Iowa well represented at Junior National Duals

Iowa displayed its wrestling strength on a national level again.Despite being short of some of its top talent, Greco-Roman and freestyle teams managed a pair of top-five finishes at the Junior National Duals last week in Oklahoma City. The

Iowa Blue freestyle team highlighted the performance with runner-up honors. The Greco-Roman team finished fifth earlier in the week and the Iowa Red freestyle squad was seventh in Pool A before getting first in a lower tier Green Pool.Iowa Blue won its pool play, posting a 3-0 mark and winning three more duals before losing in the championship to Illinois, 36-22.“It was a very good showing,” said Iowa Wrestling Federation State Chair and Iowa City West head coach Mark Reiland, who accompanied the team to Oklahoma City. “For the group we took, it was outstanding.”Iowa Blue dominated Washington (65-4) and Pennsylvania (46-16) before edging Missouri on criteria after a 32-32 tie to win the pool. Wins over Oklahoma Red (32-30), New Jersey (38-23) and Michigan Blue (33-26) pushed them to the finals.Iowa has reached the finals since winning the 2005 Junior National Duals title in freestyle. The teams didn't break new ground but it was still a solid performance.“It's not as though we've done something we've never done,” Reiland said. “It was good.”This team had the potential for more firepower, but some of the state's top wrestlers didn't compete due to injury, already leaving for college and some chose not to participate. Other states, other than Illinois that Reiland said has better depth, had the same issues, but the Iowa wrestlers didn't let inexperience hamper them.“If you had told us we were going end up in the finals in Freestyle, and actually finishing fifth in Greco-Roman was probably a pretty good showing in reality,” Reiland said. “The kids we had on the team and their level of experience I think that was a pretty good finish.”University of Iowa recruit Alex Meyer (182) led Iowa by going 6-0 in Greco-Roman, and recorded a win over future Hawkeye teammate Sam Brooks, of Illinois. Another future Hawkeye Cory Clark, a four-time state champion from Southeast Polk, was 5-0 in Greco-Roman at 126.Former Iowa City West wrestler Justin Koethe was among the standouts the entire weekend. Koethe, a University of Wisconsin recruit, was unbeaten in both Greco-Roman, going 5-0, and freestyle, recording a 7-0 mark. Dylan Peters, a champion for Denver-Tripoli, and Connor Ryan, who wrestled for Bettendorf, were undefeated for Iowa Blue.Ryan, who has few accomplishments at national meets, went 7-0 at 145 after competing in Greco-Roman.I don't know if I would have expected that from Connor," Reiland said. "He hasn't placed at the national tournament before.“He fought hard and won tough matches. He made it through it.”Full results of all duals can be found at

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