Prep Wrestling- Two classes, 14 weight classes a piece, and 448 young women, those are the numbers surrounding the third sanctioned year of Iowa Girls’ High School State wrestling scheduled to start this Thursday, February 6th, with champions decided on Friday, February 7th.
KILJ will be giving live updates throughout the two-day event for our local wrestlers for which we will have 23 total wrestlers representing the southeast Iowa region. Here’s a look at who they are and how they got here.
Class 2A
The Burlington Grayhounds had a successful Regional at Iowa City High, sending six girls to Des Moines, while Fort Madison pushed along three girls. There will not be any Southeast Conference (SEC) rematches within the tournament as they all represent different weight classes.
Burlington
In the 105-pound weight class, sophomore Grace Navarre (30-15) will represent the Grayhounds after taking the runner-up slot at regionals. Navarre pinned Caroline McCarthy of North Scott in the quarterfinal and Wynter Morgan of Marion in the semifinal, leading to a hard-fought match that saw Jacey Mason of Davenport win by fall.
Navarre snatched the 13th seed and will take on Joslyn Swanson (30-4) of Hinton in the first round.
Burlington’s next wrestler was another sophomore runner-up in the 135-pound weight class, Mia Oddo (25-21). Oddo snuck past Keira Cewe of Bettendorf with a pin at the 5:24 mark before losing by an 11-8 decision to Sierra Metcalf of North Scott in the championship match.
Oddo was handed the #16 seed, and she will be tasked with face off against the #1 seed Bella Miller (6-0) of Dubuque Hempstead.
Amaziah Twillie (27-10) of Burlington, a freshman, picked up wins by fall over Sofia Boddy of Bettendorf and Tatum Peters of Fort Madison to earn a match for the championship. However, Twillie was bested by Shaona Emmanuel of Iowa City High. This sent Twillie to a winner-takes-all showdown against Kennedi Smith of Davenport, where she won by fall.
#13 Twillie will get a chance to avenge her loss with a rematch against #4 Emmanuel (32-5) to begin her tournament run.
Sophomore Macy Peterson (29-20) of Burlington finished as the runner-up in the 170-pound weight class with a narrow pin over Ellie Cox of Marion providing the no contest needed to advance to the state tournament.
Peterson was given the #15 seed and will face off against #2 Ashley Chasteen (32-4) of Hinton for her first-round matchup.
Burlington had two seniors capture regional championships in Kiara Rodriguez (33-2) in the 190-pound weight class and Alannah Peterson (20-4) in the 235-pound weight class.
Rodriguez pinned both of her opponents, while Peterson won by fall in the championship match against Sage Dzeladini of North Scott after she won a 2-0 decision over Harper Griffin of Marion.
#3 Rodriguez garnered the highest seed for Burlington as she will start her tournament off with a matchup against Aliya Phillips (32-14) of Prairie.
Peterson nabbed the #4 seed and will take on #13 Elizabeth Mills (23-12) of Cedar Falls.
Fort Madison
The win is a bit sweeter against a conference foe and sophomore Briena Fenton (34-14) got to experience just that in the 125-pound weight class with her victory by major decision against Emma Warth of Burlington clinched her spot in the state tournament as a runner-up.
Fenton snatched the #14 seed and will face off against #3 Destiny Brown (41-3) of Ridge View.
Junior, Mara Smith (42-4) punched her third ticket to the state tournament with a near flawless run through regionals. Smith captured two pins within 20 seconds of her quarterfinal and semifinal opponents before defeating Isabella Giza of Bettendorf by a 7-2 decision.
#4 Smith will look to finish on the podium in the 130-pound weight class this season as she will start the tournament against #13 Brooklyn Mitchell (34-10) of South Tama.
Kat DiPrima (40-3) continued her dominant sophomore season in the 140-pound weight class by grabbing a regional championship with three wins by fall. Despite the ease of her finishes, she will have to earn her wins in Des Moines.
#10 DiPrima will compete against #7 Addison Appelhans (36-4) of Anamosa in round one.
Class 1A
There will be four returners to the state tournament from our local teams, including four members of the SEC, which will bring the grand total to 13 wrestlers.
Mt. Pleasant
Zenlynn Lee (23-3) has sent the Panthers back to the state tournament in her junior campaign after losing her sophomore season to injury. Lee started her regional with a win by fall over Alivia Tague of Keokuk and ended her regional with win by fall over Addison Hochstetler of North Tama for the gold.
Lee garnered the #6 seed, and she will take on #11 Adelynn Hudek (36-7) of Manson-NW Webster for her first matchup of the tournament.
Fairfield
Sophomore Samantha Lyons (32-4) is heading back to the state tournament after finishing as the runner-up in the 170-pound weight class in Williamsburg. Lyons defeated Haylie Keasling of Cardinal with ease in her semifinal matchup but could not end Briar Blake of North Tama’s undefeated season in the championship match.
#9 Lyons could get a rematch with Blake in the quarterfinals, yet she will have to defeat #8 Precious Kredit (29-12) of Sioux Center first.
Another Trojans to grab a spot in the state tournament was Kendra Allsion (22-16), a junior in the 235-pound weight class. Allison handled the competition at regionals with her toughest matchup coming in the championship match against Mt. Pleasant’s Olivia Gordy in championship match, which ended by fall.
#10 Allsion will compete against #7 Olivia Seay (20-10) of Wahlert Catholic in the first round.
Keokuk
Jalyiah Gardner (38-3) is also a three-time state tournament qualifier as she won the 140-pound weight class at Williamsburg. Gardner pinned Jessica Clark of Wilton before taking down Hailey Pedrick of Pekin by major decision.
Gardner, a senior, touts the #3 seed as she will take on #14 Kaylie Havig (34-18) of Osage.
Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union
Despite entering the tournament with a losing record, Jada Moats (17-18) will be vying for the title in the 190-pound weight class. Moats pinned Sydnee Bliss of Wilton within a minute of her first match before falling in the championship match. It came down to a contest against Joey Tedrow of Cardinal and Moats won by fall to secure the runner-up slot.
The path will not be easy for the sophomore as #15 Moats will face off against #2 Leah Stewart (37-1) of Charles City to begin her tournament.
Wapello
Kenadee Helscher (32-0) is back for the 100-pound weight class after continuing her undefeated junior season. Helscher defeated June Connor of Fairfield and Ryleigh Jones of Williamsburg by fall before dismantling Audrey Cummings of Wilton by a 9-2 decision in the championship bout.
#2 Helscher will begin her quest for the gold against Jersey Hilgenberg (27-15) of Riverside.
One more Arrow will make an appearance at the tournament in the 110-pound weight class, as the freshman Clara Ball (32-11) won her regional. It was an arduous journey to get to the top spot in Williamsburg. Ball snuck past Valentina West of Assumption by a 3-2 decision before upsetting Audra Cross of Wilton by sudden victory in the first-place match.
Ball grabbed the #7 seed and will take on #10 Braelyn Suckow (39-9) of Sumner-Fredericksburg.
Pekin
No one won their regional for the Panthers, but four wrestlers punched their ticket to Des Moines.
Lexa Nelson (28-6) had quite the battle to get to Des Moines in the 105-pound weight class. The junior worked her way through the consolation bracket to earn a chance for the runner-up slot. Nelson would get her opportunity against Alyia Abbot of Fairfield, and she would not disappoint, pinning the Trojan at the 4:28 mark.
#9 Nelson will compete against #8 Audrina Bennett (27-12) of Spirit Lake.
Junior Lila Miller (28-4) won her first two matches by fall in the 135-pound weight class, but had to participate in an extra match after falling to Cecelia Gryp of Williamsburg by a 5-1 decision in the first-place match. Miller would take down Brooklyn Mau of Assumption to claim the final spot.
Miller is the #13 seed and will face off against #4 Amelia Wadsworth (25-6) of Decorah.
Hailey Pedrick (36-3) returns to the state tournament in the 140-pound weight class for her junior season. Pedrick won her two matches by fall before losing to Gardner in the championship match.
#9 Pedrick will wrestle #8 Teagan Carrit (42-4) of Logan-Magnolia-Woodbine in the first round.
Lastly, Rylee Frye (22-21) rumbled through the consolation bracket of the 235-pound weight class with wins over Sophia White of West Liberty by fall, a 5-0 decision win over Brynn Pogmore of Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union, and a win by fall over Mt. Pleasant’s Olivia Gordy to secure second place.
#14 Frye, a freshman, will take on #3 Emma Cook (41-4) of Colfax-Mingo to begin her tournament trail.
Mid-Prairie
The Golden Hawks tout three state tournament qualifiers with sophomore Gabby Gingerich (25-11) earning a spot in the 115-pound weight class. Gingerich collected a couple of victories by fall to secure her place in Des Moines, despite falling to Tess Richards of Solon.
#16 Gingerich will have the dubious distinction of attempting to end #1 Reanah Utterback (51-0) of Sigourney-Keota’s two-year unbeaten streak as she attempts to win the state championship for the second year in a row.
Senior Ashlee Farrier (36-2) is back in Des Moines after finishing as the runner-up at the Solon regional. Farrier defeated Jocelynn Richardson of Durant by fall to secure her spot, while narrowly falling to #2 Jillian Worthen of Union Community by a 1-0 decision.
Farrier will compete as the #9 seed against #8 Cameron Halbur (34-9) of Rock Valley/Boyden-Hull.
Lastly, Layken Lee (23-17) will join a crowded 140-pound weight class with two other local wrestlers vying for the championship. Lee collected five wins through her trip in the consolation bracket with a win by fall over Jordan Voelkel of Benton Community priming her trip to Des Moines.
#15 Lee, a freshman, will have to keep that chip on her shoulder when she wrestles #2 Andelyn Cabalka (49-4) of East Buchanan for her first-round matchup.
Coverage
The first session will begin on Thursday at 10 am with Class 2A. Class 1A will start wrestling at 4:30 pm. The first day will see all first round, quarterfinals, first-round consolation, and second-round consolation matches completed.
Session three will begin at 10 am on Friday with the championship semifinals, third-round consolation, consolation semifinals, and 7th place matches finished. Lastly, the podium matches through sixth place will start at 6 pm on Friday night.
KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be dropping in throughout the two days with live updates for our local wrestlers and kilj.com will have full-day round ups at the conclusion of the day.
If you would like to watch it, the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union will have a live stream on the following link: Watch Girls’ Wrestling