Drew Bennett battles Israel Navarro in the finals of the 2015 InterMat JJ Classic (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)The second annual Night of Conflict will be coming to Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Friday, with the matches starting at 7 p.m. The event is sponsored by IAwrestle.com and is one evening before the Conflict at Carver tournament in that same facility on the University of Iowa campus sponsored by the Hawkeye Wrestling Club.
There will be 13 bouts contested on Friday evening between some of the nation's best wrestlers -- many are from Iowa or the immediately surrounding states. Matches will be contested in the scholastic style with the adaptation of a pushout rule, which will be scored as a one-point penalty. In essence, it will be construed as a technical violation for fleeing the mat.
Here are the bouts:
Connor Brown (Oak Grove, Mo.) vs. Aden Reeves (Albia, Iowa)
Brown is a three-time state champion, who placed third in junior folkstyle this spring; Reeves placed third at state as a freshman, and is a two-time Cadet freestyle All-American. Reeves is also ranked No. 35 overall in the Class of 2019.
Michael Millage (New Hampton, Iowa) vs. Jason Renteria (Oak Park River Forest, Ill.)
Millage is already a two-time state finalist, winning state as a freshman before finishing runner-up this past season; he also was runner-up at the Flo Nationals this spring. Renteria is a three-time state finalist, winning his first title this past season. The Nebraska commit is a 2015 Cadet National double All-American, and ranked No. 39 overall in the Class of 2017.
Nikolas Chavez (Willard, Mo.) vs. Triston Lara (Fort Dodge, Iowa)
Chavez is a three-time state placer, who won state this past season (4th/6th/1st), and was a UWW Cadet National freestyle All-American this spring. Lara is a three-time state placer, two-time finalist, who won state this past season. He reached the finals of the InterMat JJ Classic a year ago.
J.J. Figueroa (Bakesfield, Calif.) vs. Zach Barnes (Southeast Polk, Iowa)
Figueroa placed fourth at state as a sophomore, but missed out this past season due to injury. The 2015 Cadet folkstyle runner-up is ranked No. 86 overall in the Class of 2017. Barnes is a two-time state placer, three-time qualifier, placing third this past season; in addition he was a Junior National freestyle All-American this summer, placing eighth at 145 pounds.
Kaden Gfeller (Heritage Hall, Okla.) vs. Jamie Hernandez (Oak Park River Forest, Ill.)
This is with minimal argument the headline bout on the card Friday night. Ranked No. 10 overall in the Class of 2017, Gfeller is a three-time state champion, 2015 Super 32 Challenge placer, and three-time Fargo freestyle All-American (including third at the Junior level in 2015). Two-time state placer Hernandez is ranked No. 47 overall in the Class of 2017, a three-time Fargo freestyle All-American (including eighth at the Junior level this summer), and was runner-up in freestyle at the UWW Cadet Nationals this spring. Gfeller is committed to Oklahoma State, while Hernandez has verballed to North Carolina.
Joel Shapiro (West Des Moines Valley, Iowa) vs. Danny Braunagel (Althoff Catholic, Ill.)
The junior Shapiro placed seventh in Cadet freestyle this summer, and is a two-time state medalist; while fellow junior Braunagel was a state runner-up this past season and placed fifth in Cadet freestyle.
Max Lyon (Western Dubuque, Iowa) vs. A.J. Pedro (Phillips Exeter, N.H.)
This is another battle of top 100 wrestlers from the Class of 2017. Three-time state placer Lyon is ranked No. 88 overall in the senior class, coming off his first state title and second finals appearance (4th/2nd/1st); the Purdue commit is also a two-time Junior National folkstyle runner-up. Pedro, ranked No. 66 overall in the senior class, placed third at National Preps as both a freshman and sophomore before injury caused him to miss out last season; while he returned to the mats this summer with a sixth place finish in Junior freestyle at 182 pounds.
Aaron Costello (Western Dubuque, Iowa) vs. Sammy Evans (Alcoa, Tenn.)
Costello finished as a state runner-up this past high school season, and since then was runner-up in Junior folkstyle, went undefeated at the Disney Duals, and earned All-American honors in Junior Greco-Roman. The Chattanooga commit Evans is a three-time state champion, also placing fifth at the Flo Nationals and third at the NHSCA Junior Nationals last spring.
Colton Schultz (Ponderosa, Colo.) vs. Jared Campbell (St. Edward, Ohio)
This is the "big ticket" bout involving upper-weight wrestlers, each ended the 2015-16 season ranked inside the top ten overall at 220 pounds. Schultz is ranked No. 1 overall in the Class of 2019 and represented the United States at the UWW Cadet World Championships in Greco-Roman last month; he is also a two-time Cadet National champion in Fargo (2015 Greco-Roman and 2016 freestyle) and four-time All-American. Two-time state runner-up Campbell is ranked No. 48 overall in the Class of 2017, and the Missouri commit was also champion at both the Flo Nationals and NHSCA Junior Nationals this spring.
Women's wrestling match: Alanah Vetterick (Iowa) vs. Ronna Heaton (South Dakota)
Vetterick was a Women's Junior National freestyle All-American this summer, while Heaton was a Cadet World champion in freestyle back in 2015.
Kyran Hagan (Eureka, Mo.) vs. Anthony Madrigal (Oak Park River Forest, Ill.)
Three-time state placer Hagan, an Ohio University commit, is ranked No. 54 overall in the Class of 2017. The 2015 state champion (2nd/1st/3rd) was runner-up at the NHSCA Junior Nationals and fourth in freestyle at the UWW Cadet Nationals this off-season after a Cadet National double All-American finish in the summer of 2015. Ranked No. 32 overall in the Class of 2018, Madrigal finished as state runner-up this past high school season after a pair of Cadet freestyle All-American finishes, including a runner-up finish in the summer of 2015.
Dylan D'Emilio (Genoa, Ohio) vs. Drew Bennett (Fort Dodge, Iowa)
Ranked No. 12 overall in the Class of 2019, D'Emilio was state champion this past high school season. In addition, he was runner-up this off-season in freestyle at both the Junior Nationals and UWW Cadet Nationals after winning a Cadet National freestyle title and UWW Cadet National freestyle title the previous summer. The junior Bennett was third at state as a sophomore, placed fourth at the NHSCA Sophomore Nationals, and was an InterMat JJ Classic runner-up last fall.
Noah Fye (New Hampton, Iowa) vs. Carter Cox (Atlantic, Iowa)
Two-time state medalist (3rd/5th) Fye also placed last fall at the Super 32 Challenge, while Cox was state runner-up this past high school season.
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