*** Official Youth, High School, College and International Wrestling Thread ***

[rico]

I can't be the only wrestling fan on this site. In fact, I know I that's not the case. The almighty king of n00bs, Sorter, is a wrestling fan. I figure there could be more.....????

Discuss anything wrestling related:

Youth wrestling: Heck, wrestling in Iowa has a rabid Youth wrestling scene...I lived through it, my younger brother lived through it and my brothers who are 15 and 13 are living through it, well the 13 year old is anyway...he's in high school. The 13 year old is a 7th grader who has been wrestling since he was 5 years old and has accumulated 4 state championships since his second grade year...a total badass. Believe it or not, Iowa has a youth wrestling forum that is hopping...even during the summer. Iowans take this stuff seriously. I'm assuming other states have rabid youth followings, for when I watch my bros at National tourneys, we are constantly running into kids and super clubs from other states that are amazing. Ironically, one of the biggest youth tourneys our club hits annually is the Park Hill Individual and Dual tournament...which to my knowledge is in Kansas City (I've never attended that one). Do any of you have kids who are wrestling? If so, how are they doing?

High School Wrestling: High school and college wrestling in Iowa is big... we are known for it, ask AC Slater. State tournament is a big, televised event at the Wells Fargo dome...you will see probably 10 times more spectators at state wrestling in Iowa then any other high school sporting event in Iowa. With some of the crazy talent I have seen/wrestled against at Fargo Nationals, I am assuming that it's either on the rise or just as big in other states as well... What are your thoughts on some of the high school wrestlers and/or teams out there?

College Wrestling: Hell, you Missourians semi-recently had those Askren brothers. I've never met Max, but have met Ben. He was the celebrity guest at Iowa Grade School State one year...he signed autographs and handed the medals and wall charts to all of the kids on the podium that year, which was cool because my youngest brother won it that year and was able to get his championship singlet signed by him. I was with my brother when he approached him....Askren struck me as a funny, goofy type of dude. I don't know Max, but someone posted his blog on an Iowa wrestling message board and the dude seems like a character. I know there are some Oklahomans' who post on this board. Anyone see Okie State defeat Iowa this past weekend? Iowa's first dual loss of the year. Anyone have any thoughts on college wrestling?

International Wrestling: Any of you have any thoughts on the international wrestling scene? Future Olympians, future Olympic champs, future World champs, Greco, Freestyle, etc.?

Wrestling Memories/General Discussion: Any of you have any memories you'd like to share from your personal experience(s) of wrestling when you were in youth, high school or college? Any opinions on females wrestling with males. Last year, a girl named Megan Black made history in Iowa by placing at state. Do you believe females should be able to wrestle with males at that age? Any thoughts on weight cutting? What are some of the most memorable matches to you? Who are your favorite wrestlers? One match that always sticks out to me is this:



Crazy match.

My favorite wrestler (besides my bros and former teammates) of all time is ironically not an Iowan. I don't really have a favorite team in wrestling...I root for individuals. It's a dude from Ohio that I initially hated because I didn't like the way he conducted himself after a match vs. my brother in the national duals when he and my brother were Seniors in High School, in which he defeated my brother. Kid was cocky. He and my brother both went on to wrestle D1, so I followed him since I knew who he was. I ended up becoming a huge fan of the kid's style...the kid could hit cradles from ANY position. He went on to win 2 National titles for Ohio State...and did so both years as an underdog, for he'd lose quite a few silly matches during the season, presumably due to his risky, but dangerous style that worked well for him at NCAA Nationals. It's a dude named Jeff Jaggers. First vid is what really put his name on the map as a high school wrestler. 2nd vid is his 1st NCAA championship as a Junior, in a match where he was a huge underdog, broke his ankle during the match and gutted it out and won. My favorite wrestlers tend to be the ones who are risk takers or brawlers...not afraid to be aggressive or take chances. I can't stand stallish wrestlers who are successful as hell simply because they don't open up and therefore don't give up points and score their own points by capitalizing on the other wrestler's aggression. Boring.






So what ya got?

Note: I have been posting on wrestling message boards for 12 years and I (and I'm sure everyone else involved with the sport) have heard every wrestling joke (rolling around with men, etc.) imaginable, but if ya want to clown on the sport, shoot... it was inevitable to happen anyways on CP, so have at it!

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Mizzou with their customary choke job on a national stage. Is Brian Smith the Marty of wrestling?

[GloryDayz]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Mizzou athletics with their customary choke job on a national stage. Is Brian Smith the Marty of wrestling?

Fixed.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Mizzou did not have a single wrestler that wrestled to their seed. That is pathetic.

[GloryDayz]

MIZZOU athletics things.

[Rudy tossed tigger's salad]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Mizzou did not have a single wrestler that wrestled to their seed. That is pathetic.

It was pathetic, but they were overseeded for the most part because of a soft schedule. They skipped every major tournament this year. Hopefully Smith changes that plan next year. Still lots to look forward to in 2019.

[Simply Red]

I just noticed this thread after five years - good idea - it's one hell of a sport. Good call rico!

[rico]

Originally Posted by Simply Red

I just noticed this thread after five years - good idea - it's one hell of a sport. Good call rico!

[rico]

What's up, wrestling bros.

I've had some pretty exciting stuff happen lately with my wrestling writing.

I thought of an idea called "Inside the Rivalry" and shot the idea to the owner of The Predicament (Iowa's oldest wrestling magazine/site) and the guy loved the idea and gave me my own column. I have 6 written already (not including the intro) and only 2 have been posted and it has become a huge hit. Since the reception was so good, he offered me my own podcast called "The Mat Chat" as well as the guarantee that the series is ongoing as well as a spinoff series called "Epic Matches." So I am now paid to do 2 wrestling podcasts including The Mepo Dogcast. Pretty exciting stuff, for just last year, the wrestling journalist of the year (which is awarded at NCAA Nationals) went to a writer from The Predicament and my name will be thrown into the mix now. The intro got people excited, Chapter 1 went awesome and Chapter 2 was the one that became a huge hit. Chapter 3 is posted tomorrow morning (he only wants to post one every 2-3 weeks to increase anticipation) and I am getting a lot of requests for other rivalries to do this on...which is great! The goal is to write publish one or more books to be sold at wrestling events like Dan McCool does with his "Reach for the Stars" series. I wanted to share these with you and see what you guys think. I'll post The Intro, Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 in different posts....


The main thing I want to know is which writing style I should roll with. In the first one, I took the responses from the wrestling rivals and lumped them into 2-3 big paragraphs. In the 2nd one, I chronicled the events in sequential order via narratives, but inserted the rival's specific comments as the story went on... you'll see what I mean. I think I am going to roll with the 2nd. It had the best reception, although I don't know if it was more due to the writing style, awareness of the series, clubs, that the guys wrestled for, the wrestlers themselves, etc.


Here is what I have done so far:


Intro


Published:

Chapter 1: Marshall Koethe (Akron Westfield/Twin River Valley vs. Nate Herda (Central Lyon) 2005-2008


Chapter 2: Nick Lee (Columbus Jct.) vs. Joe Reiter (Gilberville Don Bosco) 1998-1999


Published at 7A tomorrow:


Chapter 3: JJ Krutsinger (Waterloo Columbus) vs. Kyle Pedretti (MFL Marmac) 2007



Finished:


Chapter 4: Mitch Mueller (Iowa City West) vs. Zach Mckray (Iowa City High)
2003-2005


Chapter 5: Seth Noble (Columbus Jct.) vs. Tanner Hiatt (Ballard) 2009-2010

Chapter 6: JJ Butteris (Lisbon) vs. Brett Little (Tri County Thornburg) 1999 ...I can't wait for this one...their responses were so entertaining and they went from hating each other to being groomsmen in each other's weddings.

Confirmed/working on:

Jesse Sundell (Ogden) vs. Mario Galanakis (Nodaway Valley) 2001

Brandon Mason (Lewis Central) vs. Anthony Watson (Iowa City High) 2003

Jake Halverson (Iowa City West) vs. Adam Gottschalk (Dubuque Hempstead) 2000-2002

Richie Lewis (Belmond) vs. Brent Hagen (1976)

Would LOVE to get a certain matchup from 1994 that is probably the most notorious match to ever happen at state. I have one on board...the other has never commented on what happened and has turned down every interview to this point on it... and my buddy who knows him well has him going back and forth on it... that would be huge.

It's bee awesome getting to know all these people...have only run into one abrasive person who has been pissy about things... These people have been great...given their responses, it's no mystery as to why and how they were successful. Better people than myself.

[rico]

Intro:

https://www.thepredicament.com/2018/...ool-wrestling/

The upcoming series of articles, "Beyond the Rivalry: Chronicles of some of the Greatest Rivals in Iowa High School Wrestling" will cover some of the best Iowa High School Wrestling Rivalries/matches that we have seen since high school wrestling was implemented in Iowa decades ago. Better yet, the majority of the stories will be told in the words of the wrestlers themselves. The wrestlers will get the chance to discuss, in detail, their thought process when they were in the middle of multiple battles with someone that they would ultimately end up linked with via wrestling history forever. In these segments, you will not only learn about some of the memorable rivalries that have taken place over the years, but you will also get the chance to get to know the wrestlers themselves a little better and what their thoughts were regarding their rival.

A rivalry is defined as a competition for the same objective or for superiority in the same field. The emotional investment spent may vary, pending on the nature of the competitive activity in which the rivalry is or has taken place. With that said, let's start with these sets of rivalries:

You've got these 4 rivalries:

Larry vs. Magic
Lebron vs. Durant
Michael Jordan vs. Isiah Thomas
Bill Russell vs. Wilt Chamberlain

And these 4 rivalries:

Alex Thomsen vs. Brody Teske
Ike Light vs. Dan Gabrielson
Joe Reiter vs. Nick Lee
Kyle Pedretti vs. JJ Krutsinger

What's the difference between the first set and the last set of four rivalries? The way I perceive it, the athletes in the top set of four play a less grueling and physically demanding sport and get paid millions to do it. The bottom four participate(d) in the greatest sport in the world and instead of being paid millions to do it, they are the ones who pay the sport by using their own blood, sweat and tears as currency as a means to accomplish their goals. To boot, most of them generally continue to pay afterwards by means of their free time by advocating for the sport in their own way. The bottom four are all motivated primarily by heart...and a good rivalry in wrestling will take control of your heart and put it into overdrive and sometimes proceed to lead it to a bumpy, winding road. You have rivalries everywhere, in multiple facets of life, but nothing compares to a good wrestling rivalry between two wrestlers who match up perfectly for whatever reason.

In this series, I will start off by writing various information about the year the match(es) of emphasis took place. I will follow by writing a loose biography of the the wrestlers being discussed and what their status was in the wrestling world at the time. The segments will be concluded with the best part, real-life, currently written excerpts written by the wrestlers themselves in which they will share how the rivalry unraveled from their perspective.

The first rivalry I cover will revolve around one match that took place at the state tournament in 2008 between a couple of kids named Nate Herda and Marshall Koethe. These two met several times, but most of it will be centered around the last match they wrestled when they were Seniors in high school. They were 1A guys. Both of these guys won state the year before and this match was a heavily anticipated match up. Koethe was from Akron Westfield until his Senior season, in which due to off the mat issues, he transferred to Twin River Valley. Herda was from Central Lyon. A program that was very solid at the time and had a wrestling fanbase that was at it's peak of excitement due to the success their wrestlers were achieving. To make this rivalry more intriguing, these wrestlers were both from the Northwest part of the state and were both making statements as to how tough the wrestling is in that region.

Stay tuned and make sure to keep following The Predicament in the next few days so you do not miss out on the first segment of the series: Marshall Koethe (Akron Westfield/Twin River Valley) vs. Nate Herda (Central Lyon) Coming soon!

Also, if you know or think of any rivalries that you would like to read an article about, I would love to hear from you. Please send your requests to my email address, jswafford@thepredicament.com

[rico]

Chapter 1: Marshall Koethe (Akron Westfield) vs. Nate Herda (Central Lyon)

It's easier to read if you click the link:

https://www.thepredicament.com/2018/...-central-lyon/

Inside the Rivalry: Chronicles of Some of the Greatest Rivalries in Iowa High School Wrestling

Chapter 1: Marshall Koethe (Akron Westfield/Twin River Valley) vs. Nate Herda (Central Lyon)



Nate Herda



Marshall Koethe

The year was 2008. 2008 was a fun year, thanks to the head to head match-ups we were fortunate enough to see at the tournament. The team races were more or less blow-outs. Don Bosco won in 1A, Ballard in 2A and Waverly Shellrock in 3A. All three schools set the scoring records for their classes in that year. And all three schools repeated the next year.

Don Bosco won 1A again with a handful of Welters sprinkled with two Reiters as well as a Kettman, Schares, Ortner, Becker, McMahon and Delagardelle. That's a nice collection of names that when you hear them, they immediately make you think of Don Bosco wrestling. Central Lyon represented the Northwest part of the state well with two state champs (Nate Herda and Jordan Gacke with a runner up finish from Scott Eben). Also in 1A in 2008, Bart Reiter clinched his 3rd of four state championships, Deric Thomas splashed onto the scene by winning his first of three, Jake Demmon looked like a machine at the state tournament. There was some good wrestling in 1A in 2008.

In 2A in 2008, Ballard was a total powerhouse and just ran away with the title with their Weatherman bros, a couple Hiatt bros, Tyler Grask, Coffman, Taylor Eichenberger, Sullivan, Anderson, Ramsey, etc. They were absolutely dominant in 2A during this time...this was the time right before the emergence of Assumption, Mediapolis, Denver-Tripoli, Creston, Union-La Porte City & West Delaware of Manchester There was an unbelievable match between Ridge Kiley and Levi Wolfensperger that came right down to the wire in which Kiley was victorious. To make things more impressive, the 3rd place finisher in that bracket was Joe Colon from Clear Lake...a guy who has succeeded on every level and still continues to on the international scene. Now that's a tough 3rd place guy. Andrew Long from Creston won his 3rd title and looked unbeatable in doing so. Seth Noble from Columbus Jct. won his first of two titles as a Sophomore. He was closer to winning four titles than people realize. 2A also gave the state their first look at physical specimen and professional football player, Austin Blythe from Williamsburg who placed 2nd at 285 as a Freshman, which is generally unheard of. His senior brother, Holden, won the 220 lb. bracket.

3A in 2008 was the Waverly Shellrock show. I can't think of a team that I would consider better than this one...it was total domination. They had their Ballwegs, Caldwell, Cox, Rinken, Thompson, Campbell, Kittleson, Averhoff, Wrage, etc. I used to think that I would never see a team that was assembled with more ammo than the Lewis Central and Emmetsburg teams of the early 2000's. Then Waverly-Shell Rock came along and changed my mind. They made the team race a boring one...for the other teams. It was a race for 2nd coming in to the tourney, for everyone knew WSR would dominate. 3A had some interesting stuff this year. St. John's bracket in 2008 was interesting, though. He beat Kyven Gadsen in the finals. For those of you who haven't connected the dots there yet, both of those two went on to win an NCAA title and one of them indicated to the world, his affinity for ice cream in a funny, classic post-match interview. Matt McDonough won his 3rd title. Another NCAA champ. Future Iowa wrestler and state champ, Dylan Carew was in that bracket. And Nick Moore won his 2nd of four titles. 3A was loaded in 2008.

Hard to believe this was ten years ago already. Ever wonder what happened to some of these guys? Well, you are about to hear from two of them who entertained the crowd with one of the most intense, hard fought matches that has ever taken place at Wells Fargo Arena. People mention this match as one of the best they've seen whenever the topic is brought up, whether on forums or just random conversation. People remember the exact place they were when they think about this match. This match was right up there with other good matches like Thomsen vs. West, Clark vs. Devos, Farris vs. Peters, Leisure vs. Thompson, Biscoglia vs. Bennett, Carton vs. Sorensen, Drain vs. Wilcke, Wolfensperger vs. Kiley, Fox vs. Roth, Ettelson vs. Naig, Reiter vs. Reiland, Marlin vs. Schmidt, etc. This could very well be one of the most exciting displays of wrestling that has ever taken place at Wells Fargo.

The match was between two returning state champs...Marshall Koethe from Twin River Valley formerly of Akron Westfield VS. Nate Herda from Central Lyon. This took place in the semifinals. I had the pleasure of speaking to both of them about what their feelings/thoughts were before and after the match, their approach, their mindset, the match itself, etc. These two are wonderfully polite people with a ton of mutual respect for each other, which is great to see. However, when they were competing, Herda made it very clear that he was on a mission to break Koethe's heart, something he had failed to do in their five previous matchups...all of which Koethe won by tech or pin. Those five matches took place when they were freshmen and sophomores. In 2008, they were seniors, so Herda had two years to gear up from the last time Koethe dominated him until their infamous match at state their senior season. Koethe, in the mean time, was trying to stay focused and simultaneously refrain from making life-altering negative decisions in his junior and senior years. He had his battles on the mat, but also had his battles off the mat, something he regrets to this day and now makes it a point in his life to help talented kids that he sees going down a similar path. Some of the off the mat stuff affected Koethe's training and all the while Herda was coming for him like a grizzly bear. The gap was about to close... and it did.

Coming in, Koethe was widely favored to win the match between he and Herda their senior year. Coming into his senior year, he had placed 2nd, 1st and 1st at state. And most importantly, he dominated Herda every time they wrestled in previous meetings via tech or pin. Herda had an impressive resume early in high school himself. He placed 8th as a freshman, 5th as a sophomore and won state as a junior. Given how good his resume was, that shows you how good Koethe was from the time he started high school wrestling considering he dominated a formidable foe like Herda five times those first two years. Along with this, Koethe closed out AAU in 6th through 8th grade with 2nd, 1st and 1st place finishes. He was clearly and consistently one of the elite guys of the grade. Herda never placed in AAU until 7th grade in which he placed 7th. Seems like things clicked for him as an 8th grader, for he won it that year.

Koethe's biggest influence growing up was his father, Terry, a former wrestler at Dubuque Hempstead. Koethe said, "He did a great job training me. Did it the right, effective way." In terms of influence, Herda mentions Tom Meester. Meester was in my grade and around the same weight and I remember vividly how tough he was. Herda was also influenced by Jason Reitmeier. He describes them as "great coaches, better people." These guys were the reason that Herda decided to wrestle at Augustana, for they were selfless people who put their athletes first at all times and would sacrifice their personal time to help their athletes at the drop of a hat. Herda stated that Meester molded his wrestling style.

Both wrestlers respected a lot of the same wrestlers in their grade like Nate Moore, Marcus Edgington, Andrew Long (a personal friend of Koethe's at Iowa State), etc. They both described Nate as being fun to watch.

To make this matchup even more notable, both these guys were from the Sioux/Northwest part of the state. That area doesn't get much publicity, but their wrestlers are proud of where they are from, as they should be...Koethe and Herda included. They still root for their northwest guys. Koethe's favorite current wrestlers are Adam Allard and Kory Van Oort, two exceptionally good wrestlers from West Sioux. Herda is a Gable Sieperda (Central Lyon) fan. Sieperda is a great wrestler who is also the best distance runner in the state. Koethe only follows wrestling and enjoys following Dake, Burroughs and Chamizo. He also respects the means in which Penn State promotes the sport. Koethe is an ambassador for wrestling and proud of it. Herda is an Oklahoma Sooners fan who is sad to see Baker Mayfield shipped to the factory of sadness (Cleveland). He was in Columbus at "The Shoe" when Mayfied famously planted the flag. His favorite rivalry in wrestling is Mark Perry vs. Johnny Hendricks.

Both Herda and Koethe felt that summer wrestling was integral to their development and both wrestled freestyle. Koethe was a schoolboy national champ and won a national folkstyle title. Herda placed 6th at FILA one year and would finish with a winning record at Fargo every year.

After high school, Herda was a two time All-American at Augustana, placing as a freshman and sophomore. He just had a couple bad weekends during nationals his Junior and Senior year...not the way he wanted to end his career, but he realizes that the good ultimately outweighed the bad in his career. His favorite wrestler, who was years ahead of him, was Ryan Morningstar. Koethe wrestled at Iowa State with a group of guys who he describes as being good people with good hearts. He wrestled for Cael and Cody Sanderson with guys like Nate Gallick, Cyler Sanderson, Andrew Long and Nick Fanthorpe. They were all a very supportive squad to one another. He describes his ISU wrestling team as good guys and comrades. He stated that he wishes he could do that over again, for he was making poor choices (partying, not taking care of himself) at the time and it hindered his development. He feels he could have done better. Now one of his ongoing missions in life is to influence, motivate and encourage kids to make wiser choices, while discussing his own experiences and what he learned kinesthetically by means of unwise decision making. He not only wants to help kids stay on track for wrestling, but for their long term futures in general.

Koethe had a career record of 160-6. He wrestled for Akron Westfield. He then transferred to Twin River Valley as a Senior. Herda was a Central Lyon lifer, in an era where their wrestling fanbase was at their most rabid levels.

Want to see the infamous match that took place their Senior year? Click on the links below.



Here are parts 1 and 2 to this unforgettable match

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwu5dCUpwi0

Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFzKpyj5MaY

If you don't choose to watch the match via youtube clips, let me summarize the match. There was a ton of scrambling and fighting for position on their feet. Some powerful shots taken by both guys, in which both scored with. A lot of grambys by Herda. Very tough riding by Koethe. There was a ton of excitement in the crowd. Koethe scored first via takedown in the first period. Herda responded with a reversal, in which Koetha responded with a reversal of his own to go into the 2nd period with Koethe up 4-2. Koethe started down in the 2nd period and immediately scored an escape to make it 5-2. Herda scored a takedown off his own shot with 25 seconds left in the 2nd period to make it 5-4 Koethe to start the 3rd period with Herda starting in the bottom position. Koethe rode Herda hard and had a cradle locked up at one point that appeared tight. Koethe put a leg in with 4 seconds left in the 3rd, up 5-4 when a stalemate was called. At the restart, Herda hit a powerful gramby that put Koethe to his hip, that Herda, the coaches and the Central Lyon fans thought was a 2 point reversal, but 1 was awarded to send it into OT, likely because the loss of control was RIGHT when time ran out. In the 2nd OT, Koethe scored a quick reversal to lead 7-5. In the 3rd OT, Herda was awarded a point because Koethe scissored Herda's head to make it 7-6. Herda escaped and they went out of bounds with 6 seconds left to make it 7-7. At the whistle, Koethe shot in and it was countered by Herda and he spun around for the TD and the win at the end of the period. The result was 9-7 Herda in 3 OT's... Herda went on to win it, Koethe wrestled tough in the consolation side to place 3rd.

Now, to the best part of the article. Here is what both wrestlers have to say about the experience they shared by competing vigorously against each other in this semifinal match at state their senior year.

Let's start with Marshall Koethe:

Koethe: I have all the respect in the world for Herda and felt like he won fair and square. He wanted it more and deserved it. As much as it devastated me at the time, he deserved it. While I do feel he wrestled a smart, lights-out match, I will acknowledge that I don't think I was on top of my game coming in. Some pieces just weren't fitting together like they usually do. I made mistakes that I never made before. For example, I looked at the clock when I had a cradle locked up...I never do that. And a stalemate was called when I looked at the clock. It was unfortunate. I also scissored the head in OT. Some parts just weren't me. From the moment I stepped on the mat, I had to continuously remind myself to focus. I kept losing focus. And it was so loud from the mob of people watching our specific match that I couldn't hear anything, so there was a coach-athlete communication barrier. I also had a lot of distractions going on off of the mat. It was a big ordeal on the forums, papers, etc. I received a lot of negative publicity due to being caught with drug paraphernalia my junior year and failed a urine test during Christmas break. Mistakes I have since learned from: I was suspended all year my senior year until sectionals. And people were being judgamental, spiteful, vindictive and wishing me ill because of it. It was irritating. Neutral spectators sometimes rooted against me because everyone had heard about my off the mat issues and they just assumed that I was a bad kid, which I wasn't. I just needed help and encouragement to grow up. I was and am a nice guy. Maybe if they knew that, they'd take the route of trying to help me instead of publicly slamming my entire character/being. I make up for it by taking that route with kids in need of guidance myself now.

SO.... It comes down to this...Herda worked his ass off. He lived a respectable life off the mat. He got whooped bad by me numerous times and beat me when it mattered most, which was our last meeting. Props to him. I worked my ass off in the room, but developed an unhealthy lifestyle off the mat. It all caught up to me and before I could make adjustments, Herda was getting his hand raised after beating me. I don't want to use these distractions as excuses. They aren't excuses...living a healthy lifestyle is part of wrestling and Nate beat me there. So I have no excuses. It's just what was going on with me at the time. And while I was confused at times out there due to the excessive noise and lack of focus, I was very confident before the match. I knew that I beat him badly five different times by tech or pin every time two short years ago, so that gave me confidence. Plus, I didn't lose often. However, I was aware of how hard he was working, how healthy of a life he lived and I was certainly not ignorant to the fact that this guy thought about beating me, likely multiple times per day. I have a ton of respect for Nate Herda as a person and wrestler. He earned it. To reiterate, I now prioritize helping kids who may be troubled or headed down a confusing path, for I know how it feels. These people need guidance along with someone to listen to them and I prioritize doing that in life. I don't want other wrestlers making the same mistakes I did and regretting it for the rest of their lives. Wrestling becomes a part of who you are and it sticks with you, so you don't want any regrets. Those are my thoughts regarding my match vs. Nate Herda. It was a great match, yes, but I grew from it so there is value in the experience regardless of the outcome on the scoreboard.

And now, Nate Herda:

Herda: To start, my thoughts on Marshall Koethe. I remember him as the enemy all through high school. I spent a lot of energy disliking him and working to beat him. I haven't talked to him in years, but my friends back home have run into him at little kid wrestling tournament in which now he is a fantastic father and great coach. A positive influence. That match was an incredible experience for me. He contacted me about this interview today, we chatted about the match and our lives now. I wish him nothing, but the best. I think we are both in better places now and that is a good thing. Given the right occasion and circumstances, I would be up for a rematch. I want more than just one win in the series. Would you guys like to see that?

Before the match, I knew him well due to wrestling so much. Although we have closure now and I consider him a great ambassador for the sport, I wouldn't say that we were friends back then. Wrestling can be too personal given the work everyone puts in and everyone is always trying to take what they think is theirs and you know is yours. So as mentioned, Koethe killed me the previous five times we met and it ticked me off. I hate losing. Losing always sucks. I've never gotten used to the feeling of it or learned to handle it. To this day, my family will say I'm a poor sport when I lose at something. So Koethe did his share of making me angry my first two years in high school. Regardless of how pumped and worked up I felt for the match, I knew what happened in the previous matches, but I managed to maintain a confident outlook. I remember taking him down at an old timers tourney in one of our early matches and I truly felt that was the start of me closing the gap. It instilled confidence in me that Koethe was mortal and I knew that I was a different, much better wrestler as a senior than the last time we met. I think he knew this too. My game plan coming in was to keep the match on my feet and force him into bad shots. Ironically, I spent the majority of the match on bottom. He probably rode me for 3+ minutes total. I am thankful that riding time is not awarded in high school. I scored my points when I had to. It was opportunistic. When opportunity presented itself, I scored. Although he was my enemy, I simultaneously had so much respect for how good of a wrestler he was. I mean, he smoked me in previous matchups, so it'd be crazy and ignorant to not respect him. Our styles clashing was interesting. My style was like this: I had a good counter offense and could force people into bad shots because I would move them all over the mat, creating angles that I wanted. I had a good swing single. I struggled on bottom. Take this and clash it with Koethe's presence of mind, positioning, strength, mat sense and leverage and you will have a good matchup. The match went into double OT. We were both so exhausted. It literally didn't sink in that I had finally beaten Marshall Koethe until my hand was raised. When my hand was raised, it was one of the best moments of my life. The crowd was euphoric. I have a picture a fan took of my family. To this day, every once in a while, I will just take a moment to look at that picture and remember that great day/moment. There was a lot of joy for our family that day. Since then, I have continued to respect Koethe more and more. He had some off the mat problems that he received a lot of negative attention from, but that added to the situation. He was and is a good guy. I am so impressed with the father, coach and ambassador for the sport that he has become.

Towards the end of my career, I put a lot of pressure on myself for no reason. Wrestling is fun. I miss it so much and wish I could do it again with the realization of how fun it is. I wish I would have believed in myself a bit more and not taken it so seriously. At least three out of the four years, I didn't torture myself by cutting too much weight. I did that my sophomore year and promised my parents I would never do it again. It adds stress to a fun sport, its unhealthy and I ended up winning two state titles while not over-cutting.

My teammates were wonderful in every sport. Jordan Gacke, Scott Eben, etc. They weren't just awesome teammates in wrestling. We were great on the football and track fields too. We won state football when I was a junior. Another great experience and wrestling obviously helps tremendously for other sports. Have fun in this fun sport and appreciate it and seize every opportunity as they present themselves. No half measures. I worked very hard and learned those last three years that summer wrestling is crucial to success on the mat. It diversifies your skillset. I got to the point where I would do anything and everything just to get a work out in. Mrs. Meester would open the wrestling room so I could work out in my free time, sometimes by myself. Coach Van Beek and De Boer would help me with a lot of this. I owe a lot of my success to my coaches and wrestling supporters.

If there is any advice I could give to the youngsters, it'd be this: Enjoy wrestling. It'll be over before you know it. Work hard, listen to your parents and coaches. Believe in yourself and ask why it can't be you. It took me so long to fully believe that and I'm not so sure it happened. Be proud of youself for wrestling. It is not easy and people know that and will respect you for getting through it. Very few people are successful at wrestling. Someday, leaders or your boss will expect more out of you since you were a wrestler and that is a good thing. Take pride in that. You will always outwork everyone because that is what wrestlers do

[rico]

Chapter 2: Nick Lee (Columbus Jct.) vs. Joe Reiter (Gilbertville Don Bosco)

https://www.thepredicament.com/2018/...lle-don-bosco/




Nick Lee





The infamous Reiter brothers from Don Bosco. Together they garnered 15 state qualifications, 9 championships and 15 medals. From left to right: Eddie (2nd youngest), Bart (youngest), Mack (2nd oldest) and Joe (Oldest)

This next rivalry is between a couple of guys who met in the 1998 and 1999 seasons and were produced by a couple of the state's historical powerhouse wrestling teams. In fact, if you consider Nick Lee's roots, there were three powerhouses affiliated with this rivalry. Joe Reiter was from Gilbertville Don Bosco. One of the most successful 1A schools of all time. A school that is basically synonymous with wrestling. Nick Lee was from Morning Sun and very proud of it, but wrestled for Columbus Junction. Columbus Junction, at the time was at the peak of their legendary roll. Columbus Junction won traditional state in 1995 and 1997...in both 1A and 2A. Along with that, they won state duals in 1996, 1998 and 1999. With that said, for five years in a row, Columbus Jct. won either state duals or traditional state as a team. And Nick was part of four of those teams from 1996-1999. As of 2018, Don Bosco has earned 9-10 state dual championships as well as 9-10 traditional state titles. No matter what, they will always rebuild and reload... and they are good at doing so, for they have alumni like Joe Reiter who continues to improve the program any way that he can.

Nick Lee is from Morning Sun and grew up wrestling for the Morning Sun youth program. Morning Sun was brought into the limelight by a man named Bob Darrah in 1962 who had a dual record of 50-3 at Morning Sun, prior to heading for Urbandale and then Des Moines Dowling, where he solidified his legendary wrestling coaching status by finishing his high school career with a record of 340 wins, 17 losses and 2 ties. He paved the way for another wrestling powerhouse in a roundabout way. Al Baxter wrestled for the Darrah-led Tigers of Morning Sun and won a state title for them. Baxter, famously began a program that became a powerhouse in itself, Lisbon...the most decorated 1A wrestling school in Iowa history. Morning Sun also produced another Hall of Famer, the "voice of college wrestling" himself, Tim Johnson, who was 95-12 with a state appearance in 1970. There is a smorgasboard of wrestling history at Morning Sun. After the departure of Darrah, the fort in Morning Sun was steadily maintained again by an intense, cross-armed and moustached man named John Siegel, who was well known for his intensity along with his cunning ability to adapt his style of coaching to each person, pending on what methods work best for that particular kid. He is known to be a genius when it comes to the ever-imprtant mental component of wrestling. He amassed a dual meet record of 143-17 at Morning Sun and is, to this day, considered a legend in the small town of Morning Sun. Morning Sun not only discontinued their wrestling program in 1990, but discontinued their entire high school and the wrestlers from the school have since attended Wapello, Mediapolis Columbus Jct.-WMU and WMU New London. Each school has accomplished their share of success since 1990 and the Morning Sun wrestlers were an integral part of it with all of them.

Affiliated with these matchups were two coaches who have already been inducted into the Iowa High School Wrestling Hall of Fame. Dan Mashek for Don Bosco and John Siegel for Morning Sun, Wapello, Columbus Jct., New London and as of this upcoming year, Notre Dame of Burlington. Bill Plein became the 13th coach ever to surpass the 400 dual wins mark. Mashek at one point led the state in dual meet victories and is currently 3rd behind Brad Smith (Lisbon, Iowa City High) and Kent Kersten of Logan Magnolia. Mashek retired with a phenomenal record of 519-105-5. He coached at Gilbertville Don Bosco and North Scott.

So there was a lot of history in the programs that Lee and Reiter came from, and there were legendary wrestling faces in the corners during their matches.

Nick Lee was a two time state qualifier and placed 3rd at state as a Junior in 1998 and 1st as a senior in 1999. Joe Reiter qualified for state three times. He placed 2nd as a freshman in 1998, 2nd in 1999 and 1st as a Junior in 2000. He had to quit wrestling in the middle of his senior season due to a string of concussions that he endured. When he announced this on the Iowa Preps message boards, it broke the hearts of wrestling fans everywhere, but given the research/findings of athletes who suffer from CTE due to suffering an abundance of concussions in athletics, this was most definitely a wise move on his part. He ended his career at Don Bosco as one of the most successful and beloved wrestlers in the program's history...a status he earned with his winning ways, fun style of wrestling and charasmatic personality. When he won state as a Junior vs. the feared Tysen Christensen of Lenox, the Don Bosco fans weren't the only fans excited for him. 75% of the fans in attendance were happy for him. Everybody loved Joe and he was due for that long-awaited title that several people thought may have been out of reach at the time due to Joe bumping up 3 weights from the previous year to wrestle the defending state champion who had looked pretty flawless for 2 straight years. And Joe dominated. There was no question who the man at 125 was that year.

Both kids have strong familial roots. Joe is the son of the late Doug Reiter, a legend for all he had done for the sport and the success he had with coaching his sons. Joe was also the oldest of four brothers...his younger siblings being Mack, Eddie and Bart. Between the four of them, they wrestled in fifteen state tournaments, racked up nine gold medals (4 for Mack, 4 for Bart) and fifteen state place-winning medals. All four brothers placed at state or won it every time they qualified. The only reason that there weren't an even sixteen state wrestling appearances for the 4 brothers was because of Joe's concussions that he endured as a Senior.

Nick Lee is the product of two notorious Morning Sun wrestling families: The Lee and Harbison families. His uncle Randy Lee was the first state qualifier for the historic Morning Sun wrestling program. His mother was a Harbison and they were all stand-out wrestlers for Morning Sun and Wapello. Nick's Harbison uncles and cousins played a vital role in Nick's wrestling development. His goal of being a state champion was planted in his head when he watched his cousin Truckie (Tom) Harbison come so close to defeating Dusty Rhodes from Osage in the finals at state in 1992. It was at that moment that Nick Lee decided that not only did he want to win state in high school, but he never wanted to lose in Vets Auditorium. He never wanted to feel the way that his cousin felt after losing that finals match.

Nick Lee was a 1999 graduate from Columbus Jct. High School. He placed 3rd as a Junior and 1st as a Senior. He finished with a record of 112-21. When asked to describe his style, he said:

Nick Lee: "My style wasn't anything flashy, that's for sure. I mastered the basics a few years earlier and generally stuck to my 2-3 bread and butter moves that worked for me because I perfected them. I just did what I had to do to win."

Joe Reiter placed 2nd as a Freshman in 1999, 2nd as a Sophomore, 1st as a Junior and as mentioned, was not able to finish his Senior season due to suffering an array of concussions and concussion-like symptoms. He finished his high school career with a record of 125-5. When asked what his style was like, simply put, he said:

Joe Reiter: "My style was fun." (I happen to agree with him here. He was in my grade and his style along with Trent Goodale and Dustin Bliven were the most fun to watch in the class of '01, in my opinion. You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who was more fun to watch than Joe Reiter, for he had a unique, aggressive style that was effective).

Nick Lee mentioned his brother who always "beat the snot" out of him at home when wrestling as an influence as well as Coach John Siegel who coached him his entire career and Bill Plein who was also there for the majority of his career. He also mentioned Coach Andy Milder as being a great influence for him as well. He was a guy who was always there for him. He was also influenced by Truckie Harbison and his uncles and parents. He also was a fan of the Brands brothers and Mark Ironside growing up.

Nick Lee: "I was blessed with great coaches who not only helped you in the short journey of wrestling, but with the long journey of life. They care about the well-being of every athlete that they coach, on and off the mat."

Joe Reiter expressed having an array of coaches, fans, tutors, etc. who helped him accomplish what he did in high school.

Reiter did not list anyone else that he may have had a rivalry with before or after the matches between he and Lee took place. Lee mentioned having met Cliff Moore (NCAA Champ for the Hawkeyes) in the finals at AAU a couple times. He also mentioned Luke Foor from Wapello as being a local rival. Those two had some battles. However, Lee stated that his biggest rivalry was in his own wrestling room at Columbus Jct. Place-winner, Jason Utter.

Nick Lee: "My biggest rival was Jason Utter. We were huge rivals in that practice room. I didn't wrestle much varsity my Sophomore year because Utter beat me out. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Utter. Every...single....day.... we would come into practice and just beat the crap out of each other and then the moment we left the wrestling room, we were great friends, but holy cow did we put each other through hell in the wrestling room. He was so good and a huge part of my wrestling development. I wouldn't have accomplished as much as I did without him. I have so much respect for him.

Nick and Joe met three times. They never met prior to high school. The first time they met was in the state tournament of 1998 when Joe was a freshman, Nick was a junior. They drew each other first round at state. Coming into the tournament, their knowledge of each other was limited, but semi-present. They knew of each other, but had never met each other on the mat or off the mat.

Joe Reiter: "Lee and I wrestled three times. Since he was two years older, I didn't know that much about him. 1998 and 1999 were both runner-up finishes for me. There was some frustration. As a Freshman, I had the mentality to win state, but lacked the skill and was stopped by Jesse Sundell in the finals. In 1999, I developed the skill, but lacked the mental focus I needed to accomplish my goals. In retrospect, I wish I wouldn't have cut all the way down to 103 that year."

Nick Lee: "I wouldn't really call it a rivalry...just ended up at the same place at the same time with same goals in mind. The story of my wrestling career would not be complete without him though. He's a great wrestler. He had some funk. He was good at putting people to their backs... he had a nice carry series, cement mixers and cradles. I remember Sundell and Joe Reiter being the up and coming thing at the time and they lived up to the hype. Joe was a very good wrestler."

Joe Reiter: "I had no game plan the first time I wrestled him because I didn't know him. He was older than me and I hadn't met up with him at any wrestling meets or tournaments so my knowledge was limited coming into that match because of that. I won the match 23-12

Nick Lee: "I knew of him, for I looked at the rankings and what-not, but hadn't ever seen him wrestle. Footage of your opponent who lives over 100 miles away was more difficult to come by in 1998 when the internet hadn't fully taken off, especially for country boys like myself. I had heard the name though. Joe Reiter and Jesse Sundell were the new big thing that year and I always wondered if I had ever run into him at a Future Hawkeye's wrestling practice growing up. The main thing I remember about that match is getting my butt kicked and being more upset after that loss than any other loss I'd ever had in high school. I remember being down by a lot of points with 30 seconds or so left in the 3rd period and hitting a desperation throw, in which he put me right to my back to end the match. I had never been that upset after a loss ever, for when I saw my cousin Truckie Harbison lose to Dusty Rhodes from Osage in the state finals in 1992, I made up my mind that I never wanted to feel that way at Vets. And my loss to Joe was the closest I ever came to feeling that way. And after that loss, I knew I had only one more chance to accomplish my dreams. Joe ended up being my first match ever at state and my last. I was glad that I wrestled back for 3rd. I hated losing at Vets. I was a bit more star-struck than I should have been with that being my first time wrestling there...I shouldn't have been. I had wrestled in plenty of big wrestling tourneys in huge venues before that."

Joe Reiter defeated Nick Lee via Major Decision in the first round of the state tournament in 1998. Reiter advanced to the finals where he lost to fellow Freshman, Jesse Sundell, 9-5. Meanwhile, Lee wrestled all the way back for 3rd place. Both wrestlers had a year to train to win state at the same weight the following year.

Joe Reiter: "I obviously was hungry for that title, but it was a matter of finding a balance of my mental focus and skill in simultaneous fashion."

Nick Lee: "I worked a lot harder that offseason, I can tell you that. I knew I had only one more chance of accomplishing my dream of being a state champ. I knew I wasn't where I needed to be quite yet."

Nick Lee and Joe Reiter both ended up at 1A 103 again at state in 1999, paving the way for a state title. Both wrestlers felt they had cut too much weight to get there.

Joe Reiter: "I wish I wouldn't have cut so much weight to get to 103 in 1999. I would have been better off. It influenced the mental focus component of my game."

Nick Lee: "I went from weighing 90 lbs as a Freshman, 95 as a Sophomore, 105 on full feed as a Junior and came in to my Senior season weighing 130 and cutting to 103. Cutting weight was new to me and I'm not so sure we cut weight the right way back then."

Nick Lee and Joe Reiter both bulldozed their ways to the finals in 1999, where they met each other in the finals. Nick Lee ended up winning this match 12-10 in OT. It was an exciting match. It was back and forth with a lot of action coming in the 3rd period. Both wrestlers exchanged takedowns, reversals and near falls in that period. It was one of the wildest, most entertaining matches in state finals history. I simply haven't seen anything like it since, with the back and forth tempo the match took. However, with a tough, high scoring, high octane, quick-paced match like this one, came some controversy... controversy that the fans and spectators both made a bigger deal of than the wrestlers themselves. As outspoken as I've always been myself on wrestling forums, this was one of the few debates that I always stayed out of, but read everything people were writing. There were people who were upset for Joe, for they thought he was robbed of a championship and there were people who were sticking up for Nick as well. Both sides were hotly contested by the other side and it took Joe Reiter of all people to write an non-anonymous post on the forums that finally calmed the bickering down. Joe gave credit to Nick for being the state champion despite the scoreboard confusion and mentioned that it didn't matter, for Nick had beaten him a week later at state duals a week later anyways. Joe handled the situation with class. The way I looked at it, there wouldn't have been any controversy to begin with if it weren't for the fact that there was some fantastic, back and forth, quick scoring throughout the entirety of the 3rd period. In the words of Mark Ironside while commentating a semifinal match in 2015, "that's what wrestling is all about. That is what makes wrestling fun." The points were being awarded so quickly, for both guys were racking up the points one after the other.

Joe Reiter: "The score going into the 3rd period was 4-4. The confusion at the table was that the scoring table did not award me an escape that would have prevented the match from going into OT and would have awarded me the 11-10 victory in regulation. The points written down/awarded did not match the score that was officially awarded. However, if someone wants to get mad at the scoring table about that, you have to remember, the points were rolling in at a quick pace and it was likely difficult to keep up with. We were both giving everything we had, to the point where it may have been difficult for the scoring table to keep up."

Nick Lee: "I went from being the happiest I had ever been after winning a match in my entire life to upset and mad the next day. I had no idea that there was a controversy when the match concluded. I just wanted to enjoy my Senior year state title, but that was cut short the next day during a Sunday practice in which we were preparing for the state duals, Coach Plein threw a newspaper at me in practice and told me I had some unfinished business to take care of that coming weekend against Reiter. I was shocked to see that the article chronicled a scoring controversy in my finals match, for I didn't know there was one. I had no idea that there was any sort of problem until I read that article in the paper. I knew we were going to wrestle Don Bosco at the State Duals a few days later and I busted my butt to ensure that I would win that match-up in an attempt to squash any controversy."

Joe Reiter: "I would like to mention how much tougher Lee felt than he did the previous year. Not that he wasn't good the year prior to that...I could tell that Lee was a great wrestler when I wrestled him first round at state the year before, regardless of what the score may have indicated. But in 1999, he was different. You could just feel how much more he wanted it. I could tell that he had put his time in and worked hard since we met up the year before."

Don Bosco and Columbus Jct. met up at the state duals and the Reiter vs. Lee match unraveled again for the fans' enjoyment. Nick Lee won this Match 5-2.

Joe Reiter: "When we wrestled at the state duals, Lee hit me with a headlock in the first period to go up 5-0. The final score ended up being 5-2 with Lee winning. People have to realize, that with controversies, sometimes things go both ways. In that match, I spent almost the entire first period on my back. The ref never called the pin. I am here to tell you, I was stuck. The ref, no doubt in my mind, was apprehensive to call the pin because of what had occurred the week before. I was stuck. I felt both shoulders touch. I lost anyways, but felt that should be said."

Nick Lee: "I was so relieved when I scored that first five point move. There were some nerves in that match, for I felt the legitimacy of my state title was on the line. I wrestled pretty conservative after that first five point move. I wouldn't say that I stalled, but I wasn't trying my hardest to score either. I wish I could take that back. I wish I wouldn't have coasted and continued to open up after the five point move in the first period."

What a roller coaster of a trio of matches that was. These guys were both guys who liked to be on the offense and rack up a ton of points and three eventful matches ensued because of it. A match made in heaven for the fans in attendance. And as you've likely been able to pick up on by now, this took place between two fantastic people as well.

As for general thoughts about the matchups they had with regarding the other and some of the things they wished would be different in their wrestling careers:

Joe Reiter: "I am glad that it ended up and happened the way that it happened. I felt that I didn't have the proper mental edge in 1999 and I learned a valuable lesson because of it. It was a hard lesson, but a valuable one. If I could go back and change one thing about my high school career, I wouldn't have cut all the way down to 103 that year. I felt like the weight cutting that year wrought havoc on my psyche. Nick Lee at the state duals was my last folkstyle loss of my career. One thing to add would be that at the Keith Young tournament my Junior year, I learned how to wrestle. it's hard for me to explain in detail, but in the course of four matches, that day something clicked and I figured out what positioning means. And now I know it means everything. I ended up finishing my career in the middle of my Senior year, due to concussions."

Nick Lee: "I have tons of respect for Joe. I felt bad or him when I heard that he struggled with concussions and his career was cut short by that. I am not on social media much, but from what little I have gathered about Joe over the years, it sounds like he has been doing great things. On another note: Sometimes I wish that Morning Sun wouldn't have discontinued their high school. There is a lot of Morning Sun pride with me. I wore a green headgear to represent Morning Sun, for I knew they wouldn't let me wear a green singlet. We had a good thing going in our youth club and we all kind of went separate ways. In Morning Sun, there wasn't much to do, but wrestle and work hard and I am proud of that. I always wonder how Morning Sun high school wrestling could have done in the 90's. I worked very hard, especially in the offseason of 1998. I knew I had my work cut out for me if I wanted to win a state title, and I am happy that I accomplished that. I wish I would have wrestled somewhere in college. To this day I regret that. Wrestling becomes such a large, personal part of your life, that it is so important to enjoy it and do it while you still can. I wish I would have had another 4 years to wrestle, anywhere really. I just love the sport and feel like it makes people better at life. I would encourage anyone to try out wrestling and to savor it while they are doing it."

As for what they are doing now and how much they have kept up with wrestling:

Joe Reiter: "These days I run long races. I run marathons, iron mans and 100 mile trail races that takes 24 hours to complete. The toughness I learned in wrestling has been essential in competing in these types of events. I also coach 3rd-8th grade at Don Bosco. I have been doing this since 2003. I will be doing this until my son reaches high school in 2027."

Nick Lee: "These days, I like fishing at the river, farming with my dad as a side job and watching my good buddy Colby Springsteen at the races. Wrestling has taught me to work hard at my job. It has made waking up to my alarm clock easier. Wrestling makes you a harder working person in general after it's over with."

* With Don Bosco still maintaining a reputation of being a consistent 1A powerhouse, it becomes quite clear that Joe is a talented coach and does a great job with the youth program.

* When Nick Lee was asked if there was a chance that he and Reiter meet up at an old timers tournament someday, he chuckled and said, "probably not. You would have to give me at least 3 years to get in shape since I've heard that Joe has kept himself in such good shape himself. But nah, I don't think there is a chance of that happening. I have let myself go a bit and I think my wrestling days are more or less behind me."

[rico]

To the 1 or 2 people who might find this stuff interesting... Chapter 3 was published an hour ago:

https://www.thepredicament.com/2018/09/19349/

Inside the Rivalry Chapter 3: JJ Krutsinger (Waterloo Columbus) vs. Kyle Pedretti (MFL MARMAC)



JJ Krutsinger



Kyle Pedretti

It is always fun when two returning state champions meet up at the state tournament. Fans spend all year wondering if it's really going to happen, or if one of them will eventually bump a weight that would be easier for them to win. It's refreshing to see guys who are strong-willed and confident in themselves to the point where they claim a weight as their own, regardless of who they have to get through to win state again. It's refreshing when these returning state champions take the mat with each other at the state tournament and the situation finally becomes real. Like, "holy cow...this match is actually going to happen." Kind of like with what we saw with the historical Thomsen vs. Teske match-ups twice this year,

As exciting as it is when two returning state champions clash at state, things are brought to an entirely new level when not only do these returning state champions meet in a dual meet during the season, but they also end up meeting in the finals at Sectionals, Districts and the state wrestling tournament. Which is exactly what happened with our next rivalry: JJ Krutsinger vs. Kyle Pedretti. This was a rivalry that lasted one season...2007.

JJ Krutsinger is one of the most decorated wrestlers to go through the Waterloo Columbus program. Krutsinger started out his high school career at 119 lbs, a weight that can be rather tough for a freshman. And he did well. He placed 3rd at state that year. He spent the next three years at 125 and placed 2nd, 1st and 2nd. Krutsinger was undefeated his Junior season when he won state, which he considers to be the highpoint of his career. He finished with an outstanding record of 124-11.

When Krutsinger first started wrestling, success was anything but easy for him to accomplish. He had to work hard for it. He remembers going 2-7 in his first year as a 4th grader. He recalls getting pinned a lot. However, he gradually made progress each year and fell in love with the sport as a result. Krutsinger did not come from a wrestling family. His parents did not really know much about the sport when he went out. When he went to AAU State in middle school, he remembers a lot of fathers coaching their kids in the corner. JJ had his dad, who didn't know what he was doing, but he stayed in the corner for support and held on to his uniform while he wrestled.

Krutsinger was impacted by every one of his coaches in one way or another. To name a few: Bernie Stroh and the coaching staff at St. John's middle school is the man he credits with getting him to fall in love with the sport. His middle school coaches took him to his first Iowa wrestling meet. Chris Ortner and his staff in high school is another group of individuals that stick out as being influential to him. They had a way of making wrestling fun while simultaneously working hard. They also knew how to settle down a nervous Freshman. He was also heavily influenced by ex Waterloo Columbus wrestler, Kyle Forness, a four time place-winner. Growing up, Forness was the older brother of one of his best childhood friends. He was a role model that he looked up to in the way he displayed leadership and work ethic. JJ stated that he is "glad that Kyle continues to coach for Clear Creek Amana, where he continues to grow the sport."

JJ was a part of some good teams. His freshman season, Waterloo Columbus won state and in the process, they beat a good friend of his named Aaron Jansen's team, which was Emmetsburg. At the time, they were on quite the winning streak. To this day, JJ likes to give Jansen "stuff" about it.



After high school, Krutsinger wrestled at the University of Iowa. He never made the lineup or was in the limelight. He describes his time at Iowa as a period of his life where he learned a lot about himself.

Wrestling was mostly seasonal for Krutsinger. He would participate in a few freestyle tournaments here and there. He wrestled at Fargo. He was never successful there. He describes it as a very tough tournament.

Krutsinger also played football for two years, cross country for two years, baseball for four years, ran track for four years and went out for tennis one year, which did not make the track coach very happy. Some of his hobbies include hiking and camping with his wife and dog. He loves to go mountain biking and trail running. He also helps coach at Rocky Mountain High School when he has the occasional day off of work. Krutsinger follows sports as well, but doesn't really have any favorite teams, moreso favorite athletes. In wrestling he likes Jordan Burroughs, in basketball he likes Lebron James, in football he likes Russell Wilson and in baseball, he is a fan of Mookie Betts.

Kyle Pedretti began wrestling as a 6th grader. He caught on quick for he qualified for AAU state as a 7th grader and won 2-3 matches and was a runner-up as an 8th grader. Some rivals he had in those days included: Blake Hilmer, Alex Stormoen, Zach Eliot, Jason Schmelzer and Johnny Roberts. Unlike Krutsinger, Pedretti has a lot of family who wrestled. His first cousin, Eric Pedretti was a state champion for Crestwood in 2003. He went on to wrestle at UNI. His older brother Josh wrestled in high school as well as his senior year at Buena Vista. His cousins Andy and Chad Breitsprecher wrestled for Central Elkader as well as his uncle Steve Pedretti (father of Josh and Eric). His uncle Danny Nielsen on his mom's side also wrestled.

Kyle finished his high school career with a record of 170-10. He placed 3rd as a Freshman, 2nd as a Sophomore, 1st as a junior and 1st as a senior.

Kyle describes himself as fortunate enough to be on some pretty good teams in high school. He was blessed with having many influential coaches in his life. Chet Bachman, Tim Hejhal and and Heath Grimm are a few of them. Some of the wrestlers that stick out to Kyle as being most influential includes: Paul Fisk, Travis Eggers and Steve Crozier. The three of them were teammates of his who were two grades ahead of him. He describes them as being guys who were great examples of what hard work looks like and what it can accomplish. His favorite current Iowa high school wrestlers include: Colter Bye, Clay Schemmel and Kaden Anderlik.

Kyle's favorite wrestling memory in high school was getting that state gold and his most painful memory is when he got beaten by Tyler Halversen in the finals at state as a sophomore at 103 lbs. Another good memory is placing 3rd at DII Nationals. He wrestled at Upper Iowa University.

Kyle is an avid Green Bay Packers fan and loves to go camping, kayaking, canoeing, hiking , mountain biking and snowboarding. He also likes to play disc golf.

It was 2007 when these guys collided...4 times. They were 2A wrestlers. That year in 2A, Andrew Long won his 2nd of 3 titles. Joe Colon beat Levi Wolfensperger in the finals at 2A 103 by a score of 11-9 and those two would go on to meet several more times for the next several years. Creston Orient-Macksburg won state that year and this was the year before the Ballard bunch began to emerge.

In 1A in 2007, Don Bosco won the traditional state title again. Cole Welter from Don Bosco, made his entrance into the high school state wrestling tournament in a big way when he beat fellow freshman, Deric Thomas at 1A 106. Both of those two went on to win three titles apiece. Bart Reiter won his 2nd of four titles. Marshall Koethe made the finals for the 3rd straight year as a Junior and proceeded to win his 2nd state title.

In 3A in 2007, Iowa City West won the team first place trophy. This was the year before Waverly Shellrock trotted out one of, if not the best team that this state has ever seen. Nate Moore won his first of two titles and his brother Nick Moore, a Freshman at the time, won his first of four titles.

In 2007, the Pedretti-Krutsinger rivalry was a big deal and was widely discussed amongst wrestling fans throughout the state. Wrestling fans had never seen such an intense collection of dual/sectional/district and ultimately state finals matches that were as close and hard fought as the ones we saw between Kyle Pedretti and JJ Krutsinger.

Kyle Pedretti: "JJ Krutsinger was a very tough, competitive opponent. Having that rivalry my Senior year was a lot of fun and it was great motivation to work hard every single practice. I knew of his previous results placing 3rd, 2nd, and 1st at state his first three seasons. I knew he was tough, I watched a lot of his matches at previous sectional, district, and state tournaments. When we were both juniors he beat a friend of mine, Blake Hilmer, in the sectional, district, and state finals. I knew from those matches he knew how to win tight matches and beat the same guy week after week. I knew I was in for some battles. The game plan included a lot of getting him off my head on our feet and controlling his wrists, looking for elbow control as well and finding set ups from there. Getting that first takedown was an emphasis in the plan. From week to week we worked on different things based on how the matches went so the game plan was tweaked a bit from week to week. I don't remember all the little details but I had great coaches that had me well prepared. My style was like this: I was a tactical and smart wrestler.. I stayed in good position and had good technique. I was also good in scrambles/finding a way to score or not get scored on. Quickness and flexibility are definite advantages to my style I worked very hard, I always pushed myself. I did wrestle year round, but looking back not as much as I wish I had outside the season.. And while I was working hard, I figured JJ was as well. I did not know Krutsinger off the mat, but I had tons of respect for him."

JJ Krutsinger:" I did not know Pedretti off the mat. First thought that comes to mind is that Kyle must have been looking for a challenge. He was the returning 2A State champ at 119 and came up to 125 knowing that I was there. I respect him for that. Unfortunately, the second thought that comes to mind is his that he won the important matches. We were 2-2 our senior year with him beating me at my high school and again in the state finals. We wrestled at Columbus High School, my school. Then 3 Saturdays in a row, each in the finals of sectionals, districts, and state. We were definitely familiar with each other by the end of the season. I knew he was a returning state champ and that I respected his wrestling ability. Whenever we wrestled, I would say it was a mixture of confidence, nerves, and excitement each time. My gameplan against Pedretti was to stay where I was good at and wrestle my match. He was good on his feet so I wanted to make sure I was the one attacking. My style consisted of this: Fireman’s and arm bars. Keeps pushing. Gas tank. Anyways, that’s what I think. I was a pretty hard worker. I would stay after practice to jump rope, run sprints, or do a quick lift. This is where maybe I should have focused more on drilling and technique afterwards."

As mentioned, they met four times. Every match was decided by a point or two with an exception of the Sectional match, in which Krutsinger defeated Pedretti 5-1. The first time they met up was at Waterloo Columbus. Pedretti won a very close match in front of Krutsinger's home crowd.

Kyle Pedretti: "I don't remember the score of the match, but I know it was close. Although I won, I battled nerves in that match, big time. I wasn't as nervous in the last three matches we had compared to this one. I was glad to get it out of the way."

JJ Krutsinger: "The first time I wrestled Kyle on my home turf at Columbus High School I was at 99 career wins and I did not get to celebrate my 100th that night in front of my home crowd because Pedretti beat me."

Several weeks went by and Pedretti got off to a 1-0 lead in the Pedretti vs. Krutsinger series of 4. The next time they met up was Sectionals. This ended up being the only match that ended up not being a 1 or 2 point match.

JJ Krutsinger: "I do not recall a lot of the scores, but I know that every one of them were close."

Kyle Pedretti: "The Sectional match was probably the least intense match we had, for it wasn't a 1-2 point match. He beat me 5-1. I didn't wrestle my best at Sectionals. My mindset surely contributed to that. After the loss at sectionals I was pretty bummed and disappointed with my performance."

A week passed by and Krutsinger had evened the score. They were 1-1 against each other on the year and had one and most likely two more matches to go against each other. While the score narrowed a bit from sectionals to districts, it was still Krutsinger to win a close match, one that would put him up in the series, 2-1.

JJ Krutsinger: "I felt good after that win, but I knew there was more work to do because I was going to see him again in a week."

Kyle Pedretti: "After my loss at districts, like any loss I wasn't happy with the outcome. I also felt immediately hungry for a rematch."

So after districts, JJ Krusinger went ahead in their series of four matches on the year, but as he mentioned earlier, he knew there was still work to do, for it was likely that they would meet each other again at state. There was a lot on the line for both wrestlers. Not only were both of them going for their 2nd state titles, but it was widely believed that whoever won that particular match would be awarded the 2A outstanding wrestler of the year award. The match did not disappoint the crowd. It came down to the wire. It went all the way to the 30/30 second OT series.

JJ Krutsinger: "If I'm being honest, the best match we had from an outsider’s perspective was the state finals. Two returning state champs looking for their second title. I believe it went into multiple overtimes with Kyle getting his hand raised and the 2A most valuable wrestler of the tournament. After the finals loss I wanted to have a rematch, but knew it was over and had to be at peace with it. The most upset I ever felt after any loss was after losing to Kyle in the finals. I learned a lot about myself from the entire experience."

Kyle Pedretti: "I was very pumped after I won state. I was pretty pumped after both wins against Krutsinger. I won the 2A outstanding wrestler award that year. The state finals match I would say was the most intense, it was a super tight match that came down to the wire. I think we traded leads a couple times and went into OT at 4-4. No takedown in the minute so it went to the 30/30 seconds. I was very excited to win that match."

When both guys were asked if there was anything they would do differently if they could go back to their wrestling careers:

JJ Krutsinger: "Knowing that sometimes working smarter, not harder, can get you there. I think I focused too much on conditioning and fitness, instead of slowing down and focusing more on being technically sound."

Kyle Pedretti: "I wish I would have done more freestyle and greco."

When asked how wrestling has shaped them into the people they are today:

JJ Krutsinger: "It has taught me about my character and it has improved by ability to respond in challenging situations. In wrestling I have learned to be uncomfortable. In life I am still trying to push outside my comfort zone, attempting to be comfortable being uncomfortable. Knowing that when one door shuts another opens."



Kyle Pedretti: "I always think of a Dan Gable poster that reads something like "once you have wrestled, everything else in life is easy." I haven't really encountered anything to disprove that. It helps me stay positive if I'm ever dealing with something challenging, mentally or physically."

So is there a chance that we may see another match between these two? Will we see who wins best of matches?

JJ Krutsinger: "I have my coaching hat on now. Probably not, but never say never."

Kyle Pedretti: "Could be possible, I could see myself wrestling in a few down the road."

[Rudy tossed tigger's salad]

Awesome work, Rico!

Are the podcast projects for local/state coverage or will you branch into the national scene as well? I try to keep up with the wrestling scene on twitter, so let me know if there are any accounts that need a follow.

[rico]

Originally Posted by Rudy tossed tigger's salad

Awesome work, Rico!

Are the podcast projects for local/state coverage or will you branch into the national scene as well? I try to keep up with the wrestling scene on twitter, so let me know if there's any accounts that need a follow.

Thanks man! I genuinely appreciate it!!!

The plan is to cover everything...local, national, women’s wrestling, etc. There will be a huge emphasis on the national scene and to be honest, I need to freshen up on that stuff. Thanks for reading, bud! Pretty excited about this!

Follow The Predicament on Twitter. IAwrestle also covers pretty much everything. Tony Hager, Ross Bartachek and Lars Underbakke are good people to follow.

[rico]

Did you already know about the Reiter bros? My bro that’s close to my age went back and forth with Mack. He got 4th at Fargo...lost to a couple guys named Christian Staylor and Tim Kephart. My bro beat the returning national champ two years in a row...one year it was Taylor Graham, the other year it was Nathan Morgan.

A rivalry of his is probably the 2nd most requested rivalry to cover... him and a guy named Moza Fay had a huge rivalry. Back and forth. Met in the quarters two years in a row...split. Moza was so freaking good. My bro and him became great friends as teammates at UNI.