Alburnett has climbed to the top of the Class 1A boys’ wrestling dual rankings. The Pirates were fourth at the 2023 state duals and will host regional duals again this season. The Wamac Conference has seven teams in the field with No. 2 Mount Vernon, West Delaware and Indpendence hosting 2A regional duals. Linn-Mar is the lone Gazette-area host in 3A.
The first weekend of wrestling tournaments in 2024 gave the Pinning Combination podcast plenty to discuss this week, from the NWCA National Duals in Cedar Falls to high school action returning around the state.
Wartburg captured its 13th title, while Coe and Upper Iowa rebounded after opening-round losses at the NWCA Multi-Divisional Dual Championships at the UNI-Dome. Life University got a title sweep. Iowa State swept out west, UNI got its 800th dual win and the Alburnett boys and Decorah girls impressed during the Wrestling Weekend That Was.
Just three years after placing 46th at the Class 1A state tournament, Alburnett is back among the top 1A programs. The Pirates are ranked second in dual and tournament rankings with seven ranked wrestlers to start the second half of the boys’ wrestling season.
Here is The Gazette’s first 2023-24 installment of area high school boys’ wrestling individual rankings.
The Iowa high school boys’ wrestling is paused until 2024. The season resumes with 6 1/2 weeks of competition until champions are crowned in Des Moines. Here are some notable events for the second half of the season.
The Iowa High School Athletic Association released the first installment of its dual rankings for all classes. The poll is used to determined regional dual qualifiers and are considered in pairings. Eight regional dual champions advance to the State Duals tournament Feb. 3 at Xtream Arena in Coralville.
Spencer Lee is back to being Spencer Lee with another freestyle title. Upper Iowa with a strong showing at the Midwest Classic. Linn-Mar leads a good local performance at the Battle of Waterloo. Vinton-Shellsburg girls’ and West Branch boys’ win team titles. This is the Wrestling Weekend That Was.
West Delaware Coach had an interesting analogy to describe his team. They resemble farm dogs chasing passing cars, trying to run down their best performances. The Hawks won the South Winn Invitational and hits a challenging stretch of duals this week.
Iowa dominated Columbia with some notable happenings on the periphery of competition. The Lions rebounded against UNI. Upper Iowa opened GLVC action successfully and Luther swept two duals at UW-Stevens Point in the Wrestling Weekend That Was.
For the first time, states had the opportunity to choose the number of weight classes for competition. Iowa remained with 14 weights that include new division in the middle to upper weights.
Each of his first two seasons, Alburnett’s Preston Klostermannwas forced to settle for second the opening weekend of the season. Not this time. Klostermann tallied four pins in the two-day competition, including a third-period fall over Clear Creek Amana’s Ryker Jones, to claim the 144-pound title Saturday at the Cliff Keen Independence Invitational.
Independence hosted the 2023 Cliff Keen Independence Invitational wrestling tournament Saturday at Independence High School.
Here are 18 Gazette-area individuals to keep an eye on during the 2023-24 Iowa high school boys’ wrestling season.
Here are eight Gazette-area teams to keep an eye on during the 2023-24 Iowa high school boys’ wrestling season.
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