PELLA—More than 200 of the state's top youth wrestlers are at Central College this weekend as the Iowa team trains for the upcoming USMC Junior and 16U Nationals staged by USA Wrestling.
           
The Iowa freestyle and Greco-Roman Junior and 16U squads will utilize 13 mats Friday through Sunday in Central's H.S. Kuyper Fieldhouse and in the school's wrestling center in adjoining P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium.
           
The national meet is set for July 14-22 at the Fargo Dome in Fargo, North Dakota.
           
It's the second time that USA Wrestling has conducted training at Central and the first time in nearly 40 years. Training will be staged at Central again next year according to Dutch athletics director and wrestling coach Eric Van Kley. He'll be among 40 Iowa high school, college and university coaches working on campus this weekend.
           
"These are the 200 best Greco and freestyle wrestlers in Iowa that have qualified," Van Kley said. "We feel very privileged to be able to host them on campus. Greco and freestyle wrestling in Iowa is arguably the best it's ever been. Last year Iowa won both the Junior freestyle and Junior Greco-Roman national duals titles so the quality of the team is extremely high."
           
The USMC Junior and 16U Nationals in Fargo is the world's largest wrestling tournament, with several thousand competitors.