And that’s good. Because that target isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Phetxoumphone, a Webster City junior and the 2020 2A 106-pound gold medalist, will open the 2020-21 campaign ranked No. 1 at 113 pounds, according to The Predicament. Iowa’s longest tenured wrestling media organization released its first set of rankings Monday afternoon.

Phetxoumphone was joined by a pair of teammates in the rankings. Freshman 106-pounder Carson Doolittle is No. 10, while senior and returning state qualifier Nick Gasca is No. 9 at 145.

South Hamilton’s one-two punch of Lane Swenson (170) and Trevor Thompson (195) are both No. 3 in 1A at their respective weights.

South Hamilton senior Lane Swenson, ranked No. 3 at 170 pounds in Class 1A. DFJ photo/Troy Banning

Phetxoumphone, a two-time state medalist with a career record of 82-6, takes a 43-match winning streak into the new season. Last winter, he became just the second WCHS wrestler ever to run through a season unscathed and the first non-senior to win a state crown since Jamie Taxted in 1996.

Phetxoumphone is also a two-time North Central Conference champion, halfway to joining Drake Doolittle as the program’s only four-time winners.

Ranked right behind Phetxoumphone at No. 2 is Greene County sophomore McKinley Robbins. Phetxoumphone beat Robbins, 5-0, in the 106-pound state final in February, and he also took out No. 5 Carson Less of West Delaware by fall in the opening round of the 2020 state tournament.

Gasca put together a 26-12 record a season ago and strung together the best run of his career in the postseason. He went 1-2 at state and was one win away from a top-8 medal.

Doolittle, a talented freshman and the younger brother of 2019 120-pound state champion Drake Doolittle, should help to give WCHS a dynamic lineup at the light weights. He recently went 4-1 and placed second in the 15-and-under 101-pound weight class at the 66th Tulsa Nationals.

South Hamilton senior Trevor Thompson, ranked No. 3 at 195 pounds in Class 1A. DFJ photo/Troy Banning

Swenson and Thompson both qualified for the state tournament for the first time last winter. Swenson, who has 79 career victories, went 3-2 and placed seventh. Thompson, with 68 career wins, fell one victory short of the podium.

Swenson, who went 41-5 a season ago, is also a reigning Heart of Iowa Conference champion. Thompson, 36-10 in 2019-20, was a silver medalist at the league tournament this past January.

Preseason Individual Rankings

By The Predicament

(Weights with local wrestlers)

Class 2A

106 Pounds — 1. Derrick Bass, soph, Davenport Assumption; 2. Lane Scorpil, jr, Columbus Junction; 3. Carter Anderson, jr, Albia; 4. Nathaniel Bigalk, sr, Crestwood; 5. Jake Zabka, soph, Algona; 6. Jaxon Bussa, sr, Camanche; 7. Caine Stenger, sr, OA-BCIG; 8. Gavin Jensen, soph, Williamsburg; 9. Kade Blume, fr, Roland-Story; 10. Carson Doolittle, fr, Webster City.

113 Pounds — 1. Cam Phetxoumphone, jr, Webster City; 2. McKinley Robbins, soph, Greene County; 3. Carter Kolthoff, jr, BCLUW-SH; 4. Osvaldo Ocampo, sr, Sheldon; 5. Carson Less, soph, West Delaware; 6. Jakob Regan, soph, Waukon; 7. Jack Showalter, jr, Hampton-Dumont/CAL; 8. Collin Holm, fr, Decorah; 9. Logan Powers, fr, Roland-Story; 10. Tucker Stangel, fr, Osage.

145 Pounds — 1. Nicholas Fox, soph, Osage; 2. Isaac Bryan, sr, Sergeant Bluff-Luton; 3. Reed Abbas, sr, Clarion-Goldfield-Dows; 4. Logan Peyton, soph, West Delaware; 5. Shea Parkis, jr, Carroll Kuemper; 6. Caleb Ebert, sr, Solon; 7. Roush Jaeger, sr, Charles City; 8. Zander Ernst, jr, Ridge View; 9. Nick Gasca, sr, Webster City; 10. Ethan LeLeon, soph, Sioux City Heelan.

Class 1A

170 Pounds — 1. Cade Tenold, jr, Don Bosco; 2. Blake McAlister, jr, South Central Calhoun; 3. Lane Swenson, sr, South Hamilton; 4. Max Kohl, jr, Lisbon; 5. Kolby Scott, soph, MVAO-COU; 6. Aidan Udell, jr, Iowa City Regina; 7. Cael McLaren, sr, Council Bluffs St. Albert; 8. Dahson DeJong, sr, Sibley-Ocheyedan; 9. Denver Pauley, jr, AHSTW; 10. Tanner Dierking, sr, Southeast Warren.

195 Pounds — 1. Tristan Mulder, sr, Western Christian; 2. Matthew Francis, jr, West Hancock; 3. Trevor Thompson, sr, South Hamilton; 4. Currey Jacobs, sr, New London; 5. Cedric Yoder, sr, Don Bosco; 6. Jeramie Kane, sr, BGM; 7. Brodie Anderson, jr, Manson-Northwest Webster; 8. Dalton Calkins, jr, Southwest Valley; 9. Corey Coleman, sr, Treynor; 10. Truman Krob, sr, Lisbon.