CORALVILLE — 43 girls teams competed last Thursday through Saturday in the annual Dan Gable Donnybrook high school wrestling tournament at the Xtreme Arena in Coralville. The tourney, named after the legendary University of Iowa wrestling coach, included squads from Minnesota, Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Kansas as well as from across the state.
“The Dan Gable Donnybrook is one of the toughest tournaments in the state,” said Coach Jacob Munson. “It has a very similar feel to the state tournament as both are large, difficult tournaments held in the Xtreme Arena.”
The Lady Spartans tied with Clinton for 26th place with 132 team points and were led by Olivia Bonnema’s sixth-place finish at 145 pounds. Bonnema pinned City High’s Nina Peterson (3:01) in the first round and pinned Raccoon River-Northwest’s Grace Rinehart (2:49) in the second before falling to Williamsburg’s Phoenix Gryp (2:34) in the quarterfinals. Bonnema rebounded to pin Prairie’s Luisa Meade (4:36) in the consolation bracket match, which advanced her to the fifth-place match where she fell to Ankeny’s Dana Cleveland (1:14).
Kara VeDepo placed 11th at 105 pounds with a first round win by fall over Raccoon River-Northwest’s Quincy Cooper (4:00), a win in the 2nd consolation round by fall (6:00) over Lockport Twp.’s Averi Colella, and a win by fall (1:58) over Ozark (MO)’s Adilyn Hoelzle in the 11th place match.
Avery Kellen was 12th at 190 pounds with a first round win by fall over Bettendorf’s Glorianna Schulte in 55 seconds and a consolation 2nd round win by fall over DeKalb (IL)’s Molly Kraft (2:50).
Harper Nicholson placed 14th at 145 pounds with a first round win over Huntley’s Gianna Maiorino-Scheiblein in 29 seconds and a win by fall over Iowa City West’s Peyten van Dyke (3:53) in the third consolation round.
Emily Pence placed 15th at 110 pounds with a first round win by fall (1:19) over Liberty (MO)’s Tabatha Short and a win by fall over Linn-Mar’s Kendra Baynes (4:42) in the 15th place match.
Tess Richards was 18th at 110 pounds with a first consolation round win by fall over Apple Valley’s Valentina Cardoso in 14 seconds and a third consolation round win by fall over Vinton-Shellsburg’s Callie Nosbisch (1:34).
Alannah Mahoney was 18th at 125 pounds with a win by fall over Lockport Twp.’s Kyleigh Green (1:44) in the first consolation round, a win by fall (1:01) over West Marshall’s Ava Shibe in the second consolation round, and a win by fall over Assumption’s Olivia Rogalla (3:26) in the third consolation round. Mahoney held off Prairie’s Karsyn Roling for 5:10 before falling in the 17th-place match.
Haiden Wolfe was 19th at 235 pounds with a pin over Apple Valley’s Mila Carnahan, in 14 seconds, in the second consolation round and a win by fall (1:03) over New Lenox (Lincoln-Way West)’s Jalyssa Venegas in the 19th-place battle.
Lucianna Miller was 24th at 135 pounds with a pin against Bridget Wesle of Medford (1:14) in a preliminary round and a win by fall (2:14) in the first consolation round over Lockport Twp.’s Miranda Powley.
Kate Richards (115 pounds), Alexis Anderson (135), and Kendall Jensen (170) did not place.
Richards won by fall over Huntley’s Valeria Sanchez (1:35) in the second consolation round and pinned Staley’s Megan Boone (3:42) in the third consolation round. Anderson won by fall (1:33) over Staley’s Kaylee Anthony in the third consolation round after winning by medical forfeit over City High’s Paige Dixon in the second consolation round.
Jensen won her preliminaries match by pinning DeKalb’s Stephanie Blanchard (1:13) and pinned Huntley’s Abigail Ward (1:32) in the second consolation match.
Upcoming events
Thursday, Dec. 7 – Home varsity meet vs. Williamsburg, 5:00 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 9 – Tournament at Williamsburg High School, 10:00 a.m.
Saturday, Dec. 16 – Tournament at Prairie High School, Cedar Rapids, 9:00 a.m.
Thursday, Dec. 21 – Varsity girls triangular at Anamosa High School, 6:00 p.m.

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Contributed photo

Olivia Bonnema