Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Dreyzon Phillips of Fort Dodge is 3rd at 145 pounds in The Predicament's preseason wrestling rankings.

Eight Fort Dodge wrestlers are ranked in the first installment of The Predicament high school rankings for the 2020-21 season.

The Dodgers are rated fourth in Class 3A as a team. Southeast Polk is No. 1 with nine ranked individuals, followed by Waverly-Shell Rock (eight) and Waukee (11).

Fort Dodge’s two-time defending state champion, Drake Ayala, is No. 1 at 126 pounds. Ayala enters his senior season with a career record of 135-2. Only the second Iowan to ever win a Super 32 title and one of the Top-10 national recruits for 2021, the future Hawkeye went 48-0 last season and is riding a 91-match win streak overall, which dates back to 2018.

Defending Class 3A state runner-up Dreyzon Phillips is ranked third at 145 pounds for FDSH. The senior enters the season with a career mark of 72-27.

Iowa City West’s Hunter Garvin is No. 1 at 145, ahead of Southeast Polk’s Joel Jesuroga.

Dodger seniors Lane Cowell (120) and Kody Cook (160) are both fourth at their respective weights. Both are two-time state qualifiers. Cowell has placed fourth and seventh at state and is 72-22 in his career. Cook was sixth a year ago and has 60 career victories.

Sophomore Max Bishop, also a state qualifier a year ago, is ranked fourth at 113 pounds. Classmate Tucker Pederson (170), who also wrestled at state last winter, is ranked eighth.

Junior Ben Egli enters the 182-pound ranking at No. 10. Freshman Dru Ayala is rated ninth at 106 pounds.

In Class 2A, Webster City’s Camron Phetxoumphone is the top-ranked wrestler at 113 pounds, ahead of runner-up McKinley Robbins of Greene County.

Phetxoumphone finished perfect in 42 matches last season as the 106-pound gold medalist. He is 81-6 in his career.

As a freshman, Robbins lost only two matches for the Rams.

South Central Calhoun junior Blake McAlister is second at 170 pounds. McAlister finished sixth last season, earning 47 victories. He has 84 career wins.

THE PREDICAMENT RANKINGS

(Area wrestlers only)

Class 3A

106 — 9. Dru Ayala, fr., Fort Dodge.

113 — 4. Max Bishop, so., Fort Dodge.

120 — 4. Lane Cowell, sr., Fort Dodge.

126 — 1. Drake Ayala, sr., Fort Dodge.

145 — 3. Dreyzon Phillips, sr., Fort Dodge.

160 — 4. Kody Cook, sr., Fort Dodge.

170 — 8. Tucker Pederson, so., Fort Dodge.

182 — 10. Ben Egli, jr., Fort Dodge.

Class 2A

106 — 5. Jake Zabka, so, Algona; 10. Carson Doolittle, fr., Webster City.

113 — 1. Camron Phetxoumphone, jr., Webster City; 2. McKinley Robbins, so., Greene County.

138 — 8. Remington Hanson, sr., Clarion-Goldfield/Dows.

145 — 3. Reed Abbas, sr., Clarion-Goldfield/Dows; 9. Nick Gasca, sr., Webster City.

160 — 7. Garrett Seaba, jr., Clarion-Goldfield/Dows.

195 — 6. Matthew Wirtz, jr., Emmetsburg.

220 — 9. Colton Goodell, sr., Humboldt.

285 — 6. Jordan Anderson, sr., Emmetsburg; 10. Kain Nelson, sr., Clarion-Goldfield/Dows.

Class 1A

106 — 9. Lucas Fehr, so., West Bend-Mallard.

113 — 6. Donavon Hanson, sr., WEst Bend-Mallard; 9. Kaden Pritchard, so., Eagle Grove.

120 — 8. Ayden Toms, sr., South Central Calhoun.

138 — 5. Jordan Khommanyvong, sr., South Central Calhoun.

170 — 2. Blake McAlister, jr., South Central Calhoun.

195 — 7. Brodie Anderson, jr., Manson Northwest Webster.

285 — 3. Dane Johnson, sr., Pocahontas Area.