For some high school wrestlers this is the offseason. That’s not the case for Greene County High School juniors Kale Petersen and McKinley Robbins. As members of the Sebolt Wrestling Academy in Jefferson, those two, and their club mates, wrestle nearly all year round. As of late, the Club has been to a National Freestyle Tournament in Las Vegas, then to Southeast Polk High School for the Iowa State Freestyle Tournament. Folkstyle is what Iowa high school wrestling is, but freestyle is one of the Olympic and World disciplines.

Both Rams have already qualified for the National Freestyle Tournament in July in Fargo, North Dakota. Petersen, who is 16, earned All-American honors in Las Vegas at 55 kilos (121.2 lbs.) in the U17 division, which qualified him for Fargo. He then finished second at SE Polk, which also qualified him for Fargo.

Robbins is already 17, so he was in the 17-20 age group in Las Vegas, which meant matches against wrestlers already in college. He qualified for Fargo last weekend when he finished third at 138 lbs. at SE Polk.

Both have claimed Iowa High School State titles and both still have another year of Iowa high school wrestling. Petersen won in 1A in 2021 for West Fork (Sheffield), then won at 120 lbs. in Feb. of this year for Greene County. Robbins won the 2021 2A crown at 120 lbs. and has been second at Iowa State Tournaments in 2020 and ’22.