Successful season celebrated at wrestling banquet

The Nodaway Valley wrestling banquet was held Sunday night, putting a cap on another successful season for the Wolverines.

The Wolverines sent five individuals to the state tournament, producing four placewinners, including a state champion and a state runner-up. They also qualified for their fourth straight regional duals.

“It was a whirlwind of a season. At the beginning of the year we were ranked and knew we had a young team,” Nodaway Valley head coach Brad Honnold said. “We preached that we wanted to be wrestling our best at the end of the year, and I think we did that.”

As a team, the Wolverines finished fourth among Class 1A programs at the state tournament.

“That’s the best showing we have had at state as a team, I think, and it’s a big deal,” Honnold said. “They don’t give trophies out for more than the top three, but we were right there. With all our individual accomplishments this year, that team accomplishment is outstanding.”

The program says goodbye to a senior class of four that included Ty Strode, Keyin Steeve, Matthew Nelson and Ashton Honnold. The quartet collected a combined 553 wins. Three of the four surpassed 100 career victories, while the fourth finished close with 85. Three will wrestle in college, and the fourth will attend college as a top academic scholar.

Honnold leaves the program with a long list of achievements after rewriting the record books at Nodaway Valley. The Northern Iowa signee broke five school records this season on his way to a third straight state championship: most wins in a season (55), career wins (203), pins in a season (38), career pins (120) and career takedowns (625).

Honnold’s season included tournament titles at the Coach Riley Invitational in Greenfield, Oakland Riverside, the Pride of Iowa Conference meet, Tri-Center, Creston, the John J. Harris Invitational, the Adair-Casey/Guthrie Center tournament and Webster City. He also won a district title and earned the top seed at 285 pounds at state.

He is not only the program’s first three-time state champion, but also its second four-time state placewinner. He received the Kwik Star Class 1A Outstanding Wrestler Award and was a finalist for the Class 1A Mr. Wrestler of the Year Award.

“All those accolades are great, and the achievements are great. You don’t get an athlete that comes through your program that often,” his father and head coach said. “Through four years, he never missed anything. To be able to stay healthy and competitive is equally impressive as his accomplishments. We are going to miss him in our room. He set a standard and the bar for us.”

Strode put together an impressive run at Nodaway Valley after moving into the school district for his sophomore season. He broke the school record for most career technical falls (28) and placed sixth at the state tournament. He finished his career with a 133-45 record.

Strode won titles this season at the Coach Riley Invitational, the Adair-Casey/Guthrie Center Charger Invitational and the district tournament. He was runner-up at the Pride of Iowa Conference and Tri-Center tournaments.

Strode plans to continue his wrestling career at Northwestern College, a member of the NAIA’s Great Plains Athletic Conference.

Steeve made his fourth trip to the state tournament and finished his career with a 132-45 record. This season he won titles at the Tri-Center tournament and at districts.

He will continue his wrestling career at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, an NCAA Division III program in the American Rivers Conference.

Nelson is one of the top academic students in this year’s Nodaway Valley senior class and finished with 85 career wins. He improved each season as a Wolverine and saved his best for last with a career-high 33 victories this year. He was runner-up at Webster City and placed fourth at districts.

“Those four seniors are a special group. Three straight Pride of Iowa team championships and multiple state tournaments,” Honnold said. “You hate to lose them, but you can’t be in high school forever. This is just the closing of a chapter, and a new one begins.”

The program also had numerous academic honors this year. As a team, the Wolverines earned IWCOA Academic All-State recognition and IHSAA Distinguished Academic Achievement honors. Josh Nelson, Caleb Christensen, Strode, Trevyn Colton, Ashton Honnold, Nelson and Dominic Breheny were named Pride of Iowa Conference Academic All-Conference. Strode was named IWCOA Academic All-State, while Christensen and Honnold earned IWCOA Academic All-State honorable mention.

The middle classes — the juniors and sophomores — included juniors Caleb Christensen, Derek Raasch and Jett Christensen, along with sophomores Josh Nelson, Trevyn Colton, Nolan McClintick, Eli Campbell and Dominic Breheny.

Caleb Christensen collected his 100th career win this season and holds a career record of 128-33. He recorded the second-most wins in a season in program history with 54, with his only loss coming in the Class 1A state championship match at 190 pounds.

“There are only a handful of kids at the state meet who get to finish their season with a win,” Honnold said. “It’s easy for Caleb and all of us to be disappointed with the loss at state, but it was his only loss in the championship match. He ran through 54 straight opponents in dominant fashion. He continued to put the doubters aside and just do his work.”

Christensen won tournament titles at the Coach Riley Invitational, Riverside, the Pride of Iowa Conference meet, Tri-Center, Creston, the John J. Harris Invitational, the Adair-Casey/Guthrie Center tournament and Webster City. He was also a district champion and competed at state at 190 pounds.

Jett Christensen will have a chance to collect his 100th career win next season after posting a career-high 35 wins this year. He won titles at the Coach Riley Invitational and Webster City, was runner-up at the Pride of Iowa Conference meet and finished third at districts.

Josh Nelson collected his 80th career win this season and was a state placewinner, finishing sixth at 106 pounds after reaching the state semifinals. Nelson won titles at the Coach Riley Invitational, the Pride of Iowa Conference meet and Webster City, and he was also a district champion. He was runner-up at Tri-Center and the Adair-Casey/Guthrie Center tournament.

Breheny also won his weight class at the Riverside JV Invitational.

A large freshman class of nine — Thomas Herrick, Mason Johnson, Zach Nelson, Ryer Groves, Kenan Kadric, Silas Pieken, Clay Raasch, Quentin Shaull and Kerry Conner — showed growth throughout the season, with all but one earning at least one varsity victory. Leading the group was Herrick with 29 wins. Five others captured tournament titles at various JV events.

With another large incoming freshman class expected next season, Nodaway Valley’s numbers appear stable for years to come.

The program also had six wrestlers earn Ironman Honor Roll recognition. This prestigious honor within the program means the wrestler attended every weightlifting session, practice and meet.

Those earning the honor were Ashton Honnold for the fourth year; Matthew Nelson and Caleb Christensen for the third year; and Quentin Shaull, Eli Campbell and Trevyn Colton for the first time.

“We have a good group coming back. We will preach that we are not going to rebuild, but reload,” Honnold said. “We may look different, especially at the beginning of the year, but we will embrace the grind and keep getting better.”

The coaches for the 2025-26 season were head coach Brad Honnold and assistant coaches Kolby Baier, Joe Strode and Josh “Bull” Christensen.