Trip back to state tournament brings back fond memories
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by Craig Sesker USA Wrestling
DES MOINES, Iowa – My love affair with the sport of wrestling basically started at the Iowa high school state tournament.
My family started making the two-hour trek from my hometown of Tipton to what I used to think was the world’s biggest city of Des Moines in the late 1970s.
My older cousins, Scott and Todd Sesker, were standout wrestlers for Forest City High School. Scott and Todd both were state finalists and were athletes that me and my three brothers idolized and wanted to be. They are the reason we got involved in the sport.
The state tournament, in those days, was held at a place we simply called, “The Barn.” Veterans Memorial Auditorium was this magical, amazing place that, appropriately for a farming state like Iowa, looked like a giant barn.
It was the place where dreams became reality on bone-chilling Saturday nights in late February smack dab in the middle of a cold, dreary Midwest Winter. The place where jubilant state champions jumped into the waiting arms of their coaches in celebration.
The memories of those fun-filled days came rushing back when I returned to watch the Iowa state tournament for the first time in nearly a decade on Thursday.
In addition to watching the tournament while growing up, I had covered the event as a sportswriter in Burlington, Iowa and in Omaha.
I’m back in Iowa to cover this weekend’s National Duals, and after finishing my preview story for USA Wrestling, I hopped in my rental car late Thursday morning and headed west on I-80.
On the drive, my mind started flashing back to the days of watching wrestlers like Jeff Kerber, Scott Morningstar and Greg Randall win four state titles. Those dudes, in my mind, were legends. And seeing powerhouse teams like Lisbon, West Des Moines Dowling and Emmetsburg win gold trophies.
As I drove into Des Moines on I-235, it was just like old times. The Barn is still there, but the tournament has moved next door to the state-of-the-art Wells Fargo Arena.
It’s a new venue, and even though I miss the arcade and those old Chocolate Malt cups from the Barn, when I walked inside it still felt like home again.
State tournaments are so special because it means so much to everyone who is there. I’ve also been to the Nebraska and Colorado state tournaments and they are great events as well.
The atmosphere is tremendous with fans from nearly every school sporting T-shirts with the state qualifiers printed on the back. I spotted Iowa State football coach Paul Rhoads with one of those shirts. His son’s name was among those printed on the back.
You see athletes from every corner of the state. You see kids like U.S. Cadet World Team member Carter Happel of Lisbon, who is on course to become a four-time state champion, and Bettendorf stud Fredy Stroker, a University of Minnesota recruit.
But you also see the kids that may not be quite as accomplished who are fighting just as hard just to gain a spot on the medal podium.
The quality of wrestling is still very good and the fan support is outstanding, especially the huge crowd that packed the arena on Thursday night. It’s fun hearing the roars in different pockets of the crowd when kids from their school win.
Wrestling is such a huge fraternity. It really is like one huge extended family.
I arrived in Des Moines just before the Thursday afternoon Class 2A session started. Finding a parking spot was an adventure as I drove around for about 15 minutes before finally finding a parking garage that wasn’t full.
As I entered the arena, I started running into people I knew and it immediately felt like home again.
I saw Joey Slaton, who was a two-time state champion before becoming an NCAA runner-up for Iowa. Slaton told me about the heartbreaking match he lost in the state finals as a freshman to another young phenom. That phenom was Jay Borschel, who of course went on to win an NCAA title at Iowa.
Wrestlers, myself included, seem to remember those tough losses more than the big wins. One of the reasons I have such an appreciation for the state tournament is I never made it there. I lost 7-6 in districts my freshman year to the kid that went to state. My senior year, I fell one win short of state after placing third at districts.
It’s no easy feat just getting to state. A wrestler from my school, Ryan Bormann, won state as a junior but did not qualify for state as a senior.
I spotted Ben Strandberg, a wrestler I covered from Nebraska-Omaha who ended up being an NCAA Division III runner-up for Buena Vista. Ben’s an awesome young man and one of the nicest kids I’ve ever covered. He’s the head coach at Sibley-Ocheyedan, so naturally I found myself rooting for his wrestlers when they stepped on the mat.
Ben’s father, Jerry, an absolute wrestling fanatic, spotted me and sat with me during the Class 1A session on Thursday night. I remember Jerry coming to watch Ben during a college tournament even though he was in a wheelchair after injuring his back in a construction accident. That’s a hard-core wrestling fan right there.
I also was proud to look down and see my brother, Kent Sesker, officiating at his 12th state tournament. Kent wrestled in two state tournaments and he was Tipton High School’s first state placewinner in 1982. He was my training and weight-cutting partner for many of those years. We forged a close bond and had a mutual respect for each other during those years that we still have today.
Kent and I were both proud to be Tipton Tigers on Thursday night. Tipton wrestlers Eric Lenz, Mitch Chapman and Jordan Challis each earned first-round wins in Class 1A. They all looked very tough and they look ready to land spots on the podium.
I ventured over to the Tipton fans in Section 104 to say hello, and it was awesome to see so many familiar faces. Ron Challis, Jordan’s father, was a state qualifier back in the Stone Ages before I was in high school. It’s great to see the next generation of kids following in their father’s footsteps.
It was neat to see the looks of excitement and emotion in the eyes of the parents before their kids stepped on the mat. They are proud of their kids and they should be.
Since all the Tipton kids won, I didn’t have to stay for the wrestlebacks and took advantage by sneaking out early for my late-night drive back to Tipton.
Or so I hoped. Downtown Des Moines has three parking garages very close to each other. After going to the wrong parking garage twice, and starting to freak out a little bit with temperatures just above 0 degrees, I finally found my rental car on Level 7.
It’s been 3½ decades since I attended my first Iowa state wrestling tournament, but it remains a very special event. Wrestling is the toughest sport there is, and these young men have made huge sacrifices to reach their goals.
It was a great day to be a wrestling fan, and the drive back to my hometown on Thursday night just flew by.
It was a fun day at the Iowa state tournament.
I can’t wait to go back.
My family started making the two-hour trek from my hometown of Tipton to what I used to think was the world’s biggest city of Des Moines in the late 1970s.
My older cousins, Scott and Todd Sesker, were standout wrestlers for Forest City High School. Scott and Todd both were state finalists and were athletes that me and my three brothers idolized and wanted to be. They are the reason we got involved in the sport.
The state tournament, in those days, was held at a place we simply called, “The Barn.” Veterans Memorial Auditorium was this magical, amazing place that, appropriately for a farming state like Iowa, looked like a giant barn.
It was the place where dreams became reality on bone-chilling Saturday nights in late February smack dab in the middle of a cold, dreary Midwest Winter. The place where jubilant state champions jumped into the waiting arms of their coaches in celebration.
The memories of those fun-filled days came rushing back when I returned to watch the Iowa state tournament for the first time in nearly a decade on Thursday.
In addition to watching the tournament while growing up, I had covered the event as a sportswriter in Burlington, Iowa and in Omaha.
I’m back in Iowa to cover this weekend’s National Duals, and after finishing my preview story for USA Wrestling, I hopped in my rental car late Thursday morning and headed west on I-80.
On the drive, my mind started flashing back to the days of watching wrestlers like Jeff Kerber, Scott Morningstar and Greg Randall win four state titles. Those dudes, in my mind, were legends. And seeing powerhouse teams like Lisbon, West Des Moines Dowling and Emmetsburg win gold trophies.
As I drove into Des Moines on I-235, it was just like old times. The Barn is still there, but the tournament has moved next door to the state-of-the-art Wells Fargo Arena.
It’s a new venue, and even though I miss the arcade and those old Chocolate Malt cups from the Barn, when I walked inside it still felt like home again.
State tournaments are so special because it means so much to everyone who is there. I’ve also been to the Nebraska and Colorado state tournaments and they are great events as well.
The atmosphere is tremendous with fans from nearly every school sporting T-shirts with the state qualifiers printed on the back. I spotted Iowa State football coach Paul Rhoads with one of those shirts. His son’s name was among those printed on the back.
You see athletes from every corner of the state. You see kids like U.S. Cadet World Team member Carter Happel of Lisbon, who is on course to become a four-time state champion, and Bettendorf stud Fredy Stroker, a University of Minnesota recruit.
But you also see the kids that may not be quite as accomplished who are fighting just as hard just to gain a spot on the medal podium.
The quality of wrestling is still very good and the fan support is outstanding, especially the huge crowd that packed the arena on Thursday night. It’s fun hearing the roars in different pockets of the crowd when kids from their school win.
Wrestling is such a huge fraternity. It really is like one huge extended family.
I arrived in Des Moines just before the Thursday afternoon Class 2A session started. Finding a parking spot was an adventure as I drove around for about 15 minutes before finally finding a parking garage that wasn’t full.
As I entered the arena, I started running into people I knew and it immediately felt like home again.
I saw Joey Slaton, who was a two-time state champion before becoming an NCAA runner-up for Iowa. Slaton told me about the heartbreaking match he lost in the state finals as a freshman to another young phenom. That phenom was Jay Borschel, who of course went on to win an NCAA title at Iowa.
Wrestlers, myself included, seem to remember those tough losses more than the big wins. One of the reasons I have such an appreciation for the state tournament is I never made it there. I lost 7-6 in districts my freshman year to the kid that went to state. My senior year, I fell one win short of state after placing third at districts.
It’s no easy feat just getting to state. A wrestler from my school, Ryan Bormann, won state as a junior but did not qualify for state as a senior.
I spotted Ben Strandberg, a wrestler I covered from Nebraska-Omaha who ended up being an NCAA Division III runner-up for Buena Vista. Ben’s an awesome young man and one of the nicest kids I’ve ever covered. He’s the head coach at Sibley-Ocheyedan, so naturally I found myself rooting for his wrestlers when they stepped on the mat.
Ben’s father, Jerry, an absolute wrestling fanatic, spotted me and sat with me during the Class 1A session on Thursday night. I remember Jerry coming to watch Ben during a college tournament even though he was in a wheelchair after injuring his back in a construction accident. That’s a hard-core wrestling fan right there.
I also was proud to look down and see my brother, Kent Sesker, officiating at his 12th state tournament. Kent wrestled in two state tournaments and he was Tipton High School’s first state placewinner in 1982. He was my training and weight-cutting partner for many of those years. We forged a close bond and had a mutual respect for each other during those years that we still have today.
Kent and I were both proud to be Tipton Tigers on Thursday night. Tipton wrestlers Eric Lenz, Mitch Chapman and Jordan Challis each earned first-round wins in Class 1A. They all looked very tough and they look ready to land spots on the podium.
I ventured over to the Tipton fans in Section 104 to say hello, and it was awesome to see so many familiar faces. Ron Challis, Jordan’s father, was a state qualifier back in the Stone Ages before I was in high school. It’s great to see the next generation of kids following in their father’s footsteps.
It was neat to see the looks of excitement and emotion in the eyes of the parents before their kids stepped on the mat. They are proud of their kids and they should be.
Since all the Tipton kids won, I didn’t have to stay for the wrestlebacks and took advantage by sneaking out early for my late-night drive back to Tipton.
Or so I hoped. Downtown Des Moines has three parking garages very close to each other. After going to the wrong parking garage twice, and starting to freak out a little bit with temperatures just above 0 degrees, I finally found my rental car on Level 7.
It’s been 3½ decades since I attended my first Iowa state wrestling tournament, but it remains a very special event. Wrestling is the toughest sport there is, and these young men have made huge sacrifices to reach their goals.
It was a great day to be a wrestling fan, and the drive back to my hometown on Thursday night just flew by.
It was a fun day at the Iowa state tournament.
I can’t wait to go back.
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