Drake Ayala (Fort Dodge, Iowa) is ranked No. 3 at 120 pounds (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)Thirty-three schools will convene for the season-opening Cliff Keen Independence (Iowa) Invitational on Friday and Saturday. The event will start off with preliminary pool competition, and then break down into flighted eight-man brackets based on placement in the preliminary pool round.
Three Fab 50 teams anchor the field: No. 25 Simley (Minn.), No. 45 Christian Brothers College (Mo.), and No. 47 Fort Dodge. Christian Brothers College won the event last year, but likely will be without the services of Joshua Saunders, who is ranked No. 3 nationally at 145 pounds, this weekend since he is at the USOTC through first semester. Three additional Iowa teams will also be among those in contention: Iowa City West, Lisbon, and Osage.
The 138-pound weight class is absolutely loaded, with three of the nation's top ten wrestlers: No. 6 Cael Happel (Lisbon), No. 7 Ryan Sokol (Simley, Minn.) and No. 9 Caleb Rathjen (Ankeny). Additional contenders include Christian Stanek (Cedar Rapids Xavier), Aidan Nutter (Fennimore, Wis.), Dreyzon Phillips (Fort Dodge), Kendall Norfleet (Marian Catholic, Ill.), Devan Lewis (Smithville, Mo.), and Hudson Taylor (Solon).
Drake Ayala (Fort Dodge), who is ranked No. 3 nationally at 120 pounds, is the lone additional ranked wrestler expected to compete in the tournament. Other notables in that weight class include Austin Kegley (Cedar Rapids Prairie) and Jacob Fryer (Christian Brothers College, Mo.).
Below is a summary of other notable wrestlers across the weight classes:
106: Kolby Warren (Christian Brothers College, Mo.), Grant O'Dell (Iowa City West), Brandon O'Brien (Linn-Mar), and Quincy Happel (Lisbon)
113: Trevor Anderson (Ankeny), Carter Fousek (Crestwood), Lane Cowell (Fort Dodge), Cade Siebrecht (Lisbon), and Reid Nelson (Simley, Minn.)
126: Alex Flerlage (Christian Brothers College, Mo.), Mason Lull (Fennimore, Wis.), Carson Taylor (Fort Dodge), Isaiah Weber (Independence), Bryce Parke (Linn-Mar), and Joe Sullivan (Osage)
132: Brooks Cowell (Fort Dodge), Hunter Garvin (Iowa City West), Robert Avila (Lisbon), Averee Abben (Osage), and Chase DeBlaere (Simley, Minn.)
145: Sam Kallem (Ankeny) and Cael Berg (Simley)
152: Vincent Zerban (Christian Brothers College, Mo.), Kody Cook (Fort Dodge), Graham Gambrall (Iowa City West), Eli Loyd (Pleasant Valley), Ryan Hampton (Smithville, Mo.), and Zeb Gnida (Solon)
160: Zach Williams (Osage)
170: Lucas White (Christian Brothers College, Mo.), Micky Griffith (Des Moines Lincoln), Matthew Doyle (Independence), Ashton Barker (Iowa City West), Spencer Mooberry (Osage), and Nolan Wanzek (Simley, Minn.)
182: Cole Davis (Independence), Will Hoeft (Iowa City West), and Gavin Nelson (Simley, Minn.)
195: Jack Darrah (Christian Brothers College, Mo.), Ashton Stoner-DeGroot (Cedar Rapids Prairie), Levi Egli (Fort Dodge), Cole Clark (Lisbon), Evan Rosonke (New Hampton), and Quayin Short (Simley, Minn.)
220: Bennett Tabor (Simley, Minn.)
285: Danen Settles (Fort Madison), Brant Baltes (Lisbon), and Taven Rich (Maquoketa)
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