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.
Bohnsack is a key piece of those accomplished Knights. The defending state champion defeated Williamsburg’s Lincoln Schropp, 18-5, for the 113-pound title of the 50th annual Bobcat “Jerry Eckenrod” Invitational on Saturday at Benton Community High School.
Photos from the Benton Community Bobcat Invitational boys’ wrestling tournament at Benton Community High School in Van Horne on Saturday.
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.
Union’s Jillian Worthen is one of the state’s top female wrestlers and is ranked No. 2 in the 125-pound weight class. But “Monster” has bigger goals, like seeing the sport grow in Iowa at the collegiate level
Cedar Rapids Prairie Coach Derick Ball emphasizes the mental aspect of wrestling. The Hawks have made progress from a slow opening week to the season. They were fifth at the Battle of Waterloo and are ninth in the IHSAA Class 3A dual rankings.
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.
In addition to overall co-players of the year Derek Weisskopf of Williamsburg and Preston Ries of Monticello, The Gazette’s 2023 all-area football team is led by offensive player of the year Grant Glausser of Western Dubuque and defensive player of the year Rayce Heitman of Williamsburg. Curt Ritchie of Williamsburg is the area coach of the year.
Meet the 2023 Gazette all-area volleybal team. Mount Vernon’s Chloe Meester and Clear Creek Amana’s Jackie Clubb are selected as player and coach of the year.
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.
There will be new high school girls’ wrestling teams and more individuals in the second season as an official sport in Iowa.
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