Finalist nominations for the Dan Gable Ms. and Mr. Wrestler of the Year Awards were recently announced and this year include three Union High School wrestlers — Blake Bohnsack, Seth Hedeman, and Jillian Worthen.

The annual awards are presented by Fareway Stores, Inc., IAwrestle, and Iowa Corn in coordination with the Iowa Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association (IWCOA).

The IWCOA accepted nominations from high school coaches for student athletes in each of the three state wrestling classes for the men and combined all classes for the women’s award, regardless of their year in school and weight class.

A committee selected by the IWCOA recently provided IAwrestle with a list of 15 finalist candidates for public input.

Fans have the ability to vote once per day (every 24 hours) at IAwrestle.com for their top wrestler in each category until January 19, 2024, at NOON, when it will be narrowed down to the top 7.

Please note – the fan vote winners will count as ONE vote towards the IWCOA’s committee votes in EACH round. (For example: Wrestler A received enough fan votes to place second in the poll but that does not guarantee them to move on to the next round. IWCOA has selected 12 coaches and officials to serve on the committee. The fan vote is the 13th vote.)

Another round of committee and fan voting will take place from January 22 to February 5 to determine the three finalists. Then we will repeat with another round of voting for the winner to be announced at the luncheon awards banquet which will take place at the Fareway Conference Center in Boone, Iowa on February 28 at noon.

Dan Gable and Mark Ironside will be special guests handing out awards.

The two runner-up student athletes in each class will each receive finalist award plaques. A duplicate Wrestler of the Year trophy and duplicate Wrestler of the Year runner-up plaques will be provided to each high school where finalists attend, for permanent placement in the high school trophy case.

2024 Dan Gable Mr. and Ms. Wrestler of the year finalists (boys 2A and girls):

GIRLS

Kiara Djoumessi (Waverly-Shell Rock)

Skylar Slade (Southeast Polk)

Maeley Elsbury (South Tama)

Naomi Simon (Decorah)

Bella Porcelli (Southeast Polk)

Katie Biscoglia (Raccoon River)

Jillian Worthen (Union, La Porte City)

Jana Terwee (West Lyon)

Olivia Huckfeldt (Spencer)

Reanah Utterback (Sigourney-Keota)

Jasmine Luedtke (Ottumwa)

Abigail Meyrer (Pleasant Valley)

Molly Allen (Oakland Riverside)

Mahri Manz (Lewis Central)

Mackenzie Childers (Cedar Rapids Prairie)

BOYS 2A

Aiden Smith (Atlantic)

Anders Kittelson (Osage)

Austin Scranton (Anamosa)

Blake Fox (Osage)

Bo Koedam (Sergeant-Bluff Luton)

Braden McShane (New Hampton Turkey Valley)

Brayden Bohnsack (Union, La Porte City)

Brody Sampson (Ballard)

Jace Hedeman (Union, La Porte City)

Jase Jaspers (Mount Vernon)

Kade Blume (Roland Story)

Kaiden Dietzenbach (Notre Dame, Burlington)

Klayten Perreault (Mount Vernon)

Linden Phetxoumphone (Webster City)

Tucker Stangel (Osage)