High school wrestling has turned into a massive, all-year affair. It can be rather difficult to keep up with all the top kids, even if they are some of your favorites. Here is a little rundown of what the athletes who will be wrestling at Agony in Ames have been doing since the matchups were announced.

Remember, the card starts at 6 PM CDT on Saturday, October 29, with every bout LIVE on FloWrestling.

Austin Gomez - The No. 2 wrestler in the country at 132 pounds has had a preseason light on events and heavy on training. Gomez battled with Daton Fix in a close loss at Who's #1 that was 3-2 until the last six seconds, and Agony should be Gomez's last event before the formal start of the folkstyle regular season. He enters his senior year at Glenbard North 12th on the 2017 big board and will be looking to put on a show for his future Iowa State fans in Ames.

Gomez wins a junior Fargo title.


Alex Thomsen - We just saw him this past weekend at Super 32, where he ended up taking fifth at 126 pounds; both of his losses were to Isaiah Perez of California. Thomsen enters this match ranked No. 11 at 126 after placing in both styles in Fargo this summer. The Underwood junior has not committed to any colleges yet and is 38th on the junior big board. A win here over Gomez would not only up his stock, but also be the type of signature win Thomsen has been searching for to cement himself in the minds of many Division I coaches.

Jarod Verkleeren  - Had a dominating victory at WNO, and then won himself a Super 32 belt. The 10-3 win over Kaden Gfeller in the snakepit kicked off a big month for Verkleeren. He controlled day two in Greensboro, beating Ryan Leisure, Brayton Lee and Josiah Rider. After having what some may call a "down" spring and summer, Verkleeren is back up to No. 2 in the rankings at 145 pounds. Like Gomez, he will be heading to ISU in the fall and is currently 26th on the senior big board.

Real Woods - This young man loves to compete. He took a little time off after wrestling in Cadet Worlds and then hopped right into one of the toughest preseason events in the country at the Journeymen Fall Classic. He took second there to Joey Silva and then second last week to Tony Madrigal at the Conflict at Carver tournament. Seeing as how there are only two spots to take here, Woods will likely be on a mission to close out his preseason with a win.

Jason Renteria - Like Woods, Renteria has been actively competing in the autumn. He made the finals at Journeymen, meeting up with Brian Courtney in the one of this month's best matches, and bonused his way through the field at the Conflict at Carver. The Nebraska commit is ranked fifth in the country at 132 and is 18th on the senior big board.

Anthony Madrigal - The Oak Park River Forest junior bounced back from a Night of Conflict loss to Kyran Hagan to win the Conflict at Carver. Interestingly, Madgrial did not face a single opponent from Iowa that weekend, and will be facing Missouri's Colin Valdiviez on Saturday night. Madrigal is not yet committed and enters his junior year at OPRF ranked eighth at 126 and No. 25 on the class of 2018 big board.

Travis Ford-Melton - Wrestling up a weight, Ford-Melton will be the second-to-last match of the night. He is second at 113 right now and has been seen in action at the Journeymen and IndianaMat Hoosier Preseason Open thus far. Ford-Melton went 3-1 at Journeymen and wrestled 123  at the IHPO, falling in the finals to Ryan Anderson.

Ford-Melton earns his No. 2 ranking over S32 finalist Robert Howard.


Max Lyon - Won a close one 6-5 over AJ Pedro at Night of Conflict 2. Lyon is 15th in the country at 182 and has verballed to wrestle for Purdue.

Joey Melendez - We saw him place 4th at Journeymen, going 2-2 with wins over TJ Hicks and Greg Diakomihalis. However, the losses to Joe Manchio and Jesse Vasquez fueled him to a first place finish in the Conflict at Carver tournament.