K.J. Pilcher

Iowa City High’s Kendall Kurtz, Western Dubuque’s Kellen McKenna and Benton Community’s Brendan Heying are The Gazette’s 3 stars from Day 1 of the Iowa high school boys’ state wrestling tournament.

Here are Wednesday’s results and team scores from the Class 1A Iowa high school boys’ state wrestling tournament. Alburnett’s Tayten Coufal demonstrated how his passion for the sport turns to prowess in competition with a pin in his opening match.

Here are Wednesday’s results and team scores from the Class 2A Iowa high school boys’ state wrestling tournament. Mount Vernon is in second place with five quarterfinalists. One, Ethan Wood, considered not wrestling this season, but is thankful he went out again.

The 2024 Iowa high school boys’ state wrestling tournament is Wednesday through Saturday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. Here’s a look at the schedule and how you can watch the action.

This week’s Pinning Combination podcast takes a look back at Penn State’s one-sided win over Iowa, Iowa State’s Super Bowl Sunday win over Northern Iowa and previews this week’s boys’ state wrestling tournament.

Iowa City High senior Cale Seaton has developed a new appreciation for the sport he loves. The new perspective comes after overcoming a knee injury to win a state wrestling title last year and sitting out six months to rehab from surgery. He is seeded No. 2 at 132 pounds in Class 3A of the IHSAA state wrestling tournament.

Here are five storylines to follow during the 2024 Iowa High School Athletic Association traditional state wrestling tournament at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Here is a class-by-class breakdown of the 2024 Iowa high school boys’ state wrestling tournament, which begins Wednesday and runs through Saturday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Iowa suffered consecutive losses for the first time since 2018, Iowa State beat UNI, Coe won the Bremner Cup dual against Cornell, Wartburg won the American Rivers Conference again and Tanner Sloan posted a notable win during the Wrestling Weekend That Was.

The work and dedication since a disappointing 2023 finish have paid dividends for Iowa City West’s Justin Avila. Fourth-ranked Avila defeated Ankeny Centennial’s Lucas Bruhl, avenging a loss in last season’s state quarterfinals and capturing the 150-pound title at the Class 3A district meet Saturday at Cedar Rapids Prairie. He was one of three West champions and eight state qualifiers.

Top-ranked Penn State won eight matches, including five with bonus points, dominating No. 3 Iowa, 29-6, Friday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Penn State Coach Cael Sanderson earned his 200th career dual win with the Nittany Lions.

Starmont’s Keaton Moeller was third at state wrestling as a freshman last season. He is ranked No. 1 at 150 pounds in Class 1A with a 39-1 record. Moeller enters Saturday’s district tournament at MFL MarMac with a 26-match win streak.

Zach Glazier was destined to be a wrestler. The sport is in his blood with a father who wrestled in college and was a high school coach when Glazier was born. His mother was an avid wrestling fan and supporter.

A nearly two-hour episode of the Pinning Combination podcast talks all things wrestling in Iowa with Hall of Fame coach Dick Briggs, including the Hawkeye men’s loss to Michigan ahead of this week’s Penn State dual, the upcoming UNI-Iowa State dual, Wartburg’s one-sided win over Coe and recaps of the girls’ state tournament and boys’ state duals.

Michigan handed Iowa its first loss, Iowa State and Northern Iowa were unkind hosts to West Virginia, Wartburg thumped Coe, plus final thoughts on the IGHSAU state tournament in the Wrestling Weekend That Was.