B en Hammes is not a teammates with words of wisdom, well, you’re barking up the wrong tree. Hammes is a worker. When no one is watching, when the lights are low and the wrestling room is quiet, that’s when he’s intense. And he does it all with a singular goal in mind: To become the best wrestler he can be in an effort to reach the state tournament. talker. If you’re looking for a rah-rah guy who will motivate himself and his That journey will begin soon enough. Coming off a junior season in which he posted a 26-14 record, Hammes got back to business shortly after the season concluded. His focus and determination have impressed Gilbert head coach Scott Auderer. “Ben has put in the most time in the offseason of any wrestler that I’ve ever had other than (current Iowa State grappler) Nando (Vel-
Wt. Name
Gr.
106 Dennis May 120 Taylor Dukes 126 Mason Wibholm 132 Pedro Linhares 138 Cody Puck 138 Estan Buttery 144 Elliot Lawrence 132 John Artz 144 Anthony Fugere 144 Cooper Mitchell 144 Holt Bellon 150 Cael O’Brien 150 Tate Larson 157 Braeden Nees 165 Gabriel Angus 165 Holden Boshart 144 Isaac Baker 144 165 Isaac Holtan 165 Phillip Chitty 175 Noah Burger 190 John Beardsley 215 Ben Hammes 215 Elijah Sanford 285 Mason Griffin
Sr Fr Fr
Jr
So
Fr Fr
So Sr So Fr Sr So So
Eli Hernandez Clemente Fr
laescusa),” Auderer said. “(Wres- tling is) life for Ben. He wants to get to state and he wants to wrestle in college.” Hammes has already checked the box on one of those goals. Re- cently, he received an offer to wrestle collegiately at Iowa Lakes Community College in Estherville. Expected to compete at 190 pounds this
improve upon its eighth-place fin- ish at the 2023 Raccoon River Conference tournament. The Tigers were shutout of the 2023 state tournament, but several wres- tlers were just a win away from po- tentially reaching the big stage at the district tournament in Webster City this past February. Joining Hammes with big goals in 2023-24 will be sophomore Mason Griffin, who exceeded ex- pectations with a 30-win season at 220 pounds as a freshman last winter. Griffin turned it on over the second half of his rookie cam- paign, starting with a third-place finish at the conference tourna- ment. He carried that momentum into the postseason where he took fourth at districts. Following a standout football season where he started on both sides of the ball for a six-win Tiger crew, Griffin is projected to wrestle
Jr Jr
So
Fr
So Jr Fr Sr So So
winter, Hammes can put all of his focus on the state tournament. “He leads by exam- ple and he works hard,” Auderer said of his senior leader. “Physicality wise, he can get there.”
at 215 this winter.
“I think last year definitely gave him confidence, there’s no doubt about that,” Auderer said of Grif- fin. “Having success at that weight as a freshman last year, then sud- denly improving the way he did should only catapult him into this NEXT PAGE
WANT MORE INFORMATION ON GILBERT BOYS WRESTLING? Use the QR Code to go to Track Wrestling. Browse “seasons” and “Iowa.” Results will be updated throughout the season.
Hammes will be one
of the driving forces for a Gilbert boys’ team that will look to
WINTER 2023-24 | GAME ON 25
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator