The Iowa Falls-Alden boys wrestling season recently got underway at the Gilbert Duals on Saturday, Dec. 6. The Cadets opened the year with an impressive showing, winning all four of their duals. The 2025–26 roster includes two seniors, seven juniors, seven sophomores and eight freshmen. The team also returns two state qualifiers, Kolbe Hansen and Trayvahn Williams.
Head Coach Scott Patton on the team’s offseason preparation.
“Our weight program has been outstanding,” says Patton. “Attendance has been great. Guys wrestled a lot of matches over the summer and spring. So they’ve got a lot of tournaments, a lot of matches under their belt. We had kids go to multiple camps this summer, a team camp that we all went to, and then also some individual camps that some of the kids went to. So we got a lot of kids that put in the time.”
The Cadets will wrestle in the NCC this season, a conference that Patton says should prepare his wrestlers for postseason opportunities.
“The North Central Conference is a meat grinder,” says Patton. “I mean, it’s tough. It’s tough top to bottom. There’s no nights off in this conference. So you gotta be ready to go every night. And I know it’s only eight, nine teams this year, but there’s no easy nights. I think that’s good for our kids, good for as you build towards the postseason, which seems a long ways away from now. But it’s really not. We got to take each match as a step towards that next level. And if guys have goals and dreams of getting to the state tournament, they’ve got to take each one of those seriously and be ready to go.”
The Cadets will get their first look at NCC competition when they travel to Clear Lake on Thursday to compete in a triangular with the Lions and St. Edmond.
