SOLON — 160 junior and middle school girls from 11 area schools cross-faced, chicken-winged, chose up, chose down, and met in one-on-one competition on the mats in Solon’s first Middle School wrestling tournament Tuesday, Feb. 7 at the high school.
Jake Munson, varsity head coach and an assistant to the middle school program, talked about the tournament and how girls’ wrestling has gained in popularity.
“We’ve done some smaller meets here but this is the first time we’ve run four mats here at our high school (for jr. high),” Munson said.
Why has girls wrestling taken off? “The opportunity, I think middle school is a great age to start, it’s a great time to try new things and experience new activities.
Having three varsity girls (Olivia Bonnema, Kara VeDepo, and McKenna Rogers) make it to the first Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union-sanctioned State Tournament is a motivator for the younger girls, he said.
“It’s not just our school but other schools that have had success as well and I think the future is bright. We’ve got a good foundation started with 20 girls wrestling in the Solon program.” Wrestling in Solon starts in kindergarten with 72 total, K-12. The explosive growth of girls wrestling has taken many by surprise, including Munson. “I don’t know if I saw this coming even five years ago but it’s been a groundswell of a lot of people, a lot of work by a lot of individuals, and we’re just thankful that we got here and I’m excited to see where we build on from here.”
In Iowa wrestling is, “a staple,” he said. “It’s something people take a lot of pride in and it’s awesome to see our girls having that same sense of pride that our boys have had in being an Iowa wrestler, and I’m just excited for them to have this opportunity.”
Emily Pence won in MS Girls 5 with a trio of pins over Lisbon’s Ann Marie Morgan (30 seconds), Mid-Prairie’s Austyn Sexton (39 seconds), and Vinton-Shellsburg’s Lauren Redlinger (33 seconds).
Tess Richards won in MS Girls 7 with three pins over Vinton-Shellsburg’s Kaelynn Roster (3:00), Anamosa’s Lauren Oltmanns (3:32), and Mount Vernon’s Carie Johnson (1:14).
Taylor Jett won MS Girls 26 with three pins over Mount Vernon’s Lucy Wischmeyer (3:53), Mid-Prairie’s Taylor Pence (26 seconds), and Vinton-Shellsburg’s Kalysa Cabalka (2:10).
Harper Nicholson won MS Girls 30 with by pinning Williamsburg’s Lilly Ness (3:38), taking a 9-2 decision from Anamosa’s Zoey Sarsfield, and pinning Vinton-Shellsburg’s Brie Carolan (27 seconds).
Layla Knazze (MS Girls 6), Rylee Worrell (MS Girls 8), Jadlyn Huynh (MS Girls 11), Irelynd Hagarty (MS Girls 20), Gabby Jedlicka (MS Girls 24), Haiden Wolfe, and Sydney Schmooke all placed second with a 25-second pin over Anamosa’s Joslyn Duncan for Worrell, and Huynh overcame a wrist injury to compete in three matches including a 27-second pin over Lisbon’s Quinn Roos. Jedlicka only needed 48 seconds to pin Vinton-Shellsburg’s Daylin Willis, Wolfe pinned South Tama’s Emma Slifer in a lightning-quick 17 seconds, and Schmooke pinned Lisbon’s Natalie Pumphrey in 38 seconds.
Third place finishes were posted by Hailey Anderson (MS Girls 1), Caidence Macke (MS Girls 9), Harlow Meade (MS Girls 14), Briley Simon (MS Girls 19), and Haiden Breckner (MS Girls 32). Macke pinned Bellevue’s Devyn Dunne in 23 seconds while Breckner won a 9-0 decision over Vernon Middle School’s Chloe Quaas.
Merrick Gravert (MS Girls 13) and Kyla Coons (MS Girls 36) finished the day in fourth place.
The Solon Middle School girls, led by Head Coach Blake Williams, competed in five meets with the season wrapping up Monday, Feb. 13 at Mount Vernon.
Briley Simon works at pinning Anamosa’s Paige Heims during Solon’s first four-mat Girls Middle School Wrestling Tournament Tuesday, Feb. 7 at the high school. Simon won by fall in 1:39 and went on to a second-place finish in MS Girls class 19.