The Iowa High School Athletic Union expects more than 75,000 tickets to be sold between Thursday and Saturday of this week at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines for the 2014 traditional state tournament. The finals on Saturday night have sold out for 28 years in a row, prompting IHSAA officials to declare it “the toughest ticket” in Iowa high school sports.

It remains to be seen how many of the 75,000 tickets will be purchased by fans of the Greene County Rams, but it makes sense the Rams will have a good following when Class 2A schools get it started at 9 a.m. Thursday. Four Rams, all with records of 36-6 or better, qualified by finishing first or second in the Atlantic District on Feb. 15. Senior Dylan Forkner is 37-4 and ranked eighth at 126 lbs. He is making his first appearance at a State tournament. Junior Jordan Challen is 36-6 and is making a second straight State meet appearance. Challen was a top 12 finisher at 132 in 2013 and returns at the same weight. Sophomore Tommy Bradshaw will make his debut at Wells Fargo Arena, but he wrestled as a freshman in the Missouri State Tournament at 145 lbs. He dropped to 138 this season and is 40-2 and ranked number nine in 2A. Senior Jeremy Scheuermann is ranked tenth at 152. He was eighth at 145 lbs. as a junior and is making his second State tournament run.

The Raccoon Valley Radio Network stations will be broadcasting “live” and play-by-play matches involving these four and 25 others from throughout the listening area. Online streaming at raccoonvalleyradio.com and smartphones and iphones are additional methods of hearing the RVR wrestling broadcasts tomorrow, Friday, and Saturday.