Ben Kueter’s undefeated season didn’t get off to a hot start.  For the first three months Ben didn’t suffer a victory or a defeat.

Once Ben Kueter ’23 returned to the mat he sped off to an 11-4 lead in his first match. With the lead Ben executed another take down before letting his back up. As to nobody’s surprise Ben was doing nothing short of dominating.

In the third period of his first match, with the ref on his knee circling, Kueter ground his opponent into the mat.  Hearing the whistle, Kueter rose to the cheers of the crowd.  He had won the first match of his high school career and wouldn’t lose for the rest of the year.

Prior to his first victory, Ben spent three months in recovery from shattering his tibia and three bones in his ankle.

“The biggest concern was that he would need to have surgery and he’d be out for the season. I mean that was definitely the number one concern, but once we kind of figured out that he’d be back during the season, I wasn’t too concerned because I knew we had enough season left and everything else,” Coach Connell said.

Overcoming the injury was never a question for Ben’s coach who had watched him develop since the age of eight.

“I’ve known Ben since third grade, and I’ve always kind of knew he was very special. I mean he’s a kid that has always worked very hard he’s been within our mat pack and you know,” Coach Connell said.

Kueter wants to leave City High with a good reputation of being a smart student and the best wrestler to ever walk through City High halls.

With no surgery in the future for Kueter on his leg nothing stopped him from continuing to get better. After returning to the mat, Coach Connell worked with Ben on little things he can improve on.

“Pretty much taking every match the same, and by that I mean mentally because I think he sometimes gets caught up in the mindset of this guy’s great, or this guy’s not good and treating people differently or respecting people too much or not enough and I just want him to go out there . I think he is a very good wrestler and again, as long as he just goes out there and competes at his best, that’s all you can ask for. I think he can truly be very successful,”  Coach Connell said.

In the state championship match Kueter would need another comeback after getting taken down.  Trailing 2-0 in the 1st period, Kueter would rally to win 4-3 over Linn-Mar’s Tate Naaktgeboren.  A victory giving Kueter the 160 pound class 3A state championship.