Two Iowa City West senior wrestlers, Graham Gambrall and Ashton Barker, announce Division I commitments

It’s no secret that Iowa City West possesses a rich wrestling tradition.

The Trojans have piled up plenty of hardware in their storied history. Their five state duals crowns are tied for the fourth-most in state history. They’ve also won a pair of traditional state tournament titles, in 2006 and 2007, in addition to 11 top-four finishes.

The constant flow of talented wrestlers has been the crucial ingredient to West’s wrestling success. In all, 22 wrestlers have combined to win 32 individual team titles for the Trojans, including many who  have gone on to wrestle Division I.

Two more recently announced plans to add their names to that list.

Graham Gambrall and Ashton Barker, both senior wrestlers at West, both recently made commitments to Division I wrestling programs. Gambrall announced that he will attend Oregon State, while Barker is headed to South Dakota State.

Gambrall is a three-time state medalist, and projects around 149 or 157 pounds for the Beavers, who recently hired past Oklahoma State star Chris Pendleton as head coach. Gambrall won a Class 3A state title at 145 pounds in February, and carries a 122-36 overall record into his senior season, according to stats kept by Trackwrestling.

The last in-state wrestler to wrestle at Oregon State was Jack Hathaway, who was also an Iowa City West grad. Hathaway won 82 matches for the Beavers from 2014-18, and twice qualified for the NCAA Championships.

“Super excited to announced I have committed to wrestle for coach Pendleton at Oregon State University,” Gambrall wrote in an Instagram post, announcing his decision. “His coaching staff, Nate Engel, Mike Kosoy and Isaiah Martinez, is awesome.”

Barker is a two-time 3A state medalist, placing third twice at 170 pounds. This past season, Barker lost in the opening round and rattled off five-straight wins to finish third. He carries a 78-21 overall record into his senior season, per Trackwrestling, and projects at 174 or 184 for the Jackrabbits.

Barker is the latest in-state prospect to commit to South Dakota State. Waverly-Shell Rock’s Bailey Roybal is also committed to the Jackrabbits, but another eight former Iowa high-schoolers are currently on the roster in Brookings.

“I’m very excited to announce that I’ve decided to continue my athletic and academic career at SDSU,” Barker wrote in a tweet, announcing his decision. “Thank you to all my family and coaches who have helped me achieve this.”

Gambrall and Barker become the eighth and ninth in-state wrestlers to commit to Division I wrestling programs. Of the nine, five are headed out of state — in addition to Gambrall, Barker and Roybal, both Osage’s Spencer Mooberry and Woodbury Central’s Beau Klingensmith have committed to North Dakota State.

The other four are split between the three in-state programs. Both Ankeny’s Caleb Rathjen and Fort Dodge’s Drake Ayala are headed to Iowa, while Ames’ Gabe Greenlee committed to Iowa State and Union’s Adam Ahrendsen is going to Northern Iowa.

Gambrall and Barker can now turn their attention to the ’20-21 wrestling season, where West is poised to play a prominent role in Class 3A.

The Trojans return five qualifiers and the fourth-most points from last year’s state tournament, where they finished fourth behind Waverly-Shell Rock, Southeast Polk and Fort Dodge. The trio of Gambrall, Barker and Hunter Garvin, a 2020 state champ and another future Division I wrestler, will headline West’s lineup.

Together, they will spearhead West’s continued efforts to contend for more hardware this coming winter.

Cody Goodwin covers wrestling and high school sports for the Des Moines Register. Follow him on Twitter at @codygoodwin.

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