In a sport with so much tradition within Iowa, it’s hard to set new bars to reach.

Even so, Don Bosco found a way to do it at this year’s Iowa state wrestling tournament. The Dons won their 18th traditional team state title, passing Waterloo West for the most all-time. It’s the program’s eighth in a row, a streak dating back to 2019.

Don Bosco crowned six individual state champions, which ties a 2001 Lewis Central record for the most in a single year. Ty Martin (106 pounds), Kaiden Belinsky (113), Hendrix Schwab (120), Hayden Schwab (126), Dawson Youngblut (144) and Ethan Christoffer (175) each left with a state title. Youngblut, an Iowa commit, won his third and has a chance for four next year. The Schwab brothers, sons of UNI coach Doug Schwab, are now both two-time state champions. Also contributing was Blake Irvine, who took seventh at 132 pounds as the team’s lone state medalist outside of finalists.

It’s a surreal moment for the small-town team from Gilbertville, surpassing a Waterloo West program with so much rich tradition, behind names like Dan Gable, having made so much history within the state. While the Dons are far from the biggest school, they’ve found a way to have it all within their wrestling room.

Hayden Schwab pointed to the people behind the program, particularly the fans who helped propel the team to new heights.

“I don’t know if there’s a more dedicated group of people,” Hayden Schwab said. “They’re driving for these little 1A tournaments in the middle of the year, we got huge crowd at the Hudson tournament. You gotta say the people.”

From World-level talents like Hayden Schwab overcoming a torn labrum, high-end Division I prospects like Youngblut and gritty wrestlers like Kyler Salis, who had the dual state title-clinching match against Jesup two weeks ago, Don Bosco has built a small-town school into Iowa’s most-accomplished program.

More: Iowa high school state wrestling tournament recap, results from every match

“We’ve all grown up together, gone to club together and we just make each other better every day,” Youngblut said after clinching the team title on Feb. 20. “Not just in wrestling, but in life. We’re all brothers.”

Class 1A Iowa state wrestling tournament final matchups

106 – Don Bosco’s Ty Martin vs. South Central Calhoun’s Karson Wuebker, 1-0 decision

Martin escaped in the second period from bottom, while Wuebker did not in the third in a bout decided from par terre.

113 – Don Bosco’s Kaiden Belinsky over WACO’s Ian Maize, 17-2 technical fall

Belinsky saved his best match for last, recording five takedowns and two near-fall points in his state title victory.

120 – Don Bosco’s Hendrix Schwab over Martensdale St. Marys’ Jensen Dyer

Schwab’s takedown just 17 seconds into his finals match, plus a second-period reversal, was all he needed to secure his second state title.

126 – Don Bosco’s Hayden Schwab over Earlham’s Max Millage, fall (1:24)

Coming off an injury, Schwab had a dominant state tournament with two technical falls and a quick win by fall in his finals match.

132 – Jesup’s Cooper Hinz over Lawton-Bronson’s Riley Watts, 4-1 decision

The future Michigan Wolverine had to gut this one out, recording a takedown with 23 seconds left to go to secure the state title for second-placed Jesup.