Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Entering his junior season Kyle Hefley knew it was time to step up.

For Hefley, stepping up started with cutting down.  

Following a 33-win season as a sophomore at 160 pounds City High coach Cory Connell came to Hefley with a request.

“I told him before the season started with how our lineup was that we needed him to drop to 152,” Connell explained. “That’s what he had to do to make our lineup the best.”

Coming of a 33-14 season in which he missed a trip to the state meet by one win, the idea of dropping weight didn’t exactly appeal to Hefley.

The thought of a more potent lineup that did more winning did catch the attention of the City High junior.

“At the start I wasn’t too happy about it but the team needs me there so I said I had to suck it up and get it done,” Hefley said. “It turned out to be a great decision.”

After a combined 63 wins in his first two seasons that each ended with third-place district finishes Hefley has stepped up big as a junior.

The sleeker, slimmer Hefley has become an anchor in the middle of the City High lineup while securing the first state meet trip of his career.

Seventh-ranked Hefley (44-2) will make his state meet debut on Thursday against fourth-ranked Lance Runyon (32-6) of Southeast Polk when the Class 3A state tournament gets underway at 1:30 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

“My mentality has changed I’m looking at this season with a more positive outlook,” Hefley said. “Last season I went into it with kind of a carefee attitude and this year I came into it with a workman’s attitude.”

It wasn’t easy for Hefley who spent the fall months ranking fourth on the City High football team as a 175-pound linebacker.

As soon as the season ended in October Hefley hit the treadmill. Hard.

“It was mainly just keeping my weight down a little bit over the summer and then it just was a lot of work, especially right after football,” Hefley said. “It was a lot of grueling running.”  

Hefley logged 4-5 miles a day on the treadmill leading up to the season.

It was all Connell needed to see to know the junior was in for a breakthrough season.

“Football got over and within a couple weeks I heard he was already down to like 155 or within shooting distance of it,” Connell said. “Right then I knew he was all in.”

When the season started the success came quickly.

Hefley rattled off 24 consecutive wins to start the season before a 5-2 loss to Joe Hollinrake of Knoxville.

He didn’t lose again until dropping the district title match last Saturday to third-ranked Harlan Steffensmeier of Fort Madison.

In between those losses Hefley won his first Mississippi Valley Conference title and helped the Little Hawks reach the state dual meet with a 5-3 decision over fifth-ranked Ryker Kurimski of Western Dubuque.

“Coming off last season his mindset was difference,” City High senior Jacob Dykes said of Hefley. “I think that’s what we are seeing with the success he is having this year is just a different mindset.”

The emergence of Hefley at 152 pounds solidified the middle weights for City High and helped the Little Hawks to a breakthrough season that included its first MVC regular season and Super Meet titles in more than a decade.

Just as important as the wins that Hefley has supplied on that mat is the leadership he shows both in making the move in the lineup and daily in the practice room.  

“He works so hard every single day, he just gets to work,” Connell said. “He doesn’t do a lot of talking, he just gets to work and works as hard as he can and does a lot of good things in practice room and it shows on the mat.”