Wrestling season never truly stops, at least not for those who are fully invested.
So on Saturday, about three months after the Iowa High School Athletic Association’s state wrestling championships at Wells Fargo Arena, many of the state’s top wrestlers competed again at the Iowa freestyle state tournament at Southeast Polk High School.
During the spring and summer seasons, wrestlers compete against others in the same age divisions — Junior and 16U — rather than by school classification. It made for some exciting, high-profile matchups between some of the state’s best wrestlers.
Here are 10 noteworthy performances from the freestyle state tournament:
Rathjen tops Garvin in star-studded final
The match of the day was the Junior championship bout at 145 pounds, between Ankeny’s Caleb Rathjen and Iowa City West’s Hunter Garvin.