National level-loss fuels Iowa City High’s Ben Kueter in 3A state wrestling tournament

DES MOINES — He’s never lost a match at the Class 3A state wrestling tournament. He’s won two titles and is heavily favored to wrap up a third this weekend at Wells Fargo Arena.

But it’s a setback that helps fuel top-ranked Iowa City High 220-pounder Ben Kueter’s drive to dominate.

“Probably this summer at Fargo (in the junior freestyle nationals) finals,” said Kueter, a junior who won by technical fall Thursday to advance to Friday’s quarterfinals. “I was pretty, I guess you could say, pissed off about that. Excuse my language, but I wasn’t too happy about that. I think about it a lot.”

Kueter — who has committed to play football and wrestle at Iowa — went 24-0 while winning the 160-pound title as a freshman in 2020. He compiled an 11-0 mark en route to a 195-pound championship last year. COVID-19 policies curtailed how much he could wrestle a year ago, but it didn’t affect his performance.

All Kueter does is win, except for that one loss in Fargo. He’s scored bonus points in all but one of his 34 wins this season.

» Photos: Day 1 of the Class 3A state wrestling tournament

That’s why a rare stumble sits with him, drives him, and sets the stage for even greater success.

“You don’t dwell on it too much, but it’s always in the back of my head when I’m working and things get hard in practice,” Kueter said.

Faith also guides Kueter through turbulent moments. A bible verse, Philippians 4:13, is tattooed in script across part of his chest.

“(It’s what) I tell myself before every match and it says, ‘I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.’ It makes me feel calm, I guess you could say.”

» Results: State wrestling updates and team scores from day 1

Southeast Polk leads the 3A team race with 36.5 points after the first session. Iowa City West is seventh (19) and Linn-Mar is eighth (17).

The Lions’ bruising brothers, Kane and Tate Naaktgeboren, both scored pins in their opening matches. Kane’s, at 132 pounds, took just 27 seconds.

“Looking to make a statement this weekend and show I’m the best,” Kane, the No. 2 seed at 132, said.

Cedar Rapids Xavier’s Christian Stanek won by technical fall at 160 to improve to 34-4 this season. He’s placed eighth and sixth the past two tournaments — and is less battle-scarred this season as he works to climb the podium.

“A couple weeks ago I split open my eye, so I had head tape around my eye, but other than that, it’s been pretty good,” Stanek said. “Years in the past I’ve been pretty beat up.”

Blake Gioimo of Cedar Rapids Prairie remained undefeated this season (41-0) and pinned his first-round foe in 38 seconds.

“Last year it was cool that I was here and cool that I could win, but this year I’m looking to prove more of a point,” Gioimo said. “There’s a reason I’m here and there’s a reason I’m winning these matches.”

Iowa City West’s Robert Avila, Jr. — a three-time state champ with Lisbon — has battled injuries all season, but pinned his way to the quarterfinals at 145 with relative ease.

Top-seeded Trojans teammate Hunter Gavin did the same to improve to 45-0 at 152.

“I’m super thankful for him,” Avila said of Gavin. “Not just him, but the other teammates I have in that room, too. We’ve got a good group of guys.”

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