CORALVILLE, Iowa – Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont has the early lead in what should be a highly competitive race for the Class 1A team championship at the girls state wrestling tournament.
The tournament got under way Thursday at Coralville’s Xtream Arena with five defending champions in the field and all four all advanced to Friday’s semifinals, each pinning her first two opponents.
EBF qualified seven wrestlers for state and four moved on to the semifinals, with two others in contention in the consolation bracket. Two of the Rockets’ wrestlers, Cadence Christensen at 110 pounds and Miley Kirkpatrick at 135, advanced with two falls each.
Osage is second with 52 points and is followed by Mount Vernon with 46 and Denver with 44. Defending champion East Buchanan has 33 points, good for fifth place, and West Liberty is sixth with 30.
Osage will have three wrestlers in the semifinals, including returning champion Ainsley Hemann, and three others still going in the wrestlebacks. Hemann, a sophomore, won at 100 last year and is now at 105. She improved to 36-1 on the season with her two victories.
Mount Vernon has four in the semis and one battling for a podium spot in the consolation rounds. Returning champion Violet Diaz leads four Denver wrestlers into the semifinals. She was especially efficient in the first two rounds, with pins in 30 and 35 seconds at 110. She was the champ at 105 a year ago.
East Buchanan and West Liberty brought only three wrestlers each to the state tournament and all advanced to the semifinals. East Buchanan logged six pins on the day, while West Liberty had five pins and a technical fall.
West Liberty’s semifinalists include 10th-seeded Kiley Collins, a senior who advanced with two first-period pins at 120, the second against second-seeded Adley Sweeting of Highland.
At 140, returning champions Colbie Tenborg of Saydel and Teagan Carritt of Logan-Magnolia remain on track for a possible meeting in the finals on Friday night. Tenborg, seeking her third title, has won at 130 and 135. Carritt, a sophomore, won the crown at 140 a year ago and is unbeaten in 43 matches this season after going 46-4 as a freshman.
In the biggest upset of the opening rounds, ninth-seeded Rose Niewoehner of Creston pinned top-seeded Kaylee Dejong of Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley in the quarterfinals, ending the match after just 17 seconds.
