Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Iowa Wesleyan

 

478 Discontinued wrestling programs featured on Johnnythompsonnum1's "Gone, Lost & Forgotten" series.  Everyone one of them breaks my heart, but the day Iowa Wesleyan announced they were closing their doors for good, sucked the spirit right out of me.  I'll just never get how a school could invest so much money into a variety of different places, only to be completely out of business a few years later.  '19-'20 to '22-'23, four short years, but still quite a bit of success. 

Brent Ward

Brent Ward took a 4th place finish at the Heart of America Conference his freshman season.  He is now a senior at Concordia (NEB). 

Caelen Shannon

Caelen Shannon took a 5th place finish at the Hearth of American Conference championships in 2022. 

Wyatt Nelson

Wyatt Nelson placed 6th at the Heart of America Conference championships in 2022 as a freshman. After Iowa Wesleyan closed its doors, Nelson transferred to Arizona Christian. 

Brent Lundsford

Plain and simple, life can be downright cruel sometimes.  Brent Lundsford came to Iowa Wesleyan after Hannibal LaGrange discontinued their wrestling program. A year later, he was in the exact same predicament of having to find a new home.  I'm not sure what happened to him after the school shut down. 

Brandon Ball

Here's what I was really looking forward to.  I graduated high school 20 years ago.  It's been two decades since I stepped on the mat.  My last match was two decades ago, and as much as Coach Andy Milder hates it with great passion, it was a win via fall in 2:34 over Brandon Ball of Columbus.  All in all, it was one of few high school losses Ball would take, as he ended up winning 136 matches in all, including a state title in 2007.  A few years later, he was wrestling for Coe and earned a 4th place at the NCAA Division III championships. His career was already very accomplished and it looked as if he would contend for two more DIII All American honors, as well as a DIII national title.  I was rooting for Ball.  I was wanting to see him succeed.  He'd let me know from time to time, I could be given 100 chances to toss him to a his back again, and I'd go 0/100.  Considering I'm benching close to 405 & military pressing 260, I say I'd average a little better. Nonetheless, I sincerely did want to see Ball have more success at the collegiate level.  When his life took a dive south, it deeply saddened me.  I was very happy to read about how he had cleaned himself up & how he was looking to finish out his collegiate career at Iowa Wesleyan. I wanted to see if a guy, only a few years younger than me, could still go on the mat.  See how he fared against guys 10 to 15 years younger than him.  Then Iowa Wesleyan closed its doors and we never got to find out.  

Lane Scorpil 

Lane Scorpil earned NAIA qualification for the Tigers in their final season of competition in 2022.  He missed out on qualification this past year by just a hair competing for William Penn, but will look to reclaim qualification this upcoming season.