SK’s Reanah Utterback Named a Finalist For Ms. Dan Gable Wrestler of the Year

Published by editor on Wed, 02/28/2024 - 9:08am

By:

Sean Strohmayer

The News-Review

Fareway Stores, Inc., IAwrestle, and Iowa Corn present the 2024 Dan Gable Ms. and Mr. Wrestler of the Year Awards in coordination with the Iowa Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association (IWCOA).

The winners will be announced at the luncheon awards banquet taking place at the Fareway Conference Center in Boone, Iowa on February 28th at noon.

Congratulations to all the student athletes that competed during the 2023-24 wrestling season. The top three award winners have showcased their talents throughout the season to be voted the Mr. and Ms. Wrestlers of the Year.

Dan Gable and Mark Ironside will be our special guests handing out awards.

The two runner-up student athletes in each class will each receive 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.

Utterback is up against Riverside, Oakland’s Molly Allen and Decorah’s Naomi Simon.

The summary by IAWreslter for Utterback was stated as, “Utterback finishes her junior season with a 49-0 record and won her first ever IGHSAU state title. In those 49 matches she recorded 5 technical falls and 44 falls – including five of those falls coming during her state title run. As a sophomore Utterback qualified and placed at the boys state tournament, earning an eighth place finish at 106 pounds making her the second ever girl wrestler to place at the tournament. As a freshman Utterback qualified for the boys state tournament, and was an IWCOA state champion. She is currently ranked #14 nationally at 115 pounds.”

Utterback spoke on receiving the nomination with, “I knew I was going to be nominated, but I didn't know if I would be top three because I wasn’t even top seven last year. It’s nice knowing that Iowa is looking at me and recognizing me as one of the top wrestlers in the state, so I think it will be nice. It will also be nice to hang out with some of the other girls.”