Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

Wrestling season is here.

Or almost here.

Boys wrestling meets get underway around the state next week with every wrestler with his eyes on a spot at the state meet scheduled to run February 14-17 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Before the season gets underway here is a look at few Your Prep Sports area wrestlers to keep an eye on this season.

Cale Seaton

Senior, City High

One of the top wrestlers in the state Seaton secured his first state title last season overcoming a mid-season knee injury to win the Class 3A 126-pound title.

Seaton finished his junior season 37-4 and outscored opponents by a combined score of 36-11 in four state tournament wins.

The state title for Seaton came after back-to-back third-place finish in his first two seasons at 120 pounds.

Seaton owns a career 95-9 record.

Alexander Pierce

Sophomore, West High

Pierce burst onto the prep scene last season going 42-2 on his way to winning the Class 3A 106-pound state title.

The third freshman state champion in West High history, Pierce scored 53 points in his four state tournament wins and closed the season on a 25-match winning streak.

Pierce won Mississippi Valley Conference and district titles before winning gold in his state meet debut.

Vincenzo Lima

Senior, Liberty High

Already the most decorated wrestler in Liberty High history Lima will look to continue to build on his impressive resume.

A two-time state qualifier, Lima is coming off the best season of his career last year as he went 36-8 and went 3-2 at the 3A state meet at 195 pounds.

Lima won a Mississippi Valley Conference title and finished third at the district meet last season.

Cale Nash

Junior, Clear Creek Amana

It has been an impressive start to the career for Nash who has gone 75-17 over the past two seasons advancing to back-to-back Class 3A state meets.

After going 0-2 at the state meet as a freshman Nash closed an impressive sophomore season in which he rolled up a 39-8 record with a 3-2 effort at the state meet with losses to the eventual state runner-up and seventh-place finisher.

Logan Wright

Senior, West Branch

A stalwart in the West Branch lineup for four years Wright will look to add to an already stellar career resume with a strong senior season.

Wright owns a career 103-18 record and a state medal, finishing eighth two seasons ago as a sophomore.

After going 2-2 at the 1A state meet at 220 pounds last season Wright will look to end his career back on the medal stand this winter.

Jordan Schmidt

Junior, Solon

Already a two-time state qualifier Schmidt is coming off a breakthrough sophomore season that ended with a seventh-place finish at 132 pounds at the Class 2A state meet.

Schmidt has been impressive since the start of his career racking up 72 wins in his first two prep seasons.

Last season Schmidt went 35-11, finished fourth at the WAMAC Conference meet and runner-up at the 2A district meet before going 5-2 at state while securing the first state medal of his career.

Lincoln Edwards

Senior, West Branch

Already a two-time state qualifier Edwards will look to cap his career with a state medal this season.

Edwards has gone 70-14 over the past two seasons while advancing to back-to-back state meets after posting a 40-8 mark last season that included a 2-2 mark at the 1A state meet at 120 pounds.

Edwards finished third at the River Valley Conference meet and runner-up at the 1A district meet last season.

Kael Kurtz

Senior, City High

A three-time state medalist with a 90-15 career record Kurtz will look for an emphatic finish to what has already been an impressive career.

Kurtz posted a 37-7 record and earned his second consecutive top-four finish at the 3A state meet last season placing fourth at 132 pounds.

In addition to his state medal last season Kurtz won a Mississippi Valley Conference title and finished runner-up at the district meet.

Ian Udell

Senior, Regina

Udell made a big jump last season going from 19 wins as a sophomore to 33 wins and a state tournament berth as a junior.

This season Udell will look to take another major step this season as he attempts to improve on a 1-2 performance at the 1A state meet last season.

Udell went 33-13 at 182 pounds last season finishing runner-up at the River Valley Conference and 1A District meet.

Cooper Gates

Sophomore, West Branch

Gates posted one of the most successful freshman seasons in recent program history winning a district title and a state medal in his prep debut.

In his first prep season Gates posted a 36-7 record and finished eighth at the Class 1A state meet at 152 pounds.

Justin Avila

Junior, West High

Avila continued the strong start to his career with a second consecutive trip to the Class 3A state tournament.

After finishing fourth at the state meet as a freshman Avila went 1-2 at state at 145 pounds last season to cap a strong sophomore season in which he posted a 39-9 record, finished third at the Mississippi Valley Conference meet and won a district championship.

Kyler Scranton

Senior, West High

Scranton continued his career climb last winter securing his first state medal with an eighth-place finish at 152 pounds.

The state medal capped a strong season for Scranton that included a 36-14 record and a district title.

Will Aitchison

Junior, Regina

Another Regal coming off a breakthrough season Aitchison followed up a 23-win freshman campaign by going 35-18 last season while reaching the 1A state meet.

Aitchison finished runner-up at the 1A District meet and went 2-2 in his state meet debut at 145 pounds.

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