This weekend at the at the Sports Iowa complex in Ames, Iowa the Gomez Wrestling Academy will put on the “Agony in Ames” event, which will pit some of the best high school wrestlers in the state of Iowa in a matchup against some of the best talent in the state of Illinois. A total of 11 Iowans will participate in the dual against Team Illinois including four wrestlers in Flo’s latest set of high school rankings. The dual will be streamed via Flowrestling.
The dual features many good matchups, but none are bigger than the main event, which will bring Iowa’s top pound-for-pound wrestler, Alex Thomsen of Underwood, in a match with Fargo national champion Austin Gomez. Thomsen is coming off his second straight year of placing out at the Super 32 tournament in North Carolina and is known for lighting matches up on his feet. Gomez is a complete package on the mat, which is what made him one of the most sought after recruits in the class of 2017 and currently Iowa State’s top recruit.
The state of Iowa will also have ranked head-to-head meetings between Max Lyon of Western Dubuque taking on No. 15 Kordell Eaton and Brody Teske of Fort Dodge taking on No. 2 Travis Ford-Melton. At 106 pounds we will see two Fargo champions square off when Cullan Schriever of Mason City faces Dylan Ragusin.
The dual will also feature four national matchups, and the only wrestler with an Iowa tie will be Iowa State commit Jarod Verkleeren who will be facing Austin O’Conner in a ranked battle up at 152 pounds.
Team Iowa vs Team Illinois
#11 at 126 Alex Thomsen (Underwood) vs #2 at 132 Austin Gomez (Glenbard North)
Drew West (Solon) vs #9 at 126 Real Woods (Montini Catholic)
Triston Lara (Fort Dodge) vs #5 at 132 Jason Renteria (OPRF)
#11 at 182 Max Lyon (Western Dubuque – Epworth) vs #15 at 182 Kordell Norfleet (Marian)
#10 at 120 Brody Teske (Fort Dodge) vs #2 at 113 Travis Ford-Melton (Marian Catholic)
Cullan Schriever (Mason City) vs Dylan Ragusin (Elk Grove Village)
Ryan Leisure (Clear Lake) vs #8 at 145 Will Lewan (Montini Catholic)
#13 at 160 Joel Shapiro (West Des Moines-Valley) vs Johnny Mologousis (Lyons)
Nicole Watters (Ballard) vs Alexis Gomez (Glenbard North)
National Match-Ups
#2 at 145 Jerod Verkleeren (Hempfield, PA) vs #7 at 152 Austin O’Connor (St. Rita, IL)
Kaelas Lauridsen (NE) vs Jameson Garcia (IL)
Colin Valdiviez (Rockhurst, MO) vs #8 Anthony Madrigal (OPRF, IL)
#8 Joey Harrison (Omaha Burke, NE) vs #5 Joey Melendez (Montini Catholic, IL)