Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – There was a time not all that long ago when it was fairly easy to overlook Grant O’Dell in the West High lineup.

When you have a roster filled with state champions and highly ranked wrestlers that can happen even to a two-time medalist like O’Dell.

The way O’Dell has wrestled this season his days of going unnoticed, even in a star-studded West High lineup are long gone.

O’Dell has grown from a two-time state medalist at 106 the past two seasons into the third-ranked 126-pounder in Class 3A this season and in the process become a state title contender for sixth-ranked West High.

“I wrestled all summer and just put on muscle and I feel really good right now,” O’Dell said. “Last year it was tough to maintain that weight at 106 so I’ve even up to 126 and it feels really nice. I’ve just been having a lot of energy and fun and wrestling the way I wrestle.”
Make no mistake O’Dell has always been an excellent wrestler and he has the state hardware to prove it.

O’Dell won 33 matches as a freshman finishing eighth at the state meet at 106 pounds and went 28-9 on his way to a sixth-place state finish a year ago.

Getting to 106 pounds was a challenge late in his sophomore season so O’Dell spent the summer putting on 20 solid pounds.

This season he has excelled at his new weight going 12-0 and climbing to third in the 126-pound rankings entering the 3A state tournament that begins on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena.

“It was kind of a big jump and I still have next year to grow so I will see where I’m at next year but I feel really good at this weight,” O’Dell said. “I’m really happy with where I am at right now.”

O’Dell has been impressive this season posting nine pins and a tech fall among his 12 victories.

The only two matches to go the distance for O’Dell this season have been his best wins of the season, a pair of 3-1 sudden victory wins over top-five opponents.

O’Dell won a 3-1 decision over fifth-ranked Adler Kramer (17-5) of Dubuque Hempstead at a dual meet on January 21

Two days later he knocked off fourth-ranked Carter Fecht (27-6) of Waverly-Shell Rock by the same score in Waverly.

“At that weight class I’ve just been wrestling the way that I wrestle,” O’Dell said. “Sometimes things don’t go your way but lately things have been going my way.”

O’Dell pinned his way to a district title last week and has won seven consecutive matches by fall entering the state tournament where he will face Johnston junior Noah Madison (16-8) in the opening round on Thursday.

With a win O’Dell would get a rematch with either Kramer or Fecht who meet in the opening round in the quarterfinals.

Third-ranked O’Dell is among the favorites in a 126-pound bracket that became a lot more open with top-ranked Drake Ayala of Fort Dodge opting to go up to 132 pounds.

“My goal is to go win a championship,” O’Dell said. “I just have to take care of business at state. You can’t act like you’ve already won it once you are there you have to take care of business once you are there because every single guy coming into that weight class is ready to wrestle.”

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