(Coralville, IA) — On the first day of the IGHSAU Girls Wrestling Tournament, Molly Allen of Riverside was not threatened in her first two matches in her bid for a four-peat. Haley Armstrong of Atlantic was likewise dominant as she moved to the semis.
For Atlantic, Armstrong won in the first round at 235 with a pin in 18 seconds over Rylee Robison of Iowa Falls Alden. In the quarterfinals, Armstrong got some revenge on Emma Daniels of Carroll who had beaten her in the regular season — Armstrong pinned her at 3:44 and moved to the semifinals. She will face#4 seed Kaylee DeJong of Boyden Hull Rock Valley who is 35-2 and won in 15 seconds and 1:26 in her two matches.
Interview with Armstrong
Also for Atlantic, Leiah Thomas and Cadence Kinzie came away empty handed in their two matches — Kinzie at 115 lost by fall at 2:27 and 1:01 to finish her season at 29-10. Thomas at 155 lost at 2:20 and 50 seconds and finishes 21-12.
Allen, meanwhile, got tech fall wins in both rounds over Kia Montgomery of Sigourney Keota and Jessika Ausborn of Northwood Kensett and was completely in control in both matches. She is two wins away from finishing her high school career with a perfect record and 4 state titles. In the semifinals, Allen will face #5 Karlie Kruse of Creston who is 35-9.
Interview with Allen
Also for Riverside, Jersey Hilgenberg went 0-2 at 100 pounds losing by fall in 29 seconds and at 3:36 to finish 27-17. Hailey Harvey got a first round win at 110 by an 18-5 score but lost two in a row, a fall in 14 seconds to the #1 seed Gable Hermann and a tech fall to Clara Ball of Wapello to finish her season at 30-6. At 120, Veronica Schechinger had a 13-2 lead in the first round but got reversed and pinned by Lillian Gaiser of Lisbon at 3:09 — Schechinger then lost to Destiny Fry of SWAT to finish 30-17.
Harlan’s Elle Stephens had a big day on Thursday — the freshman who is a 6 seed won both of her matches to make it to the semifinals. Stephens beat MacKenzie Bachman of MFL Mar Mac by fall at 5:35 and then pinned #14 Ayden Erickson of Perry at 4:38. She will face #2 seed Reese Berns of Central Elkader who is 45-6 in the semis.
SWAT’s Jazz Christensen and Ellen Gerlock both are still alive in the consolation round. At 100 pounds, #7 seeded Christensen won in the first round at 4:52 but lost to #2 Kenadee Heischer of Wapello by tech fall. Christensen would beat #9 Taelynn Gravel in the blood round at 3:06. Gerlock was trailing in the first round but turned it around and pinned Atalissa Lobbrecht of Eddyvill at 2:56. She then got hurt in the quarterfinals and lost to #3 seeded Brisia Garcia Vasquez of West Liberty by fall at 1:36. In the blood round, she rallied again and pinned Grace Hammer of Ogden at 2:54 to guarantee a medal. Destiny Fry went 1-2 losing in the first round by fall in 47 seconds but beat Veronica Schechinger of Riverside by fall at 1:17 and then lost in the blood round at 2:42 to finish her sophomore season 33-14. At 145 pounds, Bailey Lillard won in the first round by fall at 1:00 but lost at 1:01 to #2 seed Eve Skroki of Wahlert. Lillard then lost in the blood round by fall at 2:46 to finish 28-6.
Audubon’s Macy Rasmussen got a first round win by fall at 3:14 over Tess Richards of Solon but lost her first match of the year to the defending state champ Reanah Utterback of Sigourney Keota by a fall of 1:54. The freshman would rebound to earn a pin in 50 seconds to guarantee her a medal and stay alive in the consolation round. Jordan Mulford, meanwhile, ended her season losing at 34 seconds and at 2:48 to finish 19-18.
Emma Miller of Treynor went 2-0 with a a fall at 3:40 and a 1-0 win to advance to the semifinals at 105 pounds. She’ll face Violet Diaz of Denver who is 29-0. At 145, Liz Young went 0-2 and finishes 36-15.
Clarinda’s Kambry Gordon went 0-2 and finished her season at 41-11. Kylar Downey is alive in the consolation round after losing in the first round at 1:04 then winning 9-1 and 16-4. Lily Weinreich is alive in the consolation round after a 14-2 MD win the first round, a loss at 1:22 to #2 seed Andelyn Cabalka of East Buchanan and then won by fall at 2:54 in the blood round.
For Creston, Alainiah Galanakis went 1-2 with a 13-10 loss in the first round, a 10-2 MD in the first round of the back end but lost by fall at 1:04 in the blood round to finish 38-11. Karlie Kruse is into the semifinals at 125 with a 6-0 win and a fall at 2:49. Evy Martin at 135 went 0-2 and finishes 40-7. At 140 Grace Keller went 1-2, losing 14-2 to Weinrich of Creston, winning at 2:24 and losing to #1 seed Chloe Sanders by tech fall to finish 37-8.
Maya Rivas of Glenwood at 135 pounds went 0-2 and finishes 20-12.
Brianna Kiger of Carroll is alive in the consolation round at 115 — she lost in the first round at 2:41 but won 8-4 and then 10-9 in the blood round. After losing to Armstrong of Atlantic in the quarterfinals, Danies of Carroll won in 27 seconds in the blood round.
Nicole Bond of Red Oak went 1-2 at 130 with a loss at 3:43, a 11-4 win and a 4-2 loss to Jordan Buffum of Logan Magnolia/Woodbine. She finishes 32-10.
Buffum of Lo Mag/Woodbine won a first round match by tech fall, lost in 57 seconds in the quarterfinals but won in the blood round over Bond. Teagan Carritt had the upset of the day, knocking off #1 seed Chloe Sanders of Vinton Shellsburg in the quarterfinals 7-5. Carritt had a takedown in the first period and a takedown in the second period and held on for the win in the third period. Nancy Bowman is in the semifinals with a 15-1 and tech fall win at 170 pounds. Mary Bowman, however, went 1-2 — after a first round win 11-4, she lost to #2 seeded Leah Stewart of Charles City 5-0 and then got pinned at 4:39 in the blood round to finish 46-11.
