Lilly Luft named Ms. Wrestler, Female Wrestler of the Year

Press Staff Report

Charles City senior Lilly Luft was honored with two prestigious wrestling awards this week.

On Monday, the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum announced that Luft has been chosen as the 2023 recipient of the “Iowa High School Female Wrestler of the Year” award.

The Iowa High School Female Wrestler of the Year Award is presented annually to the top female high school senior wrestler in Iowa.

Luft will be presented her award during the Glen Brand Wrestling Hall of Fame of Iowa inductions at the Prairie Links Golf & Event Center in Waverly, Iowa, on Friday, June 23.

For more information on the ceremony, contact the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum at (319) 233-0745 or dgmstaff@nwhof.org.

On Wednesday, Luft received the “Dan Gable Ms. Wrestler of the Year” award presented by Fareway Stores, Inc. and IAwrestle in coordination with the Iowa Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association.

The awards luncheon and banquet took place at the Fareway Conference Center in Boone where three finalists from each of the three state wrestling classes for the men and three women finalists were recognized.

Fans had the ability to vote once per day for their top wrestler in each category until Feb. 6 for the women and Feb. 20 for the men on IAwrestle.com. Public votes were tallied, and the top voted wrestler received an extra vote towards the IWCOA committee vote. The following athletes were recognized as 2022-2023 recipients:

Ms. Wrestler:

Lilly Luft, Charles City

Molly Allen, Riverside Oakland (finalist)

Naomi Simon, Decorah (finalist)

Mr. Wrestler:

Class 1A:

Gable Porter, Underwood

Max Magayna, Columbus Catholic (finalist)

Garret Rinken, Nashua-Plainfield (finalist)

Class 2A:

Kale Petersen, Greene County

Nick Fox, Osage (finalist)

CJ Walrath, Notre Dame, West Burlington (finalist)

Class 3A:

Ben Kueter, Iowa City High

Gabe Arnold, Iowa City High (finalist)

Ryder Block, Waverly-Shell Rock (finalist)

Luft is a three-time Iowa state high school champion, capturing Iowa Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association titles in 2021 and 2022 and an Iowa High School Girls Athletic Union title in 2023. Luft was 40-0 as a senior and is ranked fifth at 132 pounds in the National Girls High School Rankings for February. She compiled a 125-6 career record, giving her the most career wins for a female wrestler in state history.

Luft is a 16U All-American, a place-winner at the U17 World Team Trials, a Super 32 finalist, and a fourth-place finisher at the 2021 Cadet Beach Wrestling World Championships.

She will continue her wrestling career at the University of Iowa.