Cash Wilcke is a wrestler who has seen his stock rise this summer as he is ranked #10 (was as high as 6) by Flowrestling at the 182 pound weight class. Wilcke started off last season by finishing second in the preseason nationals tournament in Cedar Falls after a narrow 2-1 defeat to Hoffman (also an Iowan) in the finals. He carried his success into his junior season where he went 52-1 enroute to the 2A 182 state title. This past week at the Junior duals in Oklahoma, Wilcke was on the Red Team that finished first in the Red/Blue pool. Wilcke was 3-2 for the team splitting time with Corey Abernathy.
Ross told us earlier it was clear where he was headed to college but it was clear that the potential weight class he could be filling. Being 182 in high school, he seems a perfect fit to wrestle 184 in college. Looking over the rosters it UNI and Iowa State could of used Wilcke’s services. Iowa State has freshman Lelund Weatherspoon, so adding Wilcke into the fold would of gave them a great option for him to step in as a sophomore once Weatherspoon graduates. Not sure if Iowa State was recruiting Cash Wilcke but according to Cash’s mom Cindy he never had them in his top three. UNI recently lost Ryan Loder, who was a staple in the Panther lineup for four years. They will probably looked to replace Loder with 174 NCAA qualifier Cody Caldwell, or one of the Lux brothers. Schwab and Co were clearly after Cash based off our conversation so Ross was spot on thinking he could come in a challenge for a spot.
The Hawkeyes currently have a fan favorite in Sammy Brooks who will fill the void left by Ethen Lofthouse at 184. Brands and Company are looking to have Cash follow Sammy’s foot steps. Cash was on a lot of schools radar but it was clear that Cash was never headed out of state. I was able to talk with Cash after his verbal to the Iowa Hawkeyes.
You were looking at Iowa and UNI. What was the deciding factor to become a Hawkeye?
Have you always wanted to be a Hawkeye?
DJ Spenny D. Aka Spencer Derifield. He’s my best friend now and he beat me in 4th grade at AAU State and I haven’t had a chance to avenge that loss.
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Thanks to Cash for giving his time to answer some questions for us. There are a couple good take away’s from his comments. For one Cash says that Iowa has great international program, which is true, but is usually said about the lighterweights. While the HWC has added some great upperweights over the past few years (Keddy, Burak, Berhow) it’s not what it is known for, so the fact that Cash believes in the direction the upperweights of the HWC is taking, that is good news.
The other big take away from this is for the younger crowd. Wrestle more freestyle and Greco. Cash isn’t the first wrestler to say that they have seen their offensive skill set improve since they started wrestling in other styles. It was kind of mentioned earlier this week, that the more exposure and experience wrestlers get by competing internationally (or even just in the international styles) the better off they will be in their careers going forward. It seems kind of obvious, but in reality it just matters if you want to put the work in to get better.