In a battle of two top 20 teams, the Laker wrestlers fell to #4 Iowa Western. Although the Lakers won four of the ten a strong Rievers team was able to win 20-35. Sophomore Robert Hall III who is currently 6th at 141 lbs, and Freshman Tyler Needham at 197 lbs were both able to win by major decision.

 Coach Alesch is optimistic for the remainder of the season despite the loss when he had this to say "Our expectation for everybody who takes the mat for us is that fight hard and work to score points from the moment the whistle blows. The guys who are doing that in practice are the ones who are translating that to competition. We have a strong core that is doing that on a consistent basis, and once we have the entire team doing that we will have a bunch stronger group.   "

The Laker wrestlers will compete again on January 24th when they travel to Worthington, MN to wrestle MN West home again when they host the Regional Tournament on February 16th

 Photo ID: Photo of Freshman Ryan Needham attached.

 MEDIA: For more information, please contact Head Coach Cody Alesch at (712) 362-7930 or the Iowa Lakes sports information office at (712) 362-7928