A lot of high school wrestlers in the state of Iowa are looking to finish off perfect seasons next week at the State Tournament or the weekend after at State Duals.

But only two wrestlers currently competing in Iowa high school wrestling have a chance to finish the first half of their careers without a loss.

Southeast Polk 112-pounder Cory Clark and Des Moines Roosevelt 125-pounder John Meeks both finished their freshman campaigns as undefeated Class 3A State champs. Clark won his crown at 103 and Meeks was the 119-pound champ.

Both wrestlers are up one weight class this season and undefeated once again heading into District action on Saturday.

If either one or both finish off their sophomore seasons without a loss, they will be halfway to joining Jeff Kerber, Dan Knight, Jeff McGinness and Eric Juergens as the only Iowa high school wrestlers to complete four-year careers undefeated.

But neither one is looking that far ahead.

"Being undefeated, I don't like losing and don't want to lose, but I don't say I have to be undefeated," Clark said after winning the CIML 112-pound title with a 47-second pin on Feb. 5 in his home gym. "I just go out and wrestle and have won all my matches so far. But anything can happen. I have that in my mind. You can't be overconfident. When I wrestle I just give it all I got. I'm thinking that if they're going to beat me, they're going to have to have a lot, but I'm not planning on losing."

SEP head coach Jason Christenson said Clark may be motivated more by his hatred of losing than the joy of winning.

"I think sometimes hating to lose is a pretty good motivating factor. It's the hatred of losing maybe more than the will to win," he said. "He loves to win and he's pretty good at it. But he hates to lose at everything. He hates to lose at Halo. He hates to give up a takedown. He's given up one takedown so far this season and he gave up one last season. It's about winning at everything he does."

Meeks also claimed his second CIML crown that night at SEP High School, with a tense 3-2 victory over second-ranked Kyle Larson of West Des Moines Valley. The top-ranked Roughrider was never really in any danger of losing, but a late takedown would have meant the end of the streak. But according to DM Roosevelt head coach Jay Groth, there is a more important win streak out there for Meeks.

"The only win streak that counts to him is the four in a row at the State Tournament," Groth said. "Other than that, just go out and work hard and not to protect a title or protect your record, just go out and have fun. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't get nervous in a close match against a quality kid like Larsen. We just want to keep scoring points."

Meeks said he doesn't think about being undefeated so far in his career, but knows it's going to take a great effort to beat him.

"It's just one match at a time. I just take them one at a time and don't worry about the undefeated record," he said. "But if someone is going to beat me, they're going to have to be ready to work hard out there."

Both coaches said even though their wrestlers are a year older and have claimed that tough title No. 1, they don't see any changes in their work ethic or attitude. They're both all business and about getting a second State title.

"He seems the same kid. You can't be successful as a wrestler without being confident in what you can do," Groth said of Meeks. "He's confident, not cocky. He's not going around wearing his gold medal. He's just working hard every day and trying to win another one."

Christenson had similar things to say about his undefeated sophomore.

"There has been no change in his approach or attitude. He just gets after it and he just wrestles hard. Harder than anyone who goes out there with him," he said. "A lot of times he's getting falls on kids, not because he's strong or he's horsing them. Pretty soon it's just 13-2 and it's just time to get it over."

Clark, like Meeks, said this is a new year and doesn't look at it as an undefeated career, just another shot at a State title.

"I've thought about last year a little bit, but I treat them like two separate years. Last year just helps me with my confidence, because I've been through all these tournaments once before," he said. "Last year I was confident and knew I could win it. But I didn't have 'I'm going to win State' in my head. I thought I could win it, but there was a little doubt. This year I don't have doubt, because I've been through it all before.

"This year, I've been ranked first since the beginning of the season, so there's pressure with that. Last year I was never ranked first until a week before State. I was never really the main target."

Christenson said whether or not Clark was the "main target" last year or not, their expectations for him remained the same.

"We knew we had a pretty tough kid coming in, but he's even exceeded expectations, but they were pretty high anyway," he said. "I expected him to win a State title last season."

The Rams coach added that a loss would not be the end of the world for Clark, but added that he will take his chances with his guy as long as he's wrestling the way he's capable.

"We're not concerned about that and I don't think he is either. If he gets beat, he gets beat. Hopefully he wrestles well at the right time," Christenson said. "If he can take care of himself, that's what matters. It doesn't matter who he wrestles or what type of effort they put forth. If he puts forth what he's capable of, then I have a lot of confidence in our kid."