(Oakland, IA) — Perfection is not easily achieved but so far Molly Allen of Riverside has achieved it in girls wrestling. This year she goes for her 4th state championship in a row and so far she is 17-0 on the season.
She has not gone into the third period all season — 17 wins, 9 by fall and 8 by tech fall. The longest match was 3 minutes and 10 seconds in the Bennington Invitational. She is focused on state title number four and she has not strayed from her routine coming into this season
She started wrestling against her four brothers — she is the middle child with Weston and Blake older than her and River and Jett are younger. They turned their living room into a wrestling room and the competition got fierce
Allen wrestled her freshman year at Underwood but it mostly against the boys — at the 2022 girls state tournament, she was on her way to a win at 106 pounds when the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union announced they were sanctioning the sport. Allen did not celebrate, instead she says she skeptical of change
Allen says coming to Riverside was the best thing that ever happened to her — she went 36-0 her sophomore season and a state title. Junior year, 37-0 and a state title. And Allen has done more than win state championships, she has had success in USA wrestling and other tournaments outside of Riverside
After high school, Allen hopes to compete at a four year college or university. So far she has had contact with some small school wrestling powerhouses William Penn, McKendree, Aurora, Colorado Mesa and she is visiting Oklahoma St. this week and plans on visiting the University of Iowa after the season. Allen and Riverside are back on the mat tomorrow at a big tournament in Ankeny.
Complete interview with Riverside Senior Molly Allen
