Iowa’s first four-time state champion was honored on the 50th anniversary of his accomplishment. Bob Steenlage wrested for Britt High School and became the first four-time champ in 1962. It would be another 17 years before the feat was duplicated.

“In some ways I didn’t comprehend what it was all going to mean, and sometimes the pressure was just tremendous,” Steenlage said. “But it seem like every time I ran into a problem, the circumstances changed because I chose to look at the positive side and got advice to turn things around. Otherwise, it was pretty overwhelming.”

There were several close calls along the way and Steenlage even had to overcome an injury to win as a senior. He has a 2-1 match as a freshman and lost a 9-8 match to an Osage wrestler during the season and had to meet him again in the tournament after being injured.

Steenlage is proud of his accomplishment and has been thrilled by the growth in the tournament over the years. He says when he wrestled it was at the small gym at the University of Northern Iowa.

Steenlage said wrestling has been a blueprint for his life. “Everything that you have to do on the mat it’s either you, you are going to fail or you are going to succeed. So you’ve got to prepare. And it’s the same thing in life, life is not very fair, but you have to learn to overcome whatever comes along,” Steenlage said.

Steelange resides near LaCrosse, Wisconsin and is a motivational speaker.

The state high school wrestling tournament resumed today with the opening round in class 3A and two competitors vying for a fourth state title advanced. Southeast Polk’s Cory Clark scored a technical fall over Jonathan Lozano from Sioux City North at 126 pounds while Jon Meeks of Des Moines Roosevelt beat Dakota Gray of Fort Madison 10-2 at 132 pounds.

Meek’s high school record is now 165-0. Urbandale’s Colby Knight is bidding for a second straight title and he opened at 120 pounds with a 14-5 victory over Jake Gotto of Western Dubuque. Knight recorded seven takedowns and was looking for an extended match.

“I didn’t want to pin him the first period and get it over with, I wanted to get tired in that match…making weight is hard and everything, to feel good you have to blow your lungs out real hard,” Knight said.

Knight says being the defending champion does not make it an easier. “You’ve just got to look at every tournament the same no matter who you are, you still have to beat good guys,” Knight said.

Knight does feel more confident this time because he has been there before and says that allows him to just go out and wrestle.

At 152 pounds Ethan Lara from Sioux City East advanced with a 4-0 victory over Derek Rose from Keokuk. Rose said he just wanted to get the first take down and that set him up for the win.

Lara says it was a long wait between the weigh in and his first match. “I’m so nervous and I just want to get that first match over with and then win the next one and know that I’ve placed, that’s my goal,” Lara said.

Bettendorf has the early team lead in 3A. Linn-Mar is second.