Prep Wrestling- IAwrestle announced their top 15 for the Mr. and Ms. Wrestler of the Year Awards in coordination with Iowa Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association (IWCOA).
High school coaches nominated their best wrestler, and the IWCOA whittled the list down to the top 15 in each of the three classifications for the men and a combination of all the classifications for the women’s award.
The lone wrestler to make the list from southeast Iowa was Kaiden Dietzenbach of Burlington Notre Dame in Class 2A. Dietzenbach took 3rd place at the 2023 Iowa Wrestling State Tournament as the Nikes finished in second place as a team.
According to Trackwrestling, the junior is 14-1 on the season; moreover, FloWrestling has Dietzenbach ranked #5 in the 132-pound weight class with his only loss coming to #1 Kade Blume of Roland-Story.
The IWCOA has selected 12 coaches and officials to vote on the top 7, but there is a fan vote that counts as the 13th vote. Fans have the ability to vote once per day until January 19th at 12 pm central time when the list will be narrowed to seven.
There will be another fan vote that will run from January 22nd to February 5th to determine the final three wrestlers. One last round of voting will take place until the winner is announced at the luncheon awards banquet held on February 28th.
Dan Gable and Mark Ironside will be handing out the awards to the winner and the two runner-up student athletes from each classification.
For a full list of the finalists and where you can vote, follow the link: 2024 Dan Gable Mr. and Ms. Wrestler of the Year Award