DES MOINES - Cathy Twito doesn't mind a little horsing around in the house between her husband, Roger, and her boys - Caleb, Daniel and Nathan.

But when it comes to the kitchen, that is off-limits.

Roger, senior pastor at Ascension Lutheran Church in Waterloo and a former college wrestler at Valparaiso, has honed the wrestling skills of his boys in the family living room.

His oldest, Caleb, was a state runner-up for Cedar Falls in 2001. But his middle son, Daniel, might be the best of the bunch.

On Thursday, when the Class 3A state tournament begins at the Wells Fargo Center in Des Moines, Daniel will begin a quest to join an elite Tiger club as just the seventh wrestler in school history to place at state three or more times.

Earlier this season, Twito became the 11th member of the school's 100-win club. As a three-time placer, Twito would join Kim Rhoades, Matt Purdy, Zach Geary, Tony Wieland, Josh Budke and Nick Bueter.

"Mom wasn't so much worried about us breaking furniture in the living room as she was dad using her as a shield in the kitchen," quipped Daniel.

With 114 career victories, there hasn't been much Twito hasn't accomplished on the mat except win a state title. A year ago, he lost to three-time state champion Derek Moyer of Oskaloosa, 5-3, in the semifinals.

It's been a long hard road to success for Twito, who said he wanted to quit before he ever really got started.

"When I was in the third and fourth grade, I got thrashed all the time," said Twito. "There were some tournaments I got beat so bad I cried and said I never wanted to wrestle again."

But after missing much of his fifth and sixth grade seasons because of a car accident, Twito blossomed in junior high, going undefeated.

Tiger head coach Jay Llewellyn knew he had something special.

"I remember seeing him as an seventh grader and telling one of my assistant coaches, 'Look at his hips. He's got unbelievable hips,'" said Llewellyn. "But, in addition to those hips, he had great feel and strong knowledge of wrestling. Combine that with his great drive and the fact he hates to lose, we knew he was going to be good."

Twito cracked Cedar Falls' lineup as a freshman but had to wrestle up two weights at 140 while sitting behind Kyle Schultz (130) and Dan Humpal (135). He failed to make state, but it only made his will stronger.

"It was a big learning year," said Twito, who won 20 matches his freshman season. "I got beat up on the mat a little and beat up a lot more in the room by our assistant coaches. It made me a lot tougher, made me what I am now."

Twito took sixth as a sophomore at 130 and overcame a serious injury last year to post his top-three finish. Twito broke an ankle during football season last year but recuperated soon enough to wrestle in the Keith Young Invitational.

"It was on a kick-off return, and I wasn't the guy who usually returned the kicks," described Twito of his injury. "But it was a bad kick and the ball came to me. I thought it was my lucky day and started running with the ball, and I got tackled awkwardly. But it was a big relief I was able to recover as fast as I did."

Twito says his only focus this week is Owen McKinley of Iowa City West, his opening-round opponent Thursday at 145. Twito won by major decision over McKinley, 15-3, in the Mississippi Valley Conference Supermeet's semifinals.

"I'm looking forward to doing my best and hopefully coming out on top," said Twito, who plans on attending the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Long Island, N.Y., where he will wrestle for the Division III program. "I'm not thinking about who else is in my bracket or analyzing who might win. I'm not going to look ahead but, rather, I'm going to stay humble and work hard."

There has been much talk about the 3A team battle, presumably a two-horse race between top-ranked Iowa City West and second-ranked Waverly-Shell Rock.

For the Go-Hawks, who qualified a 3A-best 11 wrestlers, they couldn't care less about the Iowa City Wests, Bettendorfs and Council Bluffs Lewis Centrals.

"We're worrying about one thing, and that is us," said Waverly-Shell Rock head coach Rick Caldwell. "We want to score as many points as we can and, if it is enough, it is enough.

"I don't think we are the favorites by any means. I think Iowa City West hands-down is the favorite. At the same time, we are not going to concede it to them, and there are a lot of matches to be wrestled Thursday through Saturday."

The Go-Hawks' strength is through its state tournament experience. Of its 11 qualifiers, eight of them qualified for the state meet last year and three of them - Mark Ballweg (third at 112), Mike Mille (fourth at 119) and Eric Thompson (fifth at 215) all reached the podium. In fact, all three are two-time state medal winners.

"I think all of our guys can win matches and score points for us," said Ballweg.

Thompson, one of three Go-Hawks ranked No. 1, echoed his coach's sentiments.

"We just want to go down there and wrestle our tournament," said Thompson. "We are not going to worry about (Iowa City West) but more about ourselves and what we can do individually and as a team."

Also ranked No. 1 for Waverly-Shell Rock are freshmen Jake Ballweg at 112 and Mark Ballweg at 130. Mille is ranked fourth at 119, while Kittleson is third at 125 and Dylan Wrage is ranked second at 171.

Waterloo West is taking three wrestlers, including returning qualifiers Nick Sand at 103 and B.J. Brooks at 160. Heavyweight Mike Jones is making his first appearance.

Oelwein's Bradley Westendorf is making his first trip to state at 130, while Charles City has three qualifiers - Tanner Schmidt at 103, Isaac Poolman at 152 and Adam Herrick at 160.

Contact Jim Nelson at (319) 291-1521 or jim.nelson@wcfcourier.com

103 POUNDS

Nick Sand of Waterloo West and Linn-Mar's Wes Shetterly are the only returning qualifiers in the top bracket. Unfortunately, they meet in the first round. Shetterly was sixth a year ago at 103. Shetterly beat Sand, 10-1, in the Mississippi Valley Conference's quarterfinals. In the lower bracket, Cedar Rapids Kennedy's Cruse Aarhus is an overwhelming favorite. Third a year ago at 103, Aarhus is 34-1.

112 POUNDS

In the top bracket, Waverly-Shell Rock's Jake Ballweg is ranked No. 1 and owns a 41-0 mark. He will get strong challenges from Cedar Rapids Washington's Elijah Rivera, eighth a year ago, as well as Justin Mather of West Des Moines Valley and Brandon Briggs of Keokuk. In the bottom half, Nathan Vaske of West Delaware, Cody Swim of Indianola and Nick Trizzino of Bettendorf all could emerge in the finals.

119 POUNDS

This may be the best weight division in the entire tournament, regardless of class. In the top bracket, defending 112-pound state champ Matt McDonough of Linn-Mar opens with Davenport Central's Tommy Mirocha, who was fourth at 103 last year. Also up top is Council Bluffs Lewis Central' Bret Baumbach, who lost to McDonough in last year's title match at 112. In the bottom bracket, Mike Mille of Waverly-Shell Rock is a two-time state placewinner. However, the featured match of the 3A's entire first round will take place between Bettendorf's Tyler Clark, an Iowa State recruit, and Dylan Carew of Iowa City West, the defending 103-pound state champ. Clark was a three-time Illinois state finalist before transferring to Bettendorf this year. Tyler Grask of West Des Moines Dowling, fifth at 103 last year, is also in the bottom bracket.

125 POUNDS

Iowa City West's Nate Moore is the class of the upper bracket. Moore has finished second at 119 and 103 in the last two seasons. Cedar Falls' Jesse Froehner and Knoxville's Nick Moon were state qualifiers a year ago. Cole Clarken of Fort Dodge, Matt Kittleson of Waverly-Shell Rock and Anthony Baccum of Marshalltown are three of the better candidates in the bottom bracket.

130 POUNDS

Despite the fact they meet each other in the first round, it's a good thing for Isaiah Smith of Newton and James Colwell of Cedar Rapids Xavier to be in the top bracket. At least it's better than being located in the bottom bracket, where Iowa City West freshman Nick Moore, Sioux City North's Micah Sheffield and Waverly-Shell Rock's Mark Ballweg reside.

135 POUNDS

Six of the eight wrestlers in the top bracket are returning state qualifiers led by Alec Hoffman of Davenport North, who was fourth at 130 last year. Derek St. John of Iowa City West, third at 130 a year ago, Josh South of Johnston, twice a fifth-place finisher at state, and James Tudor of Newton are legitimate threats in the bottom bracket.

140 POUNDS

Indianola's Logan Edgington has twice finished fourth or better at state. He will be challenged by Tyler Carew of Iowa City West and Nolan Hagerty of Muscatine in the top bracket. West Delaware's Zach McCool, in the bottom bracket, is considered the overall favorite.

145 POUNDS

Matt Briggs of Keokuk, Stew Gillmor of North Scott and Daniel Twito of Cedar Falls are the best bets in the top half. Twito beat Gillmor, 4-3, for the Keith Young Invitational title in December and the Tiger senior could face Urbandale freshman Michael Moreno in the quarterfinals. Moreno gave Twito one of his two losses this season. The other was to Saydel state champ T.J. Moen. The bottom half is also loaded with quality wrestlers, including Blaze Gill of Sioux City North, Jacob Groth of Marshalltown and Kyle McDowell of Johnston.

152 POUNDS

Linn-Mar's Jason Nelson was the state runner-up at 152 a year ago. He will be challenged by Newton's Bryce Skaggs in the top bracket. The lower bracket features Evan Shaw of Iowa City West, the runner-up at 140 last year. He will have to face Johnston's Eric Reese, seventh at 145 in 2006, in the first round. Another good first-round matchup is Keokuk's Ryan Helenthal against Justin Rau of Council Bluffs Lewis Central. Both Helenthal and Rau reached the podium at 152 last year.

160 POUNDS

Alec Epkes of North Scott was fifth at 152 last year and he, along with Sioux City North's Robert Kellogg and Charles City's Adam Herrick, are the top threats in the top half. On the bottom side, Billy Lewis of Bettendorf is the favorite to emerge but don't count out B.J. Brooks of Waterloo West or Jeff Ragan of Southeast Polk.

171 POUNDS

Iowa City West's Grant Gambrall was the runner-up at 160 a year ago, and he could face Jesse Swanson of Knoxville, the runner-up at 171 in 2006, in a possible semifinal up top. In the bottom bracket, Dylan Wrage of Waverly-Shell Rock enters the tournament 39-1 and ranked No. 2 behind Gambrall.

189 POUNDS

Iowa recruit Brodie Ambrose was third at 171 a year ago, but a major road block in the form of Council Bluffs Lewis Central's Jimmy Waters stands in the way. Waters, a Kansas baseball recruit, has won 144 consecutive matches, dating back to a loss in the state finals as a freshman. He is seeking his third state championship. In the bottom bracket, Cedar Rapids Washington's Alex Grafft, Sioux City East's Ryan Bell and Waverly-Shell Rock's Lee Averhoff are the top threats.

215 POUNDS

Matt Sixta of West Des Moines Valley was fourth at 215 last year. He, along with Des Moines East's Bojan Djukic, are the top threats in the top bracket. Top-ranked Eric Thompson of Waverly-Shell Rock and Mickey Sprague of Cedar Rapids Prairie are the best bets in the bottom bracket.

285 POUNDS

Jordan Johnson of Bettendorf, an Iowa recruit and a former Illinois state champion, will most likely emerge from the top bracket. Clinton's Ben Boothby, third last year, is the top contender in the bottom bracket.

Class 3A favorites

Team Qual.

Waverly-Shell Rock 11

Iowa City West 10

Bettendorf 9

Cedar Rapids Prairie 8

WDM Valley 8