6-4 lead after a back-and-fourth first period before pinning Cedar Rapids Prairie's Trevor Hardin in 3:12. The East sophomore had defeated Hardin earlier in the season, but lost to him last year.

"I feel good about it, but the job's not done yet," Taylor said. "We've still got three more matches to go until the finals."

Gadson won by fall in 1:47, while Pendleton and Agbese won by decision. Agbese's 7-4 win avenged an earlier loss to No. 10-rated Nolan Proehl of Davenport West.

Cedar Falls' No. 2-rated Michael Kelly set the stage for a battle of powers in the second round as he pinned Ben Schwery of Lewis Central in 2:29.

"I'd like to come out and dominate the whole tournament," Kelly said. "It was a good first-round match. I would have liked to get going a little bit more in the first period, but it worked out."

Up next is third-rated Matt Vercillo of Bettendorf, whom Kelly defeated handily last season.

"I've just got to keep staying focused," Kelly added.

Kelly's teammate, third-rated Aidan Brock, suffered a tough, 3-2 overtime loss to No. 4 Jason McCormick of Cedar Rapids Jefferson. The duo entered the fourth overtime period with two escapes apiece. Brock elected to start the sudden-death period from the bottom and was unable to escape.

Class 3A action will continue at 2 p.m. Thursday with quarterfinals and second-round consolations.

Contact Nick Petaros at (319) 291-1428 or nick.petaros@wcfcourier.com