2023 Greene County High School graduate Kale Petersen made his college wrestling debut on Friday at the Solder Salute, a tournament held in Coralville at the Extreme Arena. Petersen is a first year Iowa Hawkeye, but is wrestling unattached. He had not wrestled outside the Iowa room due to injuries, but the 133 lbs. true freshman made his first matches of the season count. He went 2-0 and advanced to today’s semifinals vs. his Iowa teammate, Brody Teske of Ft. Dodge. Three of the four semifinalists at 133 are Hawkeyes.

Petersen opened the day with a round of 16 win, 12-5, over Columbia’s  number 12 rated Angelo Rini after trailing 4-3. Rini is a fourth year man for the Lions, an Ivy League school. The quarterfinals saw Petersen win 3-2 vs. North Carolina’s Jace Palmer, another fourth year wrestler, who went 1-2 at the 2023 NCAA Championships. The winning margin came on a riding time point for the Hawkeye.

Lilly Luft, a true freshman on the Iowa women’s team, advanced to the 136 lbs. semifinals. Luft is from Charles City, but has relatives in Greene County and throughout the Raccoon Valley Radio listening area.