And for the first time we get a look at rankings sans the class of 2014.
Looking over the past few years Iowa has done traditionally well producing high caliber lightweights (McDonough, Clark) and heavyweights (Gadson, Thompson in NAIA), with just a few guys in the middle weights (St. John, Moreno) sprinkled in. So let’s dive in and take a look at the nine Iowan’s that show up in the latest rankings released by Flowrestling.
Kicking things off at 126 pounds is Southeast Polk’s Nolan Hellickson, who finished third at the Iowa High School State tournament in February. While Nolan finished third, one could very easily make the argument that he was the second best wrestler in the state, only losing to Northern Illinois bound Alijah Jeffery 4-1 in the tiebreak periods at the 120 pound semifinals in class 3A. Hellickson is checking in at #19 at 126, and is a great lightweight prospect for whichever college he lands at.
Moving on to 132 we see one of Iowa’s brightest up and comers in Carter Happel ranking #11. Happel as you may recall finished with his second state title in Des Monies by beating two time state champion Hunter Washburn in the quarterfinals, and scoring bonus in every match on his way to the top of the podium. Being a product of Lisbon, it would appear that the Hawkeyes will be in the driver’s seat to land the soon to be junior.
At 138 there are two Iowan’s ranked. Checking in at #1 overall (and #8 on the pound-for-pound ranking) is Bettendorf’s Fredy Stroker. Stroker captured a straight state title this past year, and on a bum knee to boot. Stroker later needed surgery to repair his knee. Stroker will have his pick of many options of where he would like to pursue his collegiate career. Currently his former teammates Logan and Conner Ryan are already going to be at the University of Iowa, and right now that appears to be the best option for Stroker to stay in state. Also in the 138 rankings is Union’s Max Thomsen. Max captured his third state title and won a NHSCA Junior title in Virginia so, there is plenty of buzz surrounding Max as he heads into his senior year. Max’s brother Logan, is already on the roster for the Iowa Hawkeyes so they should be a favorite, but the possibility of him signing elsewhere remains.
The state of Iowa doesn’t have another wrestler ranked until the 182 pound weight class in Cash Wilke. Wilke started the year off with a loss to 1A’s Tyler Hoffman at the Preseason National tournament, but he had little issue going 52-1 en route to his 2A state title. The #11 nationally ranked prospect at his weight, Wilke will still have some time to move up the rankings before making his college commitment.
220 appears to be the strongest weight in Iowa according to Flo, as three Iowan’s show up in this weight class. Leading the pack is Maquoketa Valley’s Ryan Parmley at #6. Parmley won his state title this past season scoring three falls in four matches. Finishing 56-1 on the season, his only loss was to East Buchanan’s Tyler Hoffman in a dual meet. Parmely ending up at Iowa really wouldn’t surprise me at all, but if another school has more scholarship money to offer it could sway his decision.
The other two wrestler’s ranked are soon to be juniors Gannon Gremmel of Dubuque at #11 and Ethan Anderson of Southeast Polk at #10. Anderson won the meeting at state (and also the 3A 220 weight class) while Gremmel finished 5th. Both have a couple years left to figure out what they would like to do after they graduate high school.
The final Iowan is heavyweight Jake Marnin of Southeast Polk who ranks #2 in his class. Marnin racked up three pins before falling 3-1 in the state finals. Marnin has yet to announce his college plans, but with all heavyweights comes the possibility of him picking football over wrestling.
Iowa had two teams in the top 25 with Bettendorf just edging out Southeast Polk for #19 and 20 respectively.
[…] as high #9 when they did their first rankings without the 2014 senior class as you can see from this post we did last month. Despite the fact that Ethan did not place in the freestyle tournament, his 4-2 […]
[…] than a month ago Flo released rankings for the first time without the 2014 senior class leaving a lot of openings for new wrestlers to enter the ranks for the first time. That first set […]