The Ankeny boys wrestling team came into the season ranked 6th in 3A for the state of Iowa. Five of the boys were ranked in the top six in their respective weight classes. 

Ankeny started the year with a tough first duel against Valley, losing 37-31, and then placed 33rd at the Dan Gable Donnybrook Invitational, located in Coralville. Ankeny then proceeded to beat Ankeny Centennial 40-28, and Johnston 41-30. 

“With the kids that I’ve coached and that I work with, they’re coachable. They want to get better. They work hard,” assistant coach Jonathan Bingham said. 

The team has had success this season, and it’s been due to the dedication that both players and coaches have talked about throughout the season. Throughout the season, the team wants to be the best they can so they can make it to state duals and the individual championships.

“State duels, I think, [we] really want to perform very well at that, and at the state individual tournament, we want to perform very well. I know a lot of guys on the team have very high goals,” junior Jacob Haase said. 

When it comes to big rivalry matches or conference duals or meets, coaches and players have to keep their cool at all times.

“I’ve worked under a ton of great coaches who’ve modeled how to behave yourself on the sideline and in the corner, and [I] kind of try to follow what they do,” Bingham said.

Players have to deal with so many factors throughout the season, and that can include injuries and sicknesses. 

“There’s always some anxiety of people not performing, the risk of injury and sickness at the wrong time, and just, you know, we want all the guys to peak in January and February at the end of the season,” Bingham said. 

Many individuals lead the team, but the coaches both highlighted how one person has stepped up in many ways and has put in a tremendous amount of time and effort to improve himself as a wrestler and person in being Jacob Haase. 

“One who stands out is Junior Jacob Haase,”  Wignall mentioned.

Ankeny has a lot of talent, but the team is super young with only six seniors. The influence that seniors have is just motivation and experience for the younger guys on the team. 

“I would say top to bottom, we’re pretty young, but we have a lot of potential. And we have a lot of eager kids, kids, that are coachable and want to get better,” Coach Bingham said. 

All meets mean something to players and coaches, in reality, it just keeps them going and getting one step closer to the end of the season and top goals. 

“Well, we treat every meet like it’s not a big deal, [so] that they’re equally important. The next most important meet is the next one, plain and simple, and that’s how we go about our entire schedule. The dual schedule that we wrestle is brutal. Being in the CIML in any sport at Ankeny is crazy,” varsity head Coach Jack Wignall said

Ankeny has a really tough dual schedule, duking it out in some of the toughest tournaments and duals in the CIML. With wrestling at the Battle of Waterloo, the Mendenhall invite at Ames, the home invite of the Bob Sharp invite, and the City High Clyde Bean-Brad Smith duals. 

“There’s no secret to success in wrestling; it’s just putting the time in,” Wignall said. 

Having coaches is a key detail in wrestling, because they keep you accountable and make sure you stay level-headed. Coaches also help players grow in their game and remain composed in their matches. 

“Coach Smith is someone I really look up to, and he helps me a lot with my wrestling. He keeps me going, keeps me how I’m acting, and keeps me level headed,”  Haase mentioned.

While Ankeny has had mixed results in their first few duals, the Hawks hope to work on consistency throughout the lineup. 

“If we can go into the room every single day to fix these and tweak some things and fix certain things, it’ll get to the levels we want to be at,” Haase said. 

The team has things that they all need to work on, but overall, they hope to step forward and work as a team and reach the big goal, which is the state wrestling tournament. 

“[Wrestling] helps life just be easier, because it’s very hard, so if you’re able to get through wrestling, it just makes you a better person overall. It gets really hard some days, so you’re able to push through that. It can help you excel in life and be a better person,” Haase said.