(Oakland, IA) – Riverside featured eight wrestlers this season that went all the way down to the state tournament. Despite placing in lower seeds and receiving no medals for the Bulldogs, this is a young team that qualified a plethora of wrestlers for the state tournament, an accomplishment in itself. Head Coach Casey Conover was proud of how his boys competed throughout the tournament but is now focused on how they will improve this offseason to bring home some medals.
Riverside is setting their expectations high for next year, as the Bulldogs earned second in the Western Iowa Conference for duals, came up just short in the regional tournament, and finished 30th overall in the state tournament after being in the top ten after day one. The goal next year is to win the conference, go to the state duals tournament, and come home with some medals and a top-ten finish after the state tournament in 2025.
The Bulldogs are bringing back a young squad from last season as all of their state qualifiers and top wrestlers this season are returning to the mats next year. The reason for this young team’s success is that Riverside has a tough wrestling room that battles hard with one another, but at the end of the day, they’re teammates and are working to make one another better.
Improvement was the main key to Riverside’s success this season. Their young wrestlers came day in and day out ready to hit the mats and get better. This intensity and drive helped to carry the Bulldogs to success this year.
While the wrestling season is over, we will see multiple Bulldog wrestlers jump into the track and soccer spring seasons.
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