Pennsylvania's Luke Kemerer Wins in Iowa at Night of Conflict 3

IOWA CITY, IA – Pennsylvania senior Luke Kemerer wasn’t happy with the way things ended last March in Hershey. The junior fell three steps on the podium from his sophomore season to take sixth in the State at 132 lbs.

Seven months later and Luke is starting his final season with the Spartans where his sights are set on a State Championship. He recently committed to the Pitt Panthers and joins a stacked recruiting class for head coach Keith Gavin.

When he was asked to compete in the third annual Night of Conflict inside the legendary Carver Hawkeye Arena, Luke didn’t hesitate. Competing at 138 lbs. Luke, who entered ranked #19 in the Nation by FloWrestling, took on Southeast Polk wrestler Cade DeVos who is a well known name in the Hawkeye State. DeVos, a junior, was an Iowa State finalist in Class 3A at 132 lbs. last season finishing second. It was his first appearance in the State Tournament as he was injured during a wrestle-off during his freshman season at Waukee High School. In July at the Fargo Cadet Nationals DeVos was a Cadet Double All-American finishing fifth in Freestyle and third in Greco-Roman.

Kemerer and DeVos kicked off the action in Iowa City. It was extra special for Luke to make the trip to Iowa City as his cousin and current Iowa Hawkeye Michael Kemerer was in his corner. “Having my cousin Michael in my corner definitely made it a special experience.’

After a scoreless first period Kemerer took down to start the second and quickly got on the board after he hit a peterson and went up (2-0). DeVos answered with a quick escape to make it (2-1). From their feet Kemerer, after attempting a double leg, countered a single leg attempt by DeVos and scored on a go-behind to go up (4-1) in the match.

In the third period DeVos quickly escaped from bottom to cut Kemerer’s lead to (4-2). The two exchanged takedown attempts and at the edge of the mat DeVos collected a push-out point. The Night of Conflict featured high school rules but with a Freestyle push-out point rule. With the point DeVos was down (4-3) with under a minutes left. The match concluded with Kemrer earning a (4-3) win.

“I didn’t wrestle my best match but it was good to start the year off with tough competition” said Kemerer following the win.

It was also a new experience for Luke competing in such a historic venue as Carver Hawkeye Arena. When asked about the feeling Kemerer stated “It was cool to be surrounded by so many legends of our Sport. The atmosphere is pretty intense inside Carver Hawkeye.”

Despite being hundred of miles from home Luke had many familiar faces around him. In addition to his cousin Michael Kemerer, Luke had fellow Young Guns wrestlers Spencer Lee, Max Murin, and Kaleb Young by his side, an experience he called “really cool.”