Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

For the time second year in a row the Your Prep Sports wrestling team honors the top wrestlers in the area for their performances on the mat this season.

The team features three state champions including a three-time champ and eight state medalists. West High senior Nelson Brands is the captain of the team for the second year in a row.

Brands went 55-1 on his way to winning his third consecutive state title.

The Iowa recruit won the Class 3A 160-pound earlier this month to join four-time champion Nick Moore as the only wrestlers in West High history to win three titles.

Brands became the ninth four-time Mississippi Valley Conference champ last month and is the only wrestler to win outstanding wrestler honors at the MVC meet four times.

On his way to his third straight state title Brands won a 9-5 quarterfinal decision over second-ranked Zane Mulder and had a second-period fall of No. 7 Levi Egli of Fort Dodge in the semifinals.

Brands earned a 22-7 tech fall over fourth-ranked Wilfred Kadohou of City High in the 160-pound championship match.

All-Your Prep Sports Wrestling Team

106 – Ethan Wood-Finley (42-7), Soph., City High: Won conference and district titles before capping a strong season with at fifth place finish at the 3A state tournament.  

113 – Hans von Rabenau (24-15), Sr., West High: Ended his career with a third consecutive state meet finish.

120 – Zeb Gnida (46-12), Sr., Solon: Earned a fourth-place finish in his first career state meet, going 4-2 in state matches.

126 – Keaton Speicher (26-31), Sr., West High: Returned to the state meet for the second consecutive season, winning 26 matches for the second year in a row.

132 – Graham Gambrall (47-19), Fr., West High: Claimed MVC and district titles in his debut season that ended with a sixth-place state finish.

138 – Joey Harney (38-8), Sr., City High: In the second state meet appearance of his career Harney earned his first medal, finishing eighth in Class 3A.

145 – Andrew Rohret (38-15), Jr., Clear Creek Amana: Collected sectional and district titles and went 1-2 in the first state meet appearance of his career.  

152 – Kyle Hefley (43-4), Jr., City High: Made a big jump as a junior, winning a MVC title and reaching the state meet for the first time where he lost consecutive matches to state medalists.

160 – *Nelson Brands (55-1), Sr., West High: Was dominant with two tech falls and a fall on his way to a third consecutive state title. Brands went 163-5 during his three-year title run.

170 – Nick Milder (26-6), Jr., Regina: Got a late start to the season due to injury but went on to win a third consecutive River Valley Conference title while advancing to 1A state tournament for second straight season.

182 – Mike Hoyle (45-9), Jr., Solon: Claimed first WAMAC conference title and went 1-2 in second consecutive state tournament appearance.

195 – Jacob Dykes (47-1), Sr., City High: Avenged his only loss of the season on his way to becoming the first City High state champion since 2005. Went 94-3 over the past two seasons.

220 – Francis Duggan (15-2), Sr., West High: Three-time Pennsylvania state medalist capped his career with his first state title in his first appearance at the Iowa state meet. Duggan had a fall, a tech. fall and two major decisions on his way to 3A state title.

285 – Tyler Linderbaum (39-3), Sr., Solon: Won 34 consecutive matches to open the season and finished third in Class 2A for a second consecutive top-five finish.

*- Captain