High School

Iowa Prep Standouts Lead Hawkeye Wrestling To Thrilling Victory

Drake Ayala caps wild rally on Senior Night for Iowa over Michigan.

Dana Becker

Iowa’s Drake Ayala defeated Minnesota’s Chris Cannon in a 133-pound match Jan. 30, 2026 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa.
Iowa’s Drake Ayala defeated Minnesota’s Chris Cannon in a 133-pound match Jan. 30, 2026 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. / Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Two former Iowa high school wrestling state champions helped lead the Iowa Hawkeyes to a thrilling 19-17 victory in a Big Ten Conference dual with Michigan Friday night inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa.

One of those, Drake Ayala, capped off the night with a technical fall at 133 pounds in his final home match. The three-time Fort Dodge Senior High state champion and two-time NCAA Division I runner-up, downed Gauge Botero to set off a wild celebration.

The other former Iowa high school standout who earned a key win was Gabe Arnold, as the 184-pounder topped Brock Mantanona in a tiebreaker, 3-2, as part of a run to close the dual with four wins in five matches for the Hawkeyes.

Ayala, a senior ranked eighth in the country, scored a pair of first period takedowns to take control of the key bout early on. He had five more to finish things off vs. Botero.

“You have to focus on your match, but then again, you’re in the arena; you know what is going on,” Ayala said in a press release. “But I knew if I just wrestled my match, I knew what I was capable of. It is a little of both, a little bit staying in your match but also having a little more energy than normal.”

Drake Ayala, Gabe Arnold Dominated High School Wrestling

Ayala, who went 21-3 last year on his way to reaching the NCAA championship match for a second consecutive season, entered the year 65-16 overall. He went 171-3 as a Dodger in high school, helping Fort Dodge sweep state duals and the state traditional titles in 2018 when he was a state runner-up.

Arnold, a native of Albany, Georgia, transferred to Iowa City High for his senior season, winning state championship with the Little Hawks. He went 123-6 as a prep and was a two-time national prep champion.

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Dana Becker
DANA BECKER

Dana Becker has been a sports writer in Iowa since 2000, writing for The Fort Dodge Messenger, Mason City Globe-Gazette, Cedar Rapids Gazette and others. Dana resides in northcentral Iowa and started as a writer with SB Live Sports in 2022 focused on the state of Iowa. Along with providing coverage of football and wrestling, Dana also spotlights cross country, swimming, basketball, track and field, soccer, tennis, golf, baseball and softball. He began writing for High School on SI in 2023.

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