Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

The Wrestlers

Area Qualifiers/Opening Round Opponents

106 – No. 5 Kael Kurtz (12-0) Fr., City High vs. Luke Stover (22-12) Jr., Dallas Center-Grimes

113 – No. 10 Cale Seaton (11-1) Fr., City High vs. Aime Mukiza (15-5) Sr., DM North-Hoover

113 – Jack Stevens (19-4) Fr., Clear Creek Amana vs. No. 5 Max Bishop (19-2) Soph., Fort Dodge

120 – Parker McBride (7-0) Jr., West High vs. Travis Hodges (27-6) Sr., Davenport West

120 – Carsen Newton (4-1) Fr., City High vs. No. 5 Rheiner Stallbaum (19-2) Jr., Johnston

126 – No. 3 Grant O’Dell (12-0) Jr., West High vs. Noah Madison (16-8) Jr., Johnston

132 – No. 8 Kael Scranton (9-2) Jr., West High vs. No. 9 Braden Blackorby (13-4) Fr., Johnston

138 – No. 1 Hunter Garvin (12-0) Jr., West High vs. Damarian Ross (19-13) Fr., Fort Dodge

145 – Ryan Ott (11-3) Soph., City High vs. No. 2 Christian Stanek (34-0) Jr. CR Xavier

152 – No. 3 Graham Gambrall (8-2) Sr., West High vs. Cole Rutter (28-11) Jr., Spencer

170 – No. 3 Ashton Barker (12-0) Sr., West High vs. No. 8 Seth Madden (26-10) Soph., North Scott

182 – Mason Applegate (5-2) Jr., West High vs. No. 9 Jayden Angle (21-6) Jr., Boone

195 – No. 1 Ben Kueter (7-0) Soph., City High vs. Victor Bird (18-10) Jr. Sioux City East

195 – Vinny Lima (13-4) Fr., Liberty High vs. No. 6 Sawyer Nauman (30-3) Sr., Western Dubuque

220 – Caden Yoerger (9-8) Jr., Liberty High vs. No. 1 Bradley Hill (24-0) Jr., Bettendorf

220 – Brett Pelfrey (7-4) Jr., West High vs. No. 4 Carson Williams (32-2) Sr., Marshalltown

Returning State Champions

Current Weight/Wrestler (School)/2020 Championship Weight

120 – Bailey Roybal (Waverly-Shell Rock) Sr., 113

132 – Drake Ayala (Fort Dodge) Sr., 120

132 – Ryder Block (Waverly-Shell Rock), Soph., 106

138 – Hunter Garvin (West High) Jr., 132

152 – Caleb Rathjen (Ankeny) Sr., 138

152 – Graham Gambrall (West High) Sr., 145

170 – Mickey Griffith (Des Moines Lincoln) Jr., 170

195 – Ben Kueter (City High) Soph., 160

285 – Griffin Liddle (Bettendorf) Sr., 285

Undefeated Wrestlers

106 – Carter Freeman (Waukee) Fr., 24-0

106 – Blake Gioimo (CR Prairie) Soph., 16-0

106 – Kael Kurtz (City High) Fr., 12-0

113 – Nathan Jesuroga (Southeast Polk) Soph., 22-0

120 – Parker McBride (West High) Jr., 7-0

126 – Grant O’Dell (West High) Jr., 12-0

132 – Ryder Block (Waverly-Shell Rock) Soph., 21-0

132 – Bryce Parke (Linn-Mar) Sr., 17-0

138 – Hunter Garvin (West High) Jr., 12-0

138 – Cole Ferguson (Waukee) Sr., 26-0

145 – Christian Stanek (CR Xavier) Jr., 34-0

145 – Joel Jesuroga (Southeast Polk) Jr., 23-0

152 – Aiden Riggins (Waverly-Shell Rock) Jr., 30-0

160 – Caleb Corbin (West Des Moines Valley) Sr., 22-0

160 – Tate Naaktgeboren (Linn-Mar) Soph., 9-0

170 – Ivan Thomas (CR Xavier) Sr., 32-0

170 – Ashton Barker (West High) Sr., 12-0

182 – McCrae Hagarty (Waverly-Shell Rock) Soph., 34-0

195 – Taner Harvey (Boone) Sr., 31-0

195 – Ben Kueter (City High) Soph., 7-0

220 – Bradley Hill (Bettendorf) Jr., 24-0

285 – Gabriel Greenlee (Ames) Sr., 31-0

First-round Match to Watch

A year ago Ashton Barker was pinned in his state tournament opener before rattling off five consecutive consolation bracket wins to secure a second consecutive third-place finish.

This season Barker has his sights set on an extended stay on the front side of the bracket and a state title but this season and it starts for the Iowa State recruit with a rematch with eighth-ranked North Scott sophomore Seth Madden (26-10).

The lone unbeaten competitor in the 170-pound field, Barker (12-0) handled Madden in impressive fashion in a regional dual meet last week winning a 20-5 tech. fall in 5:21.

Barker has been impressive all season.

The senior hasn’t had a match go the distance, posting eight pins and three tech. falls and only three of Barker’s matches have lasted past the opening period.

Barker is a heavy favorite in his rematch with Madden but it is still a key match as Barker looks to set the tone early that he is ready to compete for a state title.

Who to Watch

For the second straight season Ben Kueter enters the state meet with an unblemished record and a smaller sample size of competition than the rest of the field.

Last year a broken leg in football kept Kueter off the mat until January and limited the City High standout to 20 matches before he won four straight at Wells Fargo Arena on his way to the 160-pound title.

This season it has been a variety of pandemic stops to the season that have limited Kueter to seven matches but make no mistake he is more than ready to add to his title count in Des Moines.
Kueter (7-0) enters the state meet top-ranked at 195-pounds and has six pins and a tech fall among his victories this season.

It isn’t just the wins that make Kueter a must-watch on the mat, it’s a relentless, attacking style that makes the sophomore worth watching.

Kueter will be attempting to become the first City High wrestler to win back-to-back state titles since Kyle Anson in 2004 and 2005.

Weight Class to Watch

In a tournament filled with loaded brackets the 152-pound field in Class 3A stands out as one of the most intriguing and potentially exciting.

One of two brackets in 3A to feature a pair of defending state champions, the field at 152 pounds features a two-time champ in Ankeny senior Caleb Rathjen, last year’s state champion at 145 pounds in West High’s Graham Gambrall and a runner-up from last season with wins over both this winter in Waverly-Shell Rock junior Aiden Riggins.

An Iowa recruit, Rathjen (26-1) is atop the 152-pound rankings this season and owns a 110-3 record over the past three seasons with state titles at 126 in 2019 and 138 a year ago.

Third-ranked Gambrall had his breakthrough a year ago when he won his first state title at 145 pounds.

The Oregon State recruit is 8-2 this season after going 36-5 en route to the state title a year ago.

The lone unbeaten wrestler in the 152-pound bracket is Riggins (30-0) who finished third at 106 as a freshman and was runner-up to West High’s Hunter Garvin at 132 last year.

Riggins is 110-5 in his career and has a 9-8 win over Rathjen on January 9 and a 11-2 major decision over Gambrall on January 23 under his belt this season.

With a pair of win Gambrall and Riggins would meet in the semifinals while Rathjen would face fourth-ranked Carson Martinson of Southeast Polk for the second time this season in the semifinals if seeds hold true.

The Teams

District Champions (State Qualifiers)

North Scott (8); Waukee (12); West Des Moines Valley (8); Fort Dodge (9); West High (8); Southeast Polk (10); Linn-Mar (7); Waverly-Shell Rock (12)

2020 Top 5 Team Finishers – 1. Waverly-Shell Rock 181; 2. Southeast Polk 141; 3. Fort Dodge 122.5; 4. West High 99.5; 5. Linn-Mar 92

Last 5 Team Champs

2020 – Waverly-Shell Rock

2019 – Waverly-Shell Rock

2018 – Fort Dodge

2017 – Southeast Polk

2016 – Southeast Polk

What to Watch in the Team Race

West High posted its best team finish since 2012 last season crowning three champions on its way to a fourth-place team finish.

Two of those state champions return this season as sixth-ranked West High brings four top-three ranked wrestlers to the state meet with the hopes of leaving with some hardware.

Even with five ranked wrestlers among its eight qualifiers breaking into the top three will be no easy task for the Trojans.

Top-ranked Waverly-Shell Rock, second-ranked Southeast Polk and Waukee all have double digit qualifiers and nine ranked wrestlers heading to Wells Fargo Arena.

Two-time defending state champion Waverly-Shell Rock is attempting to become the first 3A team to win three in a row since Southeast Polk claimed its last title in 2017.

The Go-Hawks return six of their nine state medalists, including two state champions from last year’s team that outdistanced runner-up Southeast Polk by 40 points for the team title, the largest margin of victory for a 3A champ since 2012.

With four top-ranked wrestlers and six wrestlers ranked in the top three Waverly-Shell Rock is a heavy favorite to add to its title count with Southeast Polk and Waukee the top challengers.

West High joins Bettendorf and Mississippi Valley Conference rival Linn-Mar as teams hoping to contend for a spot in the top three.

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