Coralville, IA- Wrestlers from all over the state made the trip to the Xtreme Arena with one goal in mind, an Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union State Championship. Southeast Iowa sent 13 local representatives for Class 1A from the area and four of them still have a chance to walk away with the gold. Here’s a look at the results from the first session.
Class 1A
100-Pound Weight Class
Van Buren County’s #6 Brystol Wiley started off the day with a collection of points as she defeated #11 Josie McGraw of Alburentt by technical fall, catapulting her into the quarterfinals against #3 Abigail Peterson of Denver.
Unfortunately, Peterson got the better of Wiley, scoring a takedown in the first period to send Wiley to the consolation bracket. Waiting for Wiley in the second round was #13 Goldie Davis of South Central Calhoun.
Wiley took the early 3 to 1 lead after the first period, but Davis pounced in the second period to take a commanding 10 to 5 lead. Still, the Warrior fought back to earn four points in the start of the period but needed a late takedown to claim a narrow 12-11 decision victory.
Wiley will face off against #2 Molly Knechne of Central Lyon-George Little Rock tomorrow, February 6th, in the third round of the consolation bracket.
105-Pound Weight Class
#2 Kenadee Helscher of Wapello has collected just about every accolade one can throughout her high school career. She is a two-time conference champion, three-time state qualifier, and has collected over 100 wins for her career. Yet, the gold medal still alludes her.
After falling one match short of an undefeated season last year, she is looking to end this year with a flawless record and enact some revenge in the process. She started that process with a win by technical fall over #15 Kayda Freeman of Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont.
She wasted little time in the quarterfinals, pinning #10 Brielle Starkweather of North Fayette Valley in the first round to advance to the semifinals. She will face off against #3 Kate Martin of Mount Vernon tomorrow. On the top half of the bracket, #1 Ainsley Hemann of Osage, last year’s champion and Helscher’s lone loss, and #4 Sophia Calpito will face off.
#12 Armoney Adams of Van Buren County was unable to knock off #5 Sophia Hazen of ATU and lost to #13 Finley Rushton of West Branch in the first round of the consolation bracket by major decision to end her tournament run with a 27-6 record.
110-Pound Weight Class
Pekin’s #6 Lexa Nelson was on the wrong side of two upsets as she lost to #11 Kierstan McRoberts of Osage by major decision in the first round before losing to #14 Bradi Houston of Davis County by fall in the consolation bracket. She finished the season with a 34-6 record.
115-Pound Weight Class
Moving up a weight class is never easy but when no one returns from the top eight of last year’s state tournament it certainly gives you a leg up. #1 Clara Ball of Wapello, who finished 6th last year in the 110-pound weight class, started her day with a victory by technical fall of #16 Khloe Neal of BCLUW-SH.
Her quarterfinal match was not as easy as Ball entered the third round with a narrow 5 to 3 lead over #8 Cadence Kinzie of Atlantic after scoring a reversal late in the second period. She would eliminate Kinzie with a third-period takedown to punch her ticket to the semifinals on a 10-7 decision.
She will wrestle #4 Hailey Harvey of Riverside tomorrow.
120-Pound Weight Class
#11 Lila Miller of Pekin was pinned in both of her matches today, ending her season with a 32-13 record.
Highland’s #2 Adley Sweeting earned a late first-period pin of #15 Gracyn Stone of Logan-Magnolia-Woodbine to find a spot in the quarterfinals. However, she would trip up against #10 Kiley Collins of West Liberty after Collins maneuvered Sweeting into a surprising loss by fall, despite the Huskie leading 7 to 0 in points.
In her third match of the day, Sweeting took on #16 Ivy Christensen of Osage and dominated, securing a pin in 26 seconds. She will take on #6 Makenna Kurth of Waukon in the third round of the consolation bracket tomorrow.
140-Pound Weight Class
#11 Maiya Singbeil of Highland fell to #6 Alexa Heflin of Garner-Hayfield/Ventura, sending the Huskie into the consolation bracket. Facing off against #14 Kimora Owens of Williamsburg, Singbeil took down her opponent in the first 30 seconds of the match.
Her tournament run would come to an end against #5 Macie Little of North Mahaska, falling in the first period. Singbeil ended her season with a 24-9 record.
145-Pound Weight Class
Pekin’s #4 Hailey Pedrick had to battle against #13 Cara Schuette of Kuemper Catholic, but the Panther broke through in the third period, pinning her opponent. In the quarterfinals, Pedrick wrestled #5 Paytn Haack of Emmetsburg and escaped with a victory by fall early in the third period.
Pedrick will take on #1 Tayla Stiefel of East Buchanan in the semifinals tomorrow.
170-Pound Weight Class
#2 Samantha Lyons of Fairfield is looking to end her senior campaign with a title as she enters the tournament with a 28-1 record. Lyons made quick work of her first-round opponent, #15 Harper Manwarren of GTRA, pinning her in the first 47 seconds of the period.
The victory pitted Lyons against #7 Afton Dean of Lamoni, who stood no chance against the Trojan as the senior pinned her in the first period to advance to the semifinals. She will wrestle #3 Gracie Pickney of Mt. Vernon with the winner advancing to the championship match tomorrow.
190-Pound Weight Class
#12 Chloe Sexton of Pekin lost her first-round match in heartbreaking fashion, losing by ultimate tiebreaker to #5 Maren Subbert of Hampton-Dumont-CAL. She bounced back to defeat #13 Claire Schumacher of Western Iowa by fall in the first period to advance in the consolation bracket.
Her tournament run would end at the hands of #3 Emma Dejong of Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley with a loss by fall. Sexton finished the season with a 22-11 record.
235-Pound Weight Class
We had our first local showdown after #15 Reese Connolly of Wapello and Fairfield’s #7 Kendra Allison lost their first-round matches. In the consolation bracket, Allison got revenge for her loss at the Regional Championship with a one-sided victory by fall over the Arrow.
Connolly finished her freshman season with a 15-21 record.
Unfortunately, that momentum would not carry Allsion into the next round as she was pinned by #1 Kaylee Dejong of Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley. Allison finished her senior season with a 23-8 record.
More Information
Class 1A will be back in action tomorrow at 9 am. Stay tuned to KILJ for more updates throughout the day, as we would like to thank our sponsors for allowing us to cover all state tournament competition.