ANAMOSA — The Lady Spartan varsity wrestlers finished 12th out of 19 teams represented Saturday in Anamosa’s Girls Tournament. Cedar Falls won the tourney with 229 team points followed by Decorah (220), East Buchanan (192), Vinton-Shellsburg (180), and Bettendorf (174). Mount Vernon was seventh (119), Independence took eighth (116), Anamosa was tenth (79), and Center Point-Urbana was 17th (28) to round out the WaMaC competitors.
Kara VeDepo finished second at 100 pounds pinning Cedar Falls’ Andrea Williams (1:12), Anamosa’s Emily Fritz (2:14), and Bettendorf’s Olivia Hernandez (4:55) before falling to Decorah’s Chloe Sheffield in the 1st place match.
Haiden Wolfe placed sixth at 235 pinning Linn-Mar’s Rylee Passmore in 56 seconds (round 1) before falling to Iowa Valley’s Breanna Peach in the quarterfinals, Prairie’s Emelia Reyes in the third consolation round, and Cedar Rapids Jefferson’s Avery Tisor in the 5th place match.
Olivia Bonnema rounded out Solon’s place winners with a seventh-place finish at 140 pounds. Bonnema pinned Jefferson’s Emma York (4:52) in the second round, fell to East Buchanan’s Andelyn Cabalka in the quarterfinals, rebounded to pin CPU’s Irelan Brown (1:46) in the fourth consolation round, dropped a 9-5 decision to Bettendorf’s Izzy Giza in the fifth consolation round, and pinned Pleasant Valley’s Cassi Paustian (2:12) to win the 7th place match.
Kate Richards (115 pounds) pinned Pleasant Valley’s Leah Barr (1:12) in the first round, Gabrielle Jedlicka (125) pinned Iowa City High’s Quinn Price in 42 seconds in the first consolation round, Lucianna Miller (145) pinned Mount Vernon’s Alina Mallie (1:25) in the first consolation round, and Kendall Jensen (155) pinned Anamosa’s Zoey Sarsfield (1:45) in the third consolation round.
“This was the toughest tournament field we’ll see outside of the State Tournament with five of the top eight teams in the state in the tournament field,” said Coach Jake Munson. “We were shorthanded, forfeiting five of the 14 weights, but the girls competed well against tough competition. Kara VeDepo avenged an earlier loss to a state ranked opponent at the 100 lb. weight class by leading her opponent in the match 11-0 before pinning her in the third period. It is good to see that level of improvement from Kara and the rest of the team. Haiden Wolfe continues to wrestle hard for us at the 235 lb. weight class as a freshman. She finished 6th in a tough heavyweight field featuring the top two ranked wrestlers in the state at that weight class. Olivia Bonnema finished 7th in a crowded 140 lb. field battling through back pain to beat some quality opponents.”