Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

The wrestling postseason got underway last week with sectional meets in Class 1A and 2A.

Things heat up in a big way on Saturday with 24 district meets taking place across all three classes with spots at the state tournament at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines the prize for top two finishers.

District meets are the postseason openers for 3A teams and that is where we start here, taking a quick look at the two 3A district meets featuring teams from the Your Prep Sports area.

Class 3A, District 2 Meet

When: Saturday, 11 a.m.

Where: Cedar Rapids Jefferson

Teams: Clear Creek Amana; West High; Cedar Rapids Jefferson; Cedar Rapids Kennedy; Cedar Rapids Washington; Linn-Mar; Western Dubuque; Marion

Ranked teams: No. 5 Linn-Mar; No. 10 West High

What to watch: Clear Creek Amana 106-pound freshman Cale Nash (34-8) is seeking to add a huge finale to what has already been an impressive debut season.

Nash stood out while winning a WAMAC conference title two weeks ago and enters the postseason having won 11 of his last 12 matches.

The 106-pound bracket at the District 2 meet is relatively open on Saturday with no ranked wrestlers and Nash will enter among the favorites to claim a title and advance to the 3A state meet.

Keep on eye on sophomore teammate Jack Stevens (20-8) who faces a strong 126-pound bracket with two ranked wrestlers.

Who to watch: If you are going to a wrestling meet in which he is competing there is no other answer to this question than Hunter Garvin.

The West High senior is putting the finishing touches on what has been one of the most impressive careers in program history with one of the most dominant stretches by any wrestler in the state.

Garvin has won 71 consecutive matches dating back to his sophomore season and is 57-0 over the past two seasons with only four of those matches going the full six minutes.

The top-ranked 152-pound Stanford recruit is 41-0 this season with 31 pins and is seeking to close his career with a third consecutive state title

Weight class to watch: The top three finishers from the Mississippi Valley Conference meet reunite at the same venue two weeks later on Saturday and one of the three ranked MVC foes will see their season come to an end.

Fourth-ranked Linn-Mar senior Luke Gaffney (29-3) is the favorite after winning the MVC title a week ago with a 13-2 major decision over No. 8 Tate Sykora-Matthess (24-5) of Cedar Rapids Washington.

Sykora-Matthess advanced to the MVC finals with a third-period pin of ninth-ranked West High senior Brett Pelfrey (20-7).

Pelfrey led Sykora-Matthess 1-0 through two periods of that MVC semifinal loss and will look to flip that result on Saturday.

One of three weight classes with three ranked wrestlers along with 132 and 145 the 285 bracket should be among the most entertaining on Saturday.

Ranked wrestlers

106: No. 12 Cale Nash (Clear Creek Amana) Fr.

126: No. 4 Brayden Parke (Linn-Mar) Jr.

No. 8 Jonah Hallam (Cedar Rapids Kennedy) Sr.

132: No. 3 Kane Naaktgeboren (Linn-Mar) Soph.

No. 11 Nick Foreman (Cedar Rapids Washington) Soph.

No. 12 Wes Logan (Marion) Jr.

138: No. 7 Grant O’Dell (West High) Sr.

145: No. 2 Robert Avila (West High) Sr.

No. 6 Grant Kress (Linn-Mar) Soph.

No. 11 Drew Burds (Western Dubuque) Fr.

152: No. 1 Hunter Garvin (West High) Sr.

160: No. 10 Kael Scranton (West High) Sr.

170: No. 1 Tate Naaktgeboren (Linn-Mar) Jr.

No. 12 Justin Avila (West High) Fr.

182:  No. 2 Greyson Gardner (Western Dubuque) Sr.

No. 6 Alex Koch (Cedar Rapids Kennedy) Sr.

195: No. 11 Colin Flannagan (Cedar Rapids Kennedy) Sr.

No. 12 Evan Surface (Western Dubuque) Sr.

285: No. 4 Luke Gaffney (Linn-Mar) Sr.

No. 8 Tate Sykora-Matthess (Cedar Rapids Washington) Sr.

No. 9 Brett Pelfrey (West High) Sr.

Class 3A, District 4 Meet

When: Saturday, Noon

Where: City High

Teams: City High; Liberty High; Bettendorf; Burlington; Fort Madison; Newton; Ottumwa; Pleasant Valley

Ranked teams: No. 4 Bettendorf; No. 12 City High

What to watch: City High has a trio of returning state medalists led by top-ranked and unbeaten junior Ben Kueter that all have more on their minds than just a return to the state meet.

The question for City High on Saturday is how many other Little Hawks can earn a trip to Des Moines.

Junior Ryan Ott (20-6) is also a returning state qualifier and has a difficult draw with third-ranked Dustin Bohren of Bettendorf at 145 pounds but should be in contention for a return trip.

Sophomore 138-pounder Jake Mitchell (27-11) should also be in the mix as the Little Hawks try to improve on their five qualifiers from a year ago.

Liberty High has a pair of returning state qualifiers seeking return trips in 2022 in senior Caden Yoerger (8-8) and junior sophomore Vinny Lima (25-10) but will be looking to bolster its qualifying numbers this season.

Senior Elijah Terwilleger (28-6) is coming off a third-place MVC finish and should content for a title at 160 pounds and sophomore Gavin Benton (21-14) will look to battle in a loaded 152-pound bracket with four ranked wrestlers.

Who to watch: Ben Kueter. Simple. Watch and enjoy. The top-ranked 220-pound junior isn’t just one of the best wrestlers in the state he is one of the best in the country.

Kueter is 66-0 with 37 pins in his career and only 11 of those 66 career matches have lasted the entire six minutes.

This season Kueter is 31-0 with 17 wins by fall and has had two matches go the duration.

Weight class to watch: There a several strong weight classes including two (106 and 152) with three ranked wrestlers.

However, keep a close eye on 120 and 126 pounds where City High sophomores Cale Seaton and Kael Kurtz each could face challenging matches.

Third-ranked Seaton (35-2) has been a machine at 120-pounds this season and enters the postseason riding a 15-match winning streak where all but one win (a 24-12 major decision) have come by fall or tech. fall.

Seaton joins sixth-ranked Ottumwa senior Corbin Grace in the 120-pound bracket.

At 126 pounds seventh-ranked Kurtz (32-4) is paired with third-ranked Bettendorf sophomore Jayce Luna.

Kurtz has won nine straight entering the postseason and avenged his most recent loss with a 5-3 win over Linn-Mar’s Brayden Parke in the finals of the MVC meet.

Ranked wrestlers

106: No. 2 TJ Koester (Bettendorf) Fr.

No. 9 Carter Siebel (Pleasant Valley) Fr.

113: No. 9 Steele Diercks (Bettendorf) Fr.

120: No. 3 Cale Seaton (City High) Soph.

No. 6 Corbin Grace (Ottumwa) Sr.

126: No. 3 Jayce Luna (Bettendorf) Soph.

No. 7 Kael Kurtz (City High) Soph.

No. 9 Duncan Harn (Pleasant Valley) Fr.

132: No. 4 Tycho Carmichael (Bettendorf) Fr.

138: No. 10 Jack Miller (Pleasant Valley) Jr.

145: No. 3 Dustin Bohren (Bettendorf) Sr.

152: No. 8 Brennan Amos (Newton) Sr.

No. 10 Zach Shoemaker (Ottumwa) Sr.

11. No. 11 Elijah Mendoza (Bettendorf) Jr.

No. 12 Gavin Wieseman (Fort Madison) Sr.

160: No. 11 Teague Smith (Fort Madison) Soph.

170:  No. 9 Caden McDermott (Pleasant Valley) Jr.

182: No. 5 Trevor Summers (Ottumwa) Sr.

No. 10 Rusty VanWetzinga (Pleasant Valley) Jr.

No. 12 Vinny Lima (Liberty High) Soph.

195: No. 2 Bradley Hill (Bettendorf) Sr.

220: No. 1 Ben Kueter (City High) Jr.

285: No. 11 Luke Vonderhaar (Pleasant Valley) Sr.

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