Iowa Western Wrestling Takes Season's Top Awards

Iowa Western's Jakason Burks was tagged with the ICCAC Wrestler of the Year honors after a vote at the North Central District Championship last Sunday. 

Burks won the 125 pound weight class for the second year in a row. The current No. 1 ranked wrestler in the division -- Burks will head into the National Championships next month as the favorite. A year ago, he was the national runner up. 

After spending his first season at Oklahoma State, the sophomore has had two great seasons at Iowa Western. This year alone, he is undefeated and has numerous wins over NCAA Division I wrestlers, including wins over wrestlers from Nebraska and Oklahoma. 

The Coach of the Year was given to Josh Watts who led the team to their second District team title in school history. The Reivers won six of the 10 weight classes at the national qualifier -- and held a top 10 ranking all year long, with No. 2 ranking at their peak.

It is Watt's second time winning the award and is now tied with Luke Moffitt as a two-time Coach of the Year winner since the award began in 2017-18.