CORALVILLE — History was made this past weekend as three Solon Lady Spartan wrestlers competed in the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union’s (IGHSAU) first State Championships in the Xtreme Arena in Coralville. McKenna Rogers, Kara VeDepo, and Olivia Bonnema qualified Jan. 27 in a Region 6 Qualifying Meet at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse in Cedar Rapids with Rogers winning at 105 pounds, VeDepo placing third at 110, and Bonnema placing third at 135.
Rogers (38-3), a freshman, became the first Solon girl to place in a State Meet with her fifth-place finish in the two-day tournament. She pinned Eagle Grove’s Evelyn Jergenson (15-14) in 1:50 in the first round and pinned Raccoon River-Northwest’s Liv Halfpap (34-17) in 1:29 in the second round. Bettendorf’s Taylor Strief (37-4) took a 7-4 decision from Rogers in the quarterfinals however, dropping her to the consolation brackets where she bounced back with a pin in 3:38 over Dallas Center-Grimes’ Ava Gannon (13-4) and took an 11-2 major decision from Lewis Central’s Maya Humlicek (48-4) to advance to the consolation semifinals. There, Sumner-Fredericksburg’s Hillary Trainor (43-6) won an 8-7 decision sending Rogers to the 5th place match where she pinned Cedar Falls’ Lauren Whitt (40-11) in 3:59.
VeDepo (27-17) and Bonnema (28-22), both sophomores, were early casualties as they were both eliminated early.
VeDepo was pinned in 2:28 in the first round by Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire’s Trista Guinn (24-7) in the first round and fell in 2:40 to Valley, West Des Moines’ Avery Buhr (22-21) in the second round.
Bonnema fell in 53 seconds to Valley, West Des Moines’ Cadence Bushong (37-5) in the first round and fell in 2:43 to East Buchanan’s Miley Walz (37-11) in the second.
“The state meet was a good experience for all three of our state qualifiers,” said Head Coach Jake Munson. “We focus our program on effort over results because we can’t always control results. I can say with confidence that all three of our state qualifiers gave their best effort and wrestled hard at the Xtream Arena. I was proud of all three of them.”
Rogers, he said, had a great freshman season. “She had two close losses at the state tournament, but again, she wrestled hard in every match. Her future on the mat is very bright and I am excited to see her wrestling ability continue to develop. McKenna is a hard worker who will be putting in a lot of mat time this off-season. It was great to have our first state place-winner of the program.”
Coach Munson expressed his admiration for the team this season. “I can’t say enough great things about this year’s team. We had 18 girls who worked hard every day, supported one another, and challenged each other to give their best. We had girls come into our program from different grades, experience levels, and friend groups, and it was awesome to see them bond and become a close-knit team. Quality wrestling programs create strong bonds and we definitely experienced that this season.”
So, what does the future hold for girls wrestling in Solon?
“It’s going to be hard to replace the leadership our three seniors (Eleanor Gnida (130 pounds), Mikayla Langenberg (135), and Addison Burden (145) provided to our program this year,” Munson said. “Some of our returning letter winners will need to step up to take on those responsibilities. We are excited to return ten-plus letterwinners including all three state qualifiers, and many other girls who made incredible gains on the mat over the course of the season. In addition, we have ten eighth grade girls wrestling in the middle school season currently that will have the opportunity to contribute to our high school program next season as well. With over 70 Solon girls wrestling from kindergarten through 12th grade, the future is bright for Lady Spartan Wrestling!”

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Bailey Madura • Contributed Photo

McKenna Rogers: 5th Place at the 105 lb. weight class