Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

Wrestling season is officially here.

The season began for area teams on Monday with West Branch picking up a pair of wins at a home triangular.

The rest of the teams in the Your Prep Sports area will get into action in the coming days with every individual and team seeking to end the season at the state tournament scheduled for February 15-18 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Before the season really gets rolling here are wrestling to watch this season in the Your Prep Sports area.

Ben Kueter

Senior, City High

One of the top prep wrestlers in the nation and among the best overall athletes in the state Kueter is seeking to end his career an unbeaten four-time state champion.

An Iowa signee, Kueter claimed his third consecutive title and pushed his career record to 72-0 last season going 37-0 on his way to the Class 3A 220-pound title.

Kueter had 20 pins and had just two matches go the distance as a junior and won a junior world freestyle championship in the offseason.

Cale Seaton

Junior, City High

Already a two-time state medalist Seaton posted a second consecutive third-place finish at the 3A state tournament last season at 120 pounds.

Seaton is 58-5 in his prep career and last season set single-season City High records for takedowns and match points while posting a 42-3 record.

Ronan Poynton

Senior, Regina

A leader in the Regina lineup the past two seasons Poynton is seeking to end his career with a third consecutive state tournament appearance.

Poynton won sectional and district titles last season to advance to the state meet for the second straight season where he went 1-2 at 195 pounds.

Over the past two seasons Poynton has accumulated a 54-12 record with four of those losses coming at the state meet.

Cale Nash

Sophomore, Clear Creek Amana

Nash had an impressive prep debut last season posting a 36-11 record and earning a spot at the 3A state tournament at 106 pounds.

The freshman standout claimed a WAMAC conference title before going 0-2 in his state meet debut with both of his losses coming to opponents that ended up on the medal stand.

Justin Avila

Sophomore, West High

Avila had a strong freshman regular season but burst onto the scene in a big way with a stellar state tournament showing last season.

Following an opening round loss in his state tournament debut Avila won four straight matches on his way to a fourth-place in Class 3A at 170 pounds.

Avila finished with a 30-12 record as a freshman.

Lincoln Edwards

Junior, West Branch

Edwards followed up a strong freshman season with a stellar sophomore campaign in which he finished runner-up at both the sectional and districts meets and advanced to the Class 1A state tournament for the first time.

Edwards went 30-6 last season at 113 pounds, including a 1-2 mark at the state meet, and will be a key piece of the lineup for a West Branch team that should be much improved this season.

Vincenzo Lima

Junior, Liberty High

A candidate for a breakthrough this season Lima is poised for a big junior season after narrowly missing a second consecutive state tournament trip last season.

Lima went 14-6 and was a state qualifier as a freshman before going 23-8 last season when he finished third at both the Mississippi Valley Conference meet and 3A district meet at 182 pounds.

Logan Wright

Junior, West Branch

After making a strong impression as a freshman at 220 pounds Wright was dominant for much of a sophomore season that ended with a medal at the Class 1A state meet.

Wright went 46-9 last season and finished eighth at the 1A state meet going 2-3 at state.

Kael Kurtz

Junior, City High

Already a two-time state medalist with a 53-8 career record Kurtz is coming off the best season of his prep career.

Following a seventh-place finish at the state meet as a freshman Kurtz went 38-6 last season and finished fourth at the 3A state tournament at 126 pounds.

Kyler Scranton

Junior, West High

Another wrestler ready for a breakthrough Scranton went 1-2 in his state tournament debut last season at 132 pounds.

Scranton went 27-16 last season finishing third at the Mississippi Valley Conference meet and runner-up at the Class 3A district meet.

Jordan Schmidt

Sophomore, Solon  

Schmidt was solid during his freshman season but will look to take a big step forward in his second season in the Spartan lineup.

Last season Schmidt won 37 matches and advanced to the 2A state tournament where he went 0-2 at 126 pounds with a loss to the eventual state champion.

Gabe Arnold

Senior, City High

A huge addition to an already strong City High lineup Arnold is among the top wrestlers in the country.

An Iowa signee, Arnold was a two-time champion at Wyoming Seminary in Pennsylvania.

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