The Greco-Roman portion of the Junior National Duals played out like a record stuck on repeat in recent years for Team Iowa. 

Oftentimes, Iowa would squeak into the Gold/Silver pool and finish several notches below Illinois and Minnesota.

Prior to Thursday, it had been 14 years since Iowa finished among the top four at the Junior Greco Duals and longer than that since it had placed ahead of its two primary border rivals. But that changed Thursday in emphatic and historic fashion. 

Iowa shattered Illinois’ bid for a fifth straight title with a head-to-head victory Thursday afternoon in the second round of Gold/Silver pool competition before toppling Minnesota 34-31 in a dramatic championship dual in Tulsa. 

It’s the first Greco title for Iowa and it comes on the heels of last summer’s freestyle championship, which ended a 16-year first-place drought at the duals. 

“I think we’ve always been right there on the cusp of it,” first-year Iowa coach Dylan Carew said. “Maybe this makes every club in the state of Iowa consider making kids wrestle Greco — or at least helping us win these titles. This shows that we can do it. We get the support of everybody and we’re definitely going to be there all the time, I feel.” 

Year after year, the Iowans have watched their neighbors battle for Greco titles in Oklahoma. Illinois piled up nine titles since 2008, while Minnesota and Wisconsin each captured the crown once. 

Minnesota appeared primed to add to its title collection with its performance throughout the tournament. It registered blowout wins against Kansas Red (68-2), Tennessee (48-17), Washington (56-12), Florida (42-23), Wisconsin (39-26) and Oklahoma Red (45-21). Minnesota dropped just 20 contested matches during its path to the finals. 

It was more of the same at the start of the championship dual. 

Brandon Morvari and A.J. Smith registered technical superiority wins with an Alan Koehler fall in between, launching Minnesota out to a 13-1 lead. Iowa spent the rest of the dual chipping away at the Minnesota advantage. 

“This group of kids is the epitome of being born and raised in Iowa,” Carew said. “Minnesota’s the same thing, those kids fight hard and you see that right until the end. I think a lot of people probably thought we were out of that dual. You see that score walking in here after a handful of matches and our kids just keep climbing back in.” 

Gable Porter and Chase Fiser scored victories at 132 and 138 before Stanford recruits Zach Hanson of Minnesota and Hunter Garvin of Iowa offset each other with shutout techs at 145 and 152. 

Iowa went on a late run beginning with Nick Fox’s win by injury default at 170, followed by comeback wins from Tate Naaktgeboren and Wyatt Voelker at 182 and 195. Iowa pulled even on Jackson Dewald’s tech at 220 before Elijah Novak put Minnesota back in front with one of his own at heavyweight. 

But Iowa closed with techs from Jayden Rinken and Ryker Graff at 100 and 106. Graff wrapped things up with a four-point throw on the edge in front of the Iowa bench before a celebratory backflip. 

“He’s a stud, man,” Carew said. “He’s another one of our club guys who trains Greco really hard. He goes out to Idaho to train, drives (almost two hours) from Des Moines (to North Liberty) three, four, five nights a week, lives in our gym after this leading up to Fargo. When it comes down to 106, I’ve got a smile on my face. … As a state leader, you’ve got a kid who’s a true Greco kid. I don’t know if we could’ve picked a better kid to end on.” 

Gold/Silver Pool Results 

Championship — Iowa 34, Minnesota Gold 31

Third place — California 50, Oklahoma Red 18

Fifth place — Florida 37, Illinois 27 

Seventh place — Washington 34, Wisconsin 33