(Greenfield, IA) — In the movies, the sequel is never as good as the original — unless you’re the Godfather. Ashton Honnold of Nodaway Valley is hoping to make the sequel even better this year, going for a second wrestling state championship.
Last year was spectacular going 49-2 and winning a state title in dramatic fashion, a 4-2 win in sudden death. This year, Honnold has moved up to 215 and so far is 32-0 and has had to wrestle in the third period only once — and that was for 12 seconds. The Junior says coming into this season he did change a few things to try and make himself even better
When you are as good as Honnold is, its hard to get challenged during the regular season but he says there have been some matches that he’s dealt with
The Nodaway Valley wrestling room is full of talent and there’s high expectations but just because he has a state title and the others do not, does not put him on a pedestal
Honnold still has his senior season left at Nodaway Valley but he is thinking about wrestling in college but he says its a slow process — he has visited Iowa St. and NIU — he plans on more visits in the spring. But first the challenge is to win another state title so Honnold was asked is it tougher to win the title the first time or to repeat
Honnold is ranked #1 in the 215 pound weight class and will be the #1 seed at that weight in this weekend’s John J. Harris tournament, coverage on KSOM and KS 95.
Complete Interview with Junior Ashton Honnold