K.J. Pilcher

Wrestling action resumed at full-throttle this weekend. College teams competed at all levels with conference duals and multi-divisional national duals. High schools held their first Saturday of tournaments since the break. Here is the Wrestling Weekend That Was.

Second-ranked Iowa closed with five straight victories in a 37-6 dual win over Purdue. Iowa received pins from Spencer Lee and Abe Assad.

West Delaware’s Will Ward battled back from a considerable deficit with a third-period pin to claim the 195-pound title and help the Hawks to a runner-up finish Saturday at the Bobcat Jerry Eckenrod Invitational at Benton Community.

Second-ranked Iowa won five matches, receiving pins from Spencer Lee and Max Murin and a smajor decision by sophomore 165-pounder Patrick Kennedy.

Iowa City High’s Kael Kurtz and Linn-Mar’s Brayden Parke added another chapter to a competitive rivalry between the two ranked Class 3A wrestlers. City High’s top-ranked Gabe Arnold edged the Lions’ No. 2 Tate Naaktgeboren in a battle between nationally-ranked seniors. Linn-Mar dominated the rest of the dual for a 49-21 victory.

Tony Cassioppi has always had a penchant for the pin, but he’s kicked up a notch this season. The Iowa heavyweight has a season-high nine pins, including five in a row entering the second-ranked Hawkeyes’ dual against Illinois Friday.

Watch or listen to the January 4, 2023 episode of the Pinning Combination podcast, talking all things wrestling in Iowa.

The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union opened 2023 with a notable announcement. Girls’ regionals and the Iowa City High at Linn-Mar boys’ dual are among the wrestling events to watch in January.

The Soldier Salute was a year in the making and was executed well. Iowa ran roughshod on the field but this marked a good start for an event with the potential to grow

Former Union Community prep Jack Thomsen has enjoyed a successful redshirt season this year at South Dakota State, wrestling unattached and advancing to the finals of the Soldier Salute college wrestling tournament Friday at Xtream Arena.

Iowa wrestling will return to action in the Soldier Salute, a two-day men’s and women’s open tournament that begins Thursday at Xtream Arena in Coralville.

Upper Iowa University is the state’s lone NCAA Division II program. The school has been nationally successful in men’s wrestling and announced the addition of a women’s wrestlng team.

West Delaware’s Addison Burger suffered physical and mental adversity in her first 18 months of high school sports. She has overcome those challenges and has thrived as a member of West Delaware’s first girls’ wrestling team.

The response to the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union’s first sanctioned season of wrestling has been deafening. Participation numbers have rapidly grown in the first half and many are excited about trajectory, even though officials work toward improvements.

Doug Streicher has transformed Linn-Mar into a top wrestling program during his 26-season tenure, becoming the elder statesman of current Mississippi Valley Conference head wrestling coaches. He still finds reward in the progress athletes make on and off the mat.