Two weeks ago, the Iowa State Wrestling Club sent 10 wrestlers to compete in the National Collegiate Wrestling Association National Championships in Allen, Texas. The team finished in 11th place out of 71 teams, with an eighth-place finisher and two All-Americans selected.

Junior Tyler Kutz was named an academic All-American, and freshman Costas Hatzipavlides was the highest finisher on the team (eighth place), also earning All-America honors.

Despite the strong finish, the team was plagued with injury and illness through most of the season. Although it finished the season ranked No. 4 nationally, the team is staying poised and ready to come back for more.

“We definitely wanted to be a top-10 team in the country,” coach August Wesley said. “Placing 11th, we were just shy of getting there, I think that keeps our guys super hungry. We’re really looking forward to better things as we move on.”

As just a freshman, Hatzipavlides not only came home with an eighth-place finish and All-America status, but he did it in convincing fashion. In his first three matches of the tournament, he outscored his opponents 33-7.

Hatzipavlides was proud of his accomplishment but said he wouldn’t have been able to do it without the cheering and support of his teammates.

“On the third day of the tournament, I was tired and it was getting hard,” Hatzipavlides said. “But I had people like Tyler [Kutz] and Chase [Reising] and everyone else who said, ‘Hey, you earned All-American status as a freshman, that’s great, be proud of that.’

“That was great to hear coming from them. It does feel good, especially because of how much support I was getting from everybody. It feels good earning it for them and the amount of work we’ve put in.”

Hatzipavlides finished his freshman campaign with a 23-11 record, including six pins and seven tech falls. He is also ranked No. 6 in the country in his weight class of 174 pounds.

The road to nationals was much different for the team’s other All-American, Kutz. After a devastating leg injury kept him sidelined most of this season, Kutz was able to scramble back and earn his way into the final tournament of the season.

Kutz talked about his injury as something that he is still working with and described his leg as being at only about 75 percent on the road to recovery. He hopes taking it slow and not overworking himself will help to have everything healed up nicely by the time next season comes around.

“Coming off that injury and still being able to come compete in the national tournament was amazing,” Kutz said. “It was so awesome just being there. Considering how little experience I got this year, just going there, wrestling, competing and actually winning a match. … It meant a lot to me to be able to do that.”

Kutz finished his season with a 4-4 record, including two pins and one major decision, as well as being named an academic All-American.

The club will only lose one senior from the squad that qualified for the national tournament, meaning it will be back with a vengeance next season.

“Due to the fact that our club team just got off the ground and has already been ranked No. 1 for quite a while I think the guys are used to wrestling with a target on their back. They’ve gone from the mindset of being the hunted to being the hunter.

“Instead of wrestling to go get something, they’re wrestling to defend something. … From our first competition on, we’ve kind of served notice that we do a little bit of wrestling in Ames.”

The team will continue practice over the summer and will compete in a few tournaments. It is always looking for more members to join. Whether they’re just looking for a way to get some exercise or want to continue a wrestling career at the college level, the Iowa State wrestling club will gladly bring students in.