The Ms. and Mr. Dan Gable Wrestler of the Year Awards were held Wednesday afternoon at the Fareway Conference Center in Boone, and Greene County senior Kale Petersen was named the winner in Class 2A. Three finalists from each of the three boys’ classes and three finalists of girls were all present at the ceremony. The legendary Dan Gable, for whom the awards are named, was the featured speaker. The awards are sponsored by IAwrestle and Fareway Stores Inc.

Petersen is a three-time Iowa High School State Champion, two for Greene County, and one for Class 1A West Fork (Sheffield). His career record is 111-9 and he won the last 74 high school matches of his career, including going 55-0 for Greene County the last two seasons. He was 42-0 in his senior campaign and is an Iowa Hawkeye recruit.

Petersen’s Greene County and Sebolt Wrestling Academy teammate McKinley Robbins was one of seven semifinalists in 2A. Both were State Champions last month for Greene County, Petersen at 132 lbs. and Robbins at 138.

The other recipients of the Mr. Wrestler Award were Ben Kueter of City High in Iowa City in 3A and Gable Porter of Underwood in 1A. Like Petersen, Kueter trains in Jefferson at Sebolt Wrestling Academy, and he’s a four-time Iowa State Champion and a World Champion, who plans on wrestling and playing football for the Hawkeyes. Porter’s only loss in the last two years of Iowa high school wrestling was in January to Petersen, 7-6, in the finals of the Rollin Dyer Invitational at Atlantic.

Lily Luft of Charles City was the recipient of the Ms. Dan Gable Wrestler of the Year award. She went undefeated this year in claiming a title in the first year of girls’ wrestling sanctioned by the Iowa Girls’ High School Athletic Union. She has several relatives in Greene and Carroll counties and is a U. of Iowa women’s wrestling recruit.