Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

Mississippi Valley Conference Meet

When: Saturday, 10 a.m.

Where: Dubuque Hempstead High School

2019 top-5: 1. Cedar Rapids Kennedy; 2. Cedar Rapids Prairie; 3. City High; 4. Western Dubuque; 5. Cedar Falls

Ranked teams: Class 3A No. 5. West High; Class 3A No. 9 Linn-Mar

What to watch: It has been seven seasons since West High won a Mississippi Valley Conference meet title and four seasons since the Trojans finished in the top three at the conference meet.

This season could spell an end to that string. West High is one of several teams hoping to emerge from the pack in an MVC field as balanced as any in recent history.

West High and Linn-Mar each have five ranked wrestlers, defending champion Cedar Rapids Kennedy will be in the mix along with Cedar Rapids Prairie which has finished in the top three each of the past eight seasons.

West High was eighth last season but has the top end firepower to contend for a conference title with all five ranked wrestlers in top five in their respective weight class.

Sophomore Hunter Garvin (22-3) is top-ranked at 132 pounds and a defending MVC champion while fourth-ranked 145-pound junior Graham Gambrall (25-5) is seeking a third straight conference title.

Sophomore 106-pounder Grant O’Dell (19-6) and junior 170-pounder Ashton Barker (19-5) are both ranked fifth for West High and could face ranked Linn-Mar opponents that would be critical matches in the team standings.

Senior Will Hoeft (14-1) is ranked second at 182 pounds.

City High is seeking a third consecutive top-three finish after following up a team-title in 2018 with a third-place finish last year.

Sixth-ranked Senior 113-pounder Ethan Wood-Finley (18-2) is a two-time defending MVC champ but hasn’t wrestled since the finals of the J-Hawk Invite on January 20.

If Wood-Finley competes on Saturday he would be attempting to join Kyle Anson as the only three-time MVC champion in City High history. Anson won titles in 2002, 2004 and 2005.  

Lance Bormann (21-6), sixth-ranked freshman 160-pounder Ben Kueter (13-0) and 220-pound senior Jason Lemus (22-4) are all seeking a first MVC title for City High.

Who to watch: Will Hoeft had a day he will always remember at the MVC meet last season but it’s not a fond memory for the West High senior.

Hoeft suffered a torn ACL at the MVC meet last season at West High, an injury that required offseason surgery and kept him off the football field for a month this fall.

On Saturday Hoeft will attempt to create a much better memory in his final MVC meet.

Hoeft (14-1) enters a strong 182-pound field ranked second and seeking the first conference title of his career.

Hoeft joins fourth-ranked Hosch of Western Dubuque and No. 10 Jay Oostendorp of Cedar Rapids Kennedy in the 182-pound bracket.

Hoeft is unbeaten against in-state foes this season and owns a 14-3 win over Oostendorp.

Weight class to watch: There are weight classes with more ranked wrestlers and several with wrestlers ranked higher but perhaps no bracket offers a more intriguing matchup than 160 pounds.

Two of the top freshman in the state in sixth-ranked Ben Kueter of City High and Linn-Mar’s Tate Naaktgeboren appear to be on a collision course for their first meet as preps in the 160-pound title match.

Kueter has impressed since he entered the City High lineup going 13-0 with nine pins.

Naaktgeboren is 26-1 with his lone loss a 3-2 decision to second-ranked Nick Bonanno of Indianola and wins over the fourth, seventh and eighth ranked wrestlers.

Ranked wrestlers

106:     Class 3A No. 3 Brandon O’Brien (Linn-Mar) Jr.

            Class 3A No. 5 Grant O’Dell (West High) Soph.  

113:     *Class 3A No. 6 Ethan Wood-Finley (City High) Sr.

120:     *Class 3A No. 2 Austin Kegley (CR Prairie) Sr.

            Class 3A No. 4 Kaden Karns (Waterloo West) Jr.

126:     Class 3A No. 4 Bryce Parke (Linn-Mar) Jr.

132:     *Class 3A No. 1 Hunter Garvin (West High) Soph.

            Class 3A No. 8 Cadin Hermann (Waterloo East) Soph.

138:     Class 3A No. 5 Christian Stanek (CR Xavier) Soph.

            Class 3A No. 8 Jared Cordes (Western Dubuque) Sr.

            Class 3A No. 9 Dylan Whitt (Cedar Falls) Soph.

145:     *Class 3A No. 4 Graham Gambrall (West High) Jr.

            Class 3A No. 9 Ben Faber (Dubuque Hempstead) Sr.

            Class 3A No. 10 Dylan Falck (CR Kennedy) Sr.

152:     Class 3A No. 6 Abass Kemokai (Linn-Mar) Jr.

160:     Class 3A No. 3 Tate Naaktgeboren (Linn-Mar) Fr.

            Class 3A No. 6 Ben Kueter (City High) Fr.

170:     Class 3A No. 4 Ryan Plummer (Linn-Mar) Sr.

            Class 3A No. 5 Ashton Barker (West High) Jr.

            Class 2A No. 9 Connor Dehn (Dubuque Wahlert) Sr.

            Class 3A No. 10 Carter Kluesner (Western Dubuque) Jr.

182:     Class 3A No. 2 Will Hoeft (West High) Sr.

            *Class 3A No. 4 Jake Hosch (Western Dubuque) Sr.

            Class 3A No. 10 Jay Oostendorp (CR Kennedy) Sr.

195:     *Class 3A No. 4 Ashton Stoner-DeGroot (CR Prairie) Sr.

            Class 3A No. 5 Collin Bohnenkamp (Cedar Falls) Sr.

285:     *Class 3A No. 2 Josh Vis (CR Kennedy) Sr.

            Class 3A No. 7 Dawson Sweet (CR Jefferson) Sr.

*-Denotes Defending conference champion

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