SOLON — Almost immediately after two intense days at the Dan Gable Donnybrook, the Lady Spartans travelled to Williamsburg for the 2023 Girls Invitational last Monday, then hosted the Raiders and Prairie, Cedar Rapids on Thursday before returning to Williamsburg Saturday for a day of dual meets.
Solon 10th in Williamsburg Girls Invitational
The Lady Spartans placed tenth out of 28 teams in the Monday, Dec. 4 tourney, which was won by East Buchanan (186.0). Among WaMaC foes Independence was second (177.0), South Tama took third (135.5), Vinton-Shellsburg was sixth (117.0), and the Raiders finished seventh (115.0) followed by eighth place West Delaware (114.5), Marion (87.0), Solon (87.0), Benton Community (84.0), 19th-place CCA (36.0), 21st-place CPU (23.0), and 25th-place newcomer to the WaMaC; Grinnell (0.0).
Results
Kara VeDepo (105) won pinning Independence’s Alaina Terhune (0:40) and East Buchanan’s Valeria Torres (5:26).
Tess Richards (110) was fourth pinning West Delaware’s Saydee Andrews (2:28), Muscatine’s Ayla Burback (0:33), and DeWitt’s Kalli Barber (0:35).
Kate Richards (115) placed seventh with a win by fall over Marion’s Adrianna Groothuis (0:40) and DeWitt’s Delaney Barber (3:14).
Alexis Anderson (135) placed eighth with a win by fall over English Valleys’ Christy Knapp (0:46) and Colfax-Mingo’s Jozlyn Wells (2:30).
Avery Kellen (190) placed fifth with a win by fall over Ft. Madison’s Taylea Palar (0:22), Marion’s Ellie Cox (1:13), and CCA’s Jordan Hunt (1:35) in the fifth-place match.
Emily Pence won her JV bracket by pinning DeWitt’s Zoey Rooks (1:31), Linn-Mar’s Danika Berleen (0:26), and Muscatine’s Tessa Kauffman (0:45).
Solon loses tie-breaker to Williamsburg at home
The Raiders and Lady Spartans tied at 36 team points but the tie-breaker went to Williamsburg for the 37-36 loss.
Varsity matches – (115) Williamsburg’s Madison Kirby won by decision over Kate Richards (5-2), (120) Williamsburg’s Ava Garcia won by fall over Irelynd Hagarty (4:24), (125) Alannah Mahoney pinned Williamsburg’s Hayden Wade (3:47), (130) Williamsburg’s Keston Spratt pinned Gabrielle Jedlicka (1:10), (135) Alexis Anderson pinned Williamsburg’s Kaylin Becker (5:03), (140) Williamsburg’s Valerie Altenhofen pinned Lucianna Miller (3:07), (145) Williamsburg’s Phoenix Gryp won by forfeit, (155) Olivia Bonnema pinned Williamsburg’s Kimora Owens (2:24), (170) Williamsburg’s Lilly Ness won by decision over Kendall Jensen (7-6), (190) Williamsburg’s Lyndsay Murray won by forfeit, (235) Haiden Wolfe won by forfeit, (100) double forfeit, (105) Kara VeDepo won by fall over Williamsburg’s Anya Rivera (1:44), and (110) McKenna Rogers won by forfeit.
Prairie tops Solon 45-24
Varsity matches – (120) Prairie’s Karsyn Rollin defeated Hagarty (TB-1 4-3), (125) Mahoney won by forfeit, (130) Prairie’s Lily Gearheart pinned Jedlicka (1:44), (135) Prairie’s Mackenzie Childers pinned Anderson (0:27), (140) Prairie’s Clara Gomez-Bryant pinned Miller (1:03), (145) Prairie’s Luisa Meade pinned Bonnema (3:49), (155) Prairie’s Addison Bowman won by forfeit, (170) Jensen won by decision over Prairie’s Brianna Bistricky (4-3), (190) Prairie’s Aliya Phillips won by forfeit, (235) Prairie’s Emelia Reyes pinned Wolfe (3:09), (100) double forfeit, (105) VeDepo won by decision over Prairie’s Marie Burns (4-2), (110) Rogers pinned Prairie’s Sadie Reuter (1:43), (115) Richards pinned Prairie’s Abagayle Albert (5:42), (130, extra) Prairie’s Adalyn Clark pinned Makayla Keller (0:53), and (115, extra) Prairie’s Alix Zahn pinned Emily Pence (2:39).
Lady Spartans go 1-2 at Williamsburg duals
Saturday found the ladies back at Williamsburg for a day of dual meets falling to Dallas Center-Grimes and Linn-Mar but avenging their loss to the Raiders.
Dallas Center-Grimes 36 Solon 33
Results – (135) DCG’s Bella Mulder pinned Alexis Anderson (3:00), (140) double forfeit, (145) Olivia Bonnema pinned DCG’s Jenah Gray (3:11), (155) DCG’s Allie Van Der Molen won by forfeit, (170) Kendall Jensen won by decision over DCG’s Ashlyn Jahangir (13-8), (190) DCG’s Aubrey Borcherding won by forfeit, (235) DCG’s Halley Beaudet pinned Haiden Wolfe (2:34), (100) double forfeit, (105) Kara VeDepo won by forfeit, (110) McKenna Rogers pinned DCG’s Leah Newell (2:52), (115) Tess Richards won by forfeit, (120) DCG’s Josephine Bond pinned Kate Richards (1:52), (125) Alannah Mahoney pinned DCG’s Sabrina Macke (0:37), (130) DCG’s Asia Jahangir pinned Taylor Jett (1:06), and (130, extra) Makayla Keller pinned DCG’s Anara Goodson (5:32).
Linn-Mar 37 Solon 36
Results – (140) Bonnema pinned Linn-Mar’s Brianna Clymer (2:30), (145) Linn-Mar’s Melena Garcia won by forfeit, (155) double forfeit, (170) double forfeit, (190) Jensen pinned Linn-Mar’s Alexa Clymer (0:30), (235) Wolfe pinned Linn-Mar’s Rylee Passmore (0:21), (100) Linn-Mar’s Brooke Walrath won by forfeit, (105) VeDepo pinned Linn-Mar’s Mallory Palmer (1:49), (110) Rogers pinned Linn-Mar’s Kendra Baynes (0:29), (115) Linn-Mar’s Kate Seery pinned T. Richards (0:37), (120) Linn-Mar’s Ally Jelinek won by forfeit, (125) Mahoney pinned Linn-Mar’s Lily Carlson (5:58), (130) Linn-Mar’s Brielle Parke pinned Jett (0:36), and (135) Linn-Mar’s Reese Roberts pinned Anderson (3:37).
Solon 45 Williamsburg 30
Results – (130) Jett pinned Williamsburg’s Kaylin Becker (3:49), (135) Anderson pinned Williamsburg’s Shannon Finn (3:00), (140) Bonnema pinned Valerie Altenhofen (2:59), (145) Williamsburg’s Phoenix Gryp won by forfeit, (155) Williamsburg’s Kimora Owens won by forfeit, (170) Williamsburg’s Lilly Ness won by forfeit, (190) Jensen pinned Williamsburg’s Lyndsay Murray (0:40), (235) Wolfe won by forfeit, (100) double forfeit, (105) VeDepo won by decision over Williamsburg’s Anya Rivera (4-2), (110) T. Richards won by forfeit, (120) Williamsburg’s Ava Garcia pinned K. Richards (2:50), (125) Williamsburg’s Keston Spratt pinned Mahoney (1:56), (130, extra) Keller pinned Williamsburg’s Mya Simmons (3:30), and (130, extra) Williamsburg’s Simmons won by decision over Gabrielle Jedlicka (6-0).
Comments from
Coach Jake Munson
“We had a quick turnaround from the Dan Gable Donnybrook last week into the Williamsburg Invitational on Monday and it showed as we had a poorer showing overall as a team than we expected. We responded well and wrestled much better on Thursday with a tie against Williamsburg (lost on tie-breaker criteria) and a loss to Prairie where we won five matches and Prairie won six matches. We continued to show improvement on Saturday by beating the same Williamsburg squad by 15 points before losing a close dual to Dallas Center Grimes and tying with Linn-Mar (again losing on tie-breaker criteria).”
Munson said this is a tough stretch of the season for the lady Spartans, “and I’m excited to see our team building momentum and wrestling better from meet to meet. The energy and effort in the practice room continues to be strong. Our team culture is in a great place. The high school wrestling season is a grind both physically and mentally and our girls have stayed positive through the ups and downs. Our girls support each other both on and off the mat and that is such a huge aspect to continuing to improve over the course of the season.”
Notable performances already this season
“We’ve had some veterans stepping up for our program as of late. Junior 105 lb. wrestler Kara VeDepo went 8-0 this past week including winning Monday’s tournament and picking up five dual meet victories for us this week. McKenna Rogers, a sophomore returning state place winner, came back from an injury and moved up from her 110 lb. weight class to beat a state-ranked opponent at 115 lbs. Senior Kendall Jensen went 3-0 this past Saturday bumping between the 170 lb. and 190 lb. weight classes to help our program. Both of our captains (Junior) Olivia Bonnema and (Senior) Kate Richards have helped lead our team improvement this past week as well. We’ve had several other girls battling back from illness and injury to help the team however they can. We feel good about our team as we head into the Prairie Invitational on Saturday.”
Upcoming events
Saturday, Dec. 16 – At Prairie, Cedar Rapids’ tourney, 9:00 a.m.
Thursday, Dec. 21 – At Anamosa vs. Anamosa, Central DeWitt, and West Liberty, 6:00 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 4 – At South Tama vs. South Tama and Marion, 6:00 p.m.
Olivia Bonnema visits with a trio of little Lady Spartan wrestlers during Youth Night recognition Thursday, Dec. 7. Bonnema, a junior and varsity captain, mentors the young wrestlers.