InterMat continues to roll out rankings for each class and today they released the rankings for the soon-to-be sophomores, or the class of 2018. Yesterday, they released the 2016 rankings, and Iowa placed six on the top 100, with Carter Happel leading the way. The 2018 list is only half the size of the 2016 list, and Iowa got half the amount of wrestlers they did yesterday.
The highest ranked Iowa wrestler is Underwood’s Alex Thomsen at #45. Last season was a truly special one for Thomsen, as he went undefeated to start off his high school career and won the 1A 113 state title for the Underwood Eagles. Along the way he had to take out Drew West, who had not experienced a loss himself at that point, and was the 1A 106 pound state champion from 2014. Thomsen also earned honors at the Preseason Folkstyle National tournament where he dominated the freshman/sophomore division on his way to the national title.
Not too far behind is Glenwood’s Anthony Sherry at #47. Sherry also had a great freshman campaign, which saw him take fourth in the 3A 160 pound bracket. While finishing fourth may not scream “elite” the fact that Sherry did so well as a freshman at a weight like 160 pounds is a feat in itself. The other big factor was that the 3A bracket featured two wrestlers – Dayton Racer and Bryce Steiert – who were both top 50 seniors, and Steiert actually ended the year in the top 30. Sherry also showed he is more than a one trick pony, as he picked up double Fargo All-American honors last summer for Team Iowa.
Cedar Rapids Kennedy’s Ben Sarasin finished out the list at #50. Perhaps the only reason Sarasin had such a quiet season was the luck of the draw. Coming into the state tournament we had him ranked #7 overall, but his first round match was against the #3 ranked and eventual state champion Josh Wenger of Prairie. Sarasin came back with a fall before he ran into eventual third place finisher Colton Clingenpeel and lost one match short of placing. Sarasin was however, discussed last week as being one of the top performers for Iowa at Cadet National Duals, where he went 12-0, including 9-0 in freestyle.
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What’s crazy, is that’s the freshman class and they don’t have Teske anywhere on that list??? It almost makes me think it’s a joke!
InterMat did have Teske in the individual class rankings. My guess is that he is on that “Honorable mention” list and sits just outside of the top 50. I thought he for sure would be in.