To celebrate the end of the season the Men's Wrestling program hosted an end-of-the-year banquet. Along with enjoying each other's company before finals week, several awards were given out.
The Freddy Rodriguez Outstanding Wrestler was awarded to Ayden Rader. The award is presented to the most valuable wrestler, not only is this person a competitor but a dominant wrestler when he takes the mat. Ayden concluded his Iowa Lakes career at the National Tournament finishing 8th and earning All-American Honors for the first time. After losing a heartbreaking 8-6 decision in the first round of the National Tournament Ayden had four straight falls securing All-American Honors. The award is named after 2x National Champion Freddy Rodriguez. He is also the only Laker wrestler to be named Outstanding Wrestler at the National Tournament. He continued his career at Southern Illinois Edwardsville, where he was a Divison I National Qualifier, coming a match short of All-American Honors his senior year.
The Massoma Endene Most Improved Wrestler award was presented to Osvaldo Ocampo. This is given to the wrestler who has shown a dedication to development and embodies a growth mindset. Osvaldo or "Oz" as his teammates refer him, finished his Iowa Lakes career at the National Tournament. Oz finished 2-2 a major improvement after failing to qualify his freshman year. This award is named after 2x All-American and National Finalist Massoma Endene. In his school, Massoma was a 1x place winner in Texas, however, from the moment he stepped foot on campus he had the grit and work ethic necessary to accomplish a lot. After leaving Iowa Lakes he won 2 NCAA Division III National Titles for Wartburg College, in addition to being the Most Dominate Wrestler in Divison III.
The Preston Stephenson Exemplary Laker Award was presented to Fischer Hawkins. Presented to a male wrestler who is a fierce competitor in the classroom and on the mat. He also must have played an integral role on his respective team while demonstrating strong character and leadership qualities. Fischer currently holds a 4.0 GPA in our Computer Programming department. In addition to his academic accolades, he was also a National Qualifier this year at 149 lbs and was a team leader this year. This award is named for former Iowa Lakes wrestler Preston Stephson. During his time at Iowa Lakes he was the definition of focused, coming to Iowa from Utah he had the goal of becoming a Hawkeye and wrestling for Coach Brands. Although he came up short of being an All-American he was an intricate part of one the best teams in Iowa Lakes history. After his time at Iowa Lakes, he was able to accomplish his goal of wrestling at the University of Iowa.
The Christain Dulaney Laker Proud Award was presented to Tyreik Davison. This is presented to the wrestler who has the most spirit and pride for not only the team for the entire athletic department and school. Tyreik is a fixture on campus, in addition to being loud at every sporting event he can also be found giving tours for the admissions office as a student ambassador. It is very rare to find him without a smile, or for him to not ask you how your day is going. On the mat, he is a fierce competitor qualifying for the National Tournament. This award is named for
Christan Dulaney or "CD" was a 2x All-American, finishing 3rd and 2nd place in the country. After his time at Iowa Lakes, he competed at Southern Illinois Edwardsville. After his folkstyle career was completed he focused his attention on his preferred style, Greco-Roman. While competing for MN Storm Dulaney placed fourth in the 2018 USA Wrestling U23 Wrestling Championships, and qualified for the Olympic Trials for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. More recently, Dulaney placed third at the Bill Farrell, New York, Memorial International Tournament and was a 2022 National Team member.