Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

The Wrestlers

Area Qualifiers/Opening Round Opponents

106 – No. 12 Cale Nash (36-9) Fr., Clear Creek Amana vs. No. 3 Carter Pearson (36-4) Fr., Southeast Polk

113 – Braden Doyle (26-16) Soph., West High vs. No. 9 Steele Diercks (30-3) Fr., Bettendorf

120 – No. 3 Cale Seaton (38-2) Soph., City High vs. Sterling Warren (18-20) Fr., West High

126 – No. 7 Kael Kurtz (35-4) Soph., City High vs. Trent Harper (24-9) Sr., Norwalk

132 – Kyler Scranton (26-14) Soph., West High vs. No. 8 Donovan Card (29-5) Jr., Norwalk

138 – No. 7 Grant O’Dell (39-5) Sr., West High vs. Jake Mitchell (30-12) Soph., City High

145 – No. 2 Robert Avila (11-1) Sr., West High vs. Kelton Youngberg (15-5) Jr., Davenport West

145 – Ryan Ott (22-7) Jr., City High vs. No. 6 Grant Kress (33-4) Soph., Linn-Mar

152 – No. 1 Hunter Garvin (44-0) Sr. West High vs. Isaac Vollmecke (16-25) Soph., Waukee Northwest

160 – No. 10 Kael Scranton (27-11) Sr., West High vs. No. 6 Gabe Carver (35-8) Soph., Urbandale

160 – Elijah Terwilleger (31-7) Sr., Liberty High vs. No. 4 Jackson Helmkamp (8-1) Sr., Ankeny Centennial

170 – No. 12 Justin Avila (26-10) Fr., West High vs. No. 9 Caden McDermott (40-3) Jr., Pleasant Valley

220 – No. 1 Ben Kueter (33-0) Jr. City High vs. Griffin Schultz (17-17) Soph., Linn-Mar

Returning State Champions

Current Weight, Wrestler, School, 2021 Championship Weight

120 – Carter Freeman, Waukee, Soph., 106

120 – Trever Andersen, Ankeny, Sr., 120

126 – Nathanael Jesuroga, Southeast Polk, Jr., 113

145 – Dustin Bohren, Bettendorf, Sr., 126

145 – Robert Avila, West High, Sr., 145 (Class 1A)

145 – Joel Jesuroga, Southeast Polk, Sr., 145

152 – Hunter Garvin, West High, Sr., 138

160 – Aiden Riggins, Waverly-Shell Rock, Sr., 152

170 – Tate Naaktgeboren, Linn-Mar, Jr., 160

195 – McCrae Hagarty, Waverly-Shell Rock, Jr., 182

195 – Bradley Hill, Bettendorf, Sr., 220

220 – Ben Kueter, City High, Jr., 195

Undefeated Wrestlers

113 – Blake Gioimo (40-0) Jr., Cedar Rapids Prairie

138 – Ryder Block (34-0) Jr., Waverly-Shell Rock

152 – Hunter Garvin (44-0) Sr., West High

160 – Aiden Riggins (39-0) Sr., Waverly-Shell Rock

220 – Ben Kueter (33-0) Jr., City High

285 – Carson Hagan (26-0) Jr., West Des Moines Dowling

First Round Match to Watch

One of three opening-round matches between ranked opponents for a Your Prep Sports area wrestler is a meeting of West High state meet veteran Kael Scranton and Urbandale state newcomer Gabe Carver.

Scranton (27-11) is one of four four-year state qualifiers for West High this season and will be seeking a second straight opening round win when he faces Carver (35-8) in the 160-pound first round.

Tenth-ranked Scranton bounced back from a fourth-place finish at the Mississippi Valley Conference meet to win a district title last week with a pair of pins.

Scranton has the clear experience edge over Carver after going 2-6 in his previous three trips to the state meet.

While Carver is making his state meet debut the sophomore is certainly a dangerous opponent.

All losses to in-state foes for Carver this season have come to top-five ranked opponents including three to second-ranked Carson Martinson of Southeast Polk.

Who to Watch

City High junior Ben Kueter is seeking a third consecutive state title while looking to keep his high school record unblemished.

Kueter enters the state meet with a 66-0 career record after winning state titles at 160 pounds as a freshman and 195 pounds last season.

The top-ranked 220-pounder in 3A this season Kueter has been as dominant as anyone in the state.

Kueter has won 18 matches by fall and had just two matches go the distance while posting a 33-0 record.

A rare combination of strength, size, speed and athleticism Kueter is as entertaining to watch as he is difficult to defeat.

Weight Class to Watch 

There isn’t a weight class in the state more intriguing or full of star power than the 3A 145-pound bracket that features a trio of returning state champs.

West High senior Robert Avila (11-1) joins Southeast Polk senior and Iowa recruit Joel Jesuroga (36-1) and Bettendorf senior Dustin Bohren (33-5) as returning state champions in the star-studded 145-pound bracket.

Avila is attempting to join a list of 29 four-time champions in his first season at West High after winning Class 1A titles at 126, 132 and 145 pounds the past three seasons while at Lisbon.

Jesuroga and Bohren both placed fourth at state as sophomores before winning their first titles last season – Bohren at 126 pounds and Jesuroga at 145 pounds.

This week the trio will be vying for the same title.

Jesuroga is top-ranked and has December wins over both Bohren (8-7) and Avila (6-2).

Toss in fourth-ranked Waverly-Shell Rock freshman Bas Diaz (35-3) and Indianola senior and three-time placewinner Ryder Downey (37-2) and this class should be exciting from start to finish.

The Teams

District Champions (State Qualifiers)

Southeast Polk (11); Linn-Mar (10); Ankeny (7); Bettendorf (7); Indianola (7); Waukee Northwest (12); Waverly-Shell Rock (14); North Scott (11)

2021 Top-5 Team Finishers – 1. Waverly Shell-Rock 154.5; 2. Waukee 146; 3. Southeast Polk 143; 4. Bettendorf 100.5; 5. Ankeny 96.5

Last 5 Team Champs

2021 – Waverly Shell-Rock

2020 – Waverly Shell-Rock

2019 – Waverly Shell-Rock

2018 – Fort Dodge

2017 – Southeast Polk

What to Watch in the Team Race

Before the opening whistle of the first state tournament match three-time defending 3A champion Waverly-Shell Rock has already made a significant statement.

The Go-Hawks became the first team in state history to qualify all 14 wrestlers for the state meet, crowning 11 district champions last week.

After edging Waukee and Southeast Polk for its third straight title last season Waverly-Shell Rock enters as a significant favorite this season with four top-ranked wrestlers among its 13 ranked qualifiers.

Perennial power Southeast Polk isn’t going to go without a fight.

The Rams have 11 ranked qualifiers including top-ranked Nate Jesuroga (126) and Joel Jesuroga (145) and have four more qualifiers ranked in the top three.

Watch out for Waukee Northwest which has 12 qualifiers and a trio of title contenders to make a run for a top three spot along with Bettendorf and Linn-Mar and West High is capable of pushing for a spot in the top five behind the combination of seniors Avila, Garvin and Grant O’Dell who is chasing a fourth state medal.

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