Meet The Gazette’s 2024 all-area high school girls’ wrestling team: Linn-Mar’s Kane Naaktgeboren is the Wrestler of the Year and Alburnett’s Clayton Rush is the Coach of the Year.
Don Bosco won the last four matches to beat top-seeded Alburnett for the Class 1A title. Creston won its first title since 2007, winning the final match for a 36-33 win over Sergeant Bluff-Luton. Southeast Polk rolled through the 3A field
Top-ranked Alburnett opened with three straight pins and cruised to a 60-14 Class 1A regional dual final win over No. 17 Earlham. The Pirates earned their eighth State Duals berth.
For the first time, states had the opportunity to choose the number of weight classes for competition. Iowa remained with 14 weights that include new division in the middle to upper weights.
Each of his first two seasons, Alburnett’s Preston Klostermannwas forced to settle for second the opening weekend of the season. Not this time. Klostermann tallied four pins in the two-day competition, including a third-period fall over Clear Creek Amana’s Ryker Jones, to claim the 144-pound title Saturday at the Cliff Keen Independence Invitational.