Iowa
Eight Freshmen To Watch In The Iowa High School Wrestling Postseason – FloWrestling
The Iowa high school state tournament has produced at least one freshman state champion in each of the last nine years with as many as five in 2019 and as few as one the year before.
There’s a strong possibility a few more tournament rookies will ascend to the top of the podium later this month in Des Moines. Here’s a look at eight of the state’s top freshmen this season and where they’re ranked in the latest Flowrestling Iowa high school premium rankings.
Class 1A
Hudson Cox (Southeast Warren-Melcher Dallas) — #8 overall at 106/#2 in Class 1A
Cox collected multiple state championships on his rise up the youth ranks and he’s backed up that success with a 39-1 start to his freshman season. His lone loss came at the Charger Invitational, where lost in the finals to Greene County’s Brennan Jacobs, who’s ranked third in Class 2A.
Ty Martin (Don Bosco of Gilbertville) — #2 overall at 106/#1 in Class 1A
Martin kicked off his terrific freshman season by winning the title in a deep field at the Dan Gable Donnybrook. He’s been on a roll since, compiling a 34-1 record with his only loss coming against returning state finalist Cruz Gannon. Martin has notched wins over a pair of returning state medalists.
Braylon Peters (Westwood of Sloan) — #14 overall at 132/#6 in Class 1A
Peters entered high school on the heels of winning a state AAU title as an eighth grader and he needed no time to adjust to varsity competition. He didn’t wrestle a full period in his first 16 matches, notching 13 pins, two technical falls and a forfeit. He’s 31-0 on the season with 19 pins.
Class 2A
Adam Carey (Independence) — #5 overall at 126/#1 in Class 2A
Carey ran his record to 46-2 on the season with his title-winning performance last weekend at the WaMac Conference tournament, where he scored a pair of pins and a technical fall. Both of Carey’s losses this season came against D1-bound returning state champions — Don Bosco’s Hayden Schwab and Bettendorf’s Jake Knight.
Joseph Leick (Glenwood) — #6 overall at 126/#2 in Class 2A
Leick won Iowa AAU youth titles as a sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grader, and he’s put himself in contention for a high school state title as a freshman. Leick is 34-2 with both of his losses coming against Council Bluffs Lewis Central’s 2024 state finalist Weston Porter, who’s ranked third in 3A.
Class 3A
Amir Newman-Winfrey (Southeast Polk) — #1 overall at 106/#1 in Class 3A
In 2024, Nico DeSalvo followed in the tracks of four-time Iowa state champion and 2017 NCAA champ Cory Clark, becoming the second Southeast Polk freshman to win a state title at the lightest weight class. Then Eddie Woody duplicated the feat last year at 106, and now Amir Newman-Winfrey is trying to keep the run going for the Rams. Newman-Winfrey is 28-1 this season and undefeated against in-state competition, including a 17-10 win against returning state finalist Cruz Gannon.
Jaimon Mogard (Ames) — #4 overall at 144/#1 in Class 3A
Mogard is 36-3 and undefeated against in-state competition. Those three defeats came by a combined six points with two losses in overtime. Mogard has posted wins this season over a cast of returning state medalists and state qualifiers.
Diego Robertty (Iowa City West) — #7 overall at 113/#4 in Class 3A
Robertty recently pinned his way through the prestigious Mississippi Valley Conference title at 113 to run his record to 29-1. His lone loss this season was a 9-6 decision against returning state medalist Jack Wallukait of Dowling. It was also Robertty’s only match that went the distance this season. He scored a technical fall against state finalist Cael McCabe of Fairfield and also teched Abe Heysinger, who placed third last season at 106.
Iowa High School Premium Rankings
Check out the Iowa High School Wrestling Premium Rankings, which are generated by using an athlete’s complete match history to predict a wrestler’s performance against others in their weight class by considering factors such as win-loss records, the quality of their victories (pins, technical falls, major decisions), the strength of their opponents, and overall historical performance patterns.
The data is updated every Monday, sourced from the Trackwrestling season results. Since each team is responsible for maintaining its season results, any data discrepancies for a wrestler should be addressed by contacting their coach to manage the information within the season. This includes the weight class assigned. Wrestlers are eligible to be ranked after competing in five matches at a single weight.
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Eminent domain, property taxes and DOGE cuts are all on the table for legislators this session.
Repeat offenders convicted of multiple serious crimes would receive a mandatory 20-year prison sentence under a bill passed by House lawmakers.
House lawmakers debated for more than an hour about high costs, lack of prison space and the bill’s impact on Black Iowans before voting 68-23 to pass House File 2542, sending it to the Iowa Senate.
Seven Democrats, including Minority Leader Brian Meyer, D-Des Moines, joined Republicans in voting in favor of the bill.
“It will put public safety first,” said the bill’s floor manager, Rep. Steven Holt, R-Denison. “It will ensure that the debt to victims and society is paid. It will prioritize victims and public safety over criminals. It will establish real and effective deterrence that is nonexistent in our current system. It will reduce chaos and violence in our society.”
Here’s what to know about the bill.
What would the House Republican three strikes bill do?
Iowans who accumulate three strikes would face a mandatory 20-year prison sentence, with no parole, under the bill.
That would replace Iowa’s current law that says habitual offenders must serve a minimum three-year prison sentence before they are eligible for parole.
All felonies, as well as aggravated misdemeanors involving sexual abuse, domestic abuse, assault and organized retail theft would be considered level-one offenses that are worth one full strike.
Other aggravated misdemeanors, as well as serious misdemeanors involving assault, domestic abuse and criminal mischief would be considered level-two offenses worth half a strike each.
Lawmakers amended the bill to remove theft, harassment and possession of a controlled substance from the crimes that would count toward a person’s strikes.
And the amendment specifies that the bill would only apply to convictions that occur beginning July 1, 2026.
If someone is arrested and convicted of multiple offenses, only the most serious charge would count towards the defendant’s strikes.
Convictions would not count toward someone’s total if more than 20 years passes between a prior conviction and their current conviction.
Rep. Ross Wilburn, D-Ames, tried unsuccessfully to amend the bill to say that only a violent crime would qualify as someone’s third strike, but Republicans rejected the amendment.
“The bill still scores murder, felony embezzlement and felony theft the same, even though they are very different crimes,” Wilburn said. “One point is one point and three gets you 20 years with no ability for parole or judicial discretion.”
Holt said the legislation leaves room for judicial and prosecutorial discretion.
“There are deferred sentences, there are plea bargains,” he said. “There is plenty of opportunity for grace and judicial discretion in the legislation that we are proposing.”
Bill could cost millions, require Iowa to build a new prison, agency says
A fiscal analysis of the bill by the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency said it could cost Iowa nearly $165 million more per year by 2031 based on the cost of housing inmates for longer prison stays.
- FY 2027: $33 million
- FY 2028: $66 million
- FY 2029: $99 million
- FY 2030: $132 million
- FY 2031: $164.9 million
The agency said if the bill had been in effect between fiscal year 2020 and fiscal year 2025, there would have been 5,373 people who qualified for the 20-year mandatory minimum sentence.
“An increase in the prison population due to increased (length of stay) will require the DOC to build additional prison(s),” the agency states. “The size, security and other features that a future prison may require cannot be determined, but costs would be significant.”
The analysis noted that South Dakota appropriated $650 million last fall to build a 1,500-bed prison.
As of March 1, the Iowa Department of Corrections’ website describes the state’s prison system as being overcrowded by 25%, with 8,705 inmates compared to a capacity of 6,990.
The Office of the State Public Defender could see a projected cost increase of $1.6 million due to an increased number of trials resulting from the legislation.
But the agency’s estimates come with a caveat — the Department of Corrections did not respond to its requests for data.
“The LSA has not received a response to multiple requests for information from the DOC,” the note states. “Without additional information, the LSA cannot estimate the total fiscal impact of the bill.”
Holt called the fiscal note “an embarrassment to the Department of Corrections” and “an agenda masquerading as math.”
“It is clear, in my judgment, that because they did not like the legislation they went all out and extreme to create a fiscal note that cannot be taken seriously in its assumptions,” he said. “It assumes that nothing will change, that there will be no deterrent factor and that the numbers will continue as usual.”
Black Iowans would be disproportionately impacted by the law
The Legislative Services Agency analysis says the bill “may disproportionately impact Black individuals if trends remain constant.”
Of the 29,438 people convicted in fiscal year 2025 of felonies and aggravated misdemeanors that constitute a level one offense under the bill, the agency said about 70% were White, 22% were Black and 9% were other races.
Iowa’s overall population is 83% White, 4% Black and 13% other races, the agency said.
It’s not clear how the bill’s impact would change to account for the House amendment removing some crimes from counting towards the three strikes.
“Expanding three-strike laws will intensify disparities — and that’s what this statement shows — by mandating longer sentences, limiting judicial discretion,” Wilburn said. “We already have a habitual offender statute. We already have one in place. We have a 10-year low in recidivism in our correctional system.”
Rep. Angel Ramirez, D-Cedar Rapids, said California’s three strikes law, passed in the 1990s, worsened racial disparities, and “Iowa is about to repeat the same mistake.”
“I urge every member here, do not pass legislation that our own minority impact statement tells us will deepen inequality in our state,” Ramirez said.
Holt said minority communities in Iowa are impacted by crime and that the legislation “will make citizens of all colors safer.”
And he said the minority impact statement “tells only one side of the story, doesn’t it? It tells the criminal’s story. What about the victim’s story?”
“What about the mother who will continue to tuck her kids in at night and read them Bible stories because she never became the next victim of a violent career criminal?” he said. “Where is that data point in the minority impact statement?”
House lawmakers also approved separate legislation that would increase Iowa’s statewide bond schedule, Senate File 2399.
That bill passed on a vote of 74-19.
Iowans could see more information on judges’ rulings
Iowans would have access to more information about judges’ rulings ahead of the state’s judicial retention elections under a separate measure, House File 2719, which passed on a 73-19 vote.
The Iowa secretary of state’s office would be required to publish information including:
- The percentage of cases in which the judge set a bond amount lower than the state’s bond schedule
- The frequency that the judge releases someone on their own recognizance for a violent offense compared to a nonviolent offense
- The frequency that the judge’s final sentence is lower than statutory recommendations or a prosecutor’s recommendations
- The number of times the judge issues a deferred judgement, deferred sentence or suspended sentence
- The number of times the judge’s rulings are reversed on appeal due to abuse of discretion or error of law
- The average time it takes the judge to rule on a motion or case
- The number of cases the judge has resolved compared to the number of cases on the judge’s docket
The data would have to be displayed with a five-year trend line beginning five years after the bill takes effect.
The Secretary of State’s Office would also be required to maintain a searchable database of all judicial opinions and orders for the judge’s current term and the preceding six years. The decisions would be redacted when appropriate.
And judges would have the opportunity to write a 2,000-word personal statement on their judicial philosophy or data trends present in their rulings.
Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on X at @sgrubermiller.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Luke Truesdell’s attorney has filed as of Sunday to appeal his sentence to the Iowa Supreme Court.
Truesdell was sentenced last week to three consecutive life sentences plus 50 years for the deaths of four people killed in rural Linn County.
A jury convicted Luke Truesdell, 36, in November on the first-degree murder of Brent Brown, 34; his girlfriend, Keonna Ryan, 26, of Cedar Rapids; and Amanda Parker, 33, of Vinton. They also found him guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Romondus Cooper, 44, of Cedar Rapids.
His attorneys previously argued multiple reasons for a retrial that could potentially be brought up again.
They said that one juror was overheard talking about news on the case.
They also said the prosecutors inflamed the jury, rather than focusing on the facts.
His lawyers said there is no direct evidence that Truesdell committed the murders.
Truesdell’s defense also pointed to Truesdell’s father, Larry Tuesdell, who was found covered in blood at the scene but never fully investigated. Authorities have not been able to locate Larry.
The state disagreed, citing overwhelming evidence including DNA on the murder weapon, eyewitness testimony and video of Truesdell entering the garage where the four people were found dead.
Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.
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