Dan LeClere

  • Weight class: 141
  • Age: 20
  • Hometown:
    Coggon
  • Season record: 26-12
  • Year:
    Sophomore

Dan LeClere spent the early weeks of the season figuring out how to do everything better before the start of a match.

Then the Iowa sophomore turned his focus toward finishing — finishing shots, finishing matches, finishing the climb up the 141-pound ladder. Those were LeClere’s biggest battles during his first season as a starter with the Hawkeyes.

The four-time state champion from North Linn struggled with weight management, nutrition and getting started early in the year. He went 2-2 on Iowa’s season-opening road trip to the St. Edward Duals.

But then LeClere reeled off a string of 13 victories in 15 matches, winning the Midlands title and starting the Big Ten season with victories against eventual NCAA champion J Jaggers of Ohio State and Penn State’s Garrett Scott.

“I’ve proved I can wrestle with anybody in the country, I’ve just got to put the finishing touch on a match,” LeClere said in January. “I’ve went out and got early leads, and I’ve got to continue to attack throughout the match and I’ll be fine with anybody.”

Perhaps no time was that more apparent than March. LeClere scored a takedown with three seconds remaining to beat Scott 2-1 in the conference quarterfinals. But three seconds from reaching the Big Ten finals, LeClere gave up a takedown against Michigan’s Kellen Russell that sent the bout into overtime. Russell eventually won the match and the conference title, while LeClere placed fifth.

LeClere went 0-2 at the NCAA Championships. He lost an 8-7 decision to Oklahoma’s Zach Bailey in the first round after holding an early 6-2 lead.

“There’s a certain period in matches when you see him let up, where he’s giving up an easy takedown,” Iowa coach Tom Brands said in January. “(But) I give him a lot of credit for the matches he’s won because he’s staying in there and he’s stingy and he’s tough. We’ve got to keep getting him tougher and progressing, too.”

— Andy Hamilton