Fareway Stores, Inc. and Powerade today presented the Dan Gable Wrestler of the Year Awards, in coordination with IAwrestle and IWCOA. Three finalists from each of the three state wrestling classes attended a season-end luncheon gala at the Iowa Hall of Pride, where award recipients were named.
Two rounds of online voting took place, with over 133,000 votes cast on IAwrestle.com. Public votes were tallied, and the top voted wrestler received an extra vote towards the IWCOA committee vote. Dan Gable presided over the awards ceremony and named the following athletes as 2018 recipients:
Class 1A : Alex Thomsen - Underwood
Tanner Sloan – Alburnett (finalist)
Gable Fox – Don Bosco (finalist)
Class 2A: Michael Blockus - New Hampton
Bryce Esmoil – West Liberty (finalist)
Aden Reeves – Albia (finalist)
Class 3A : Brody Teske - Fort Dodge
Nelson Brands – Iowa City West (finalist)
Joel Shapiro – West Des Moines Valley (finalist)
The IWCOA accepted nominations in December from high school coaches for student athletes in each of the three state wrestling classes, regardless of their year in school and weight class. Fans had the ability to vote once per day for their top wrestler in each class until February 7th, when votes were tallied.
The two runner-up student athletes in each class received 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.
Fareway Stores, Inc. is a Midwest grocery company currently operating 121 store locations in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, and South Dakota. Fareway holds family values in the highest regard, demonstrating integrity, fairness, and honesty in relationships with customers, employees, vendors, and suppliers. Visit Fareway.com for more information.
IAwrestle.com is an outlet for fans in Iowa to consume wrestling content. IAwrestle has grown into a bona fide media outlet providing coverage of Iowa’s three major Division I programs, its small college programs, as well as extensive coverage and commentary about the state’s rabid high school wrestling scene. Live streaming events, on-scene reporting, video interviews, and the Potentially Dangerous podcast are key draws to the site. IAwrestle also produces premiere wrestling events and showcases them in some of Iowa’s most iconic wrestling facilities.
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