The Ankeny girls’ wrestling team will find out in the next couple of days where it stands among the state’s elite squads.
Ankeny coach Dustin Roland was hoping that his team would be tested on Tuesday, but that didn’t turn out to be the case. Roland’s squad recorded seven falls and won five other matches by forfeit to beat Valley, 72-12, in its CIML Conference opener at Johnston.
“It was nice to start the conference dual season,” said Roland, whose team improved its overall dual-meet record to 3-0. “Unfortunately, Valley had some of their better wrestlers out, so we didn’t get to see some matchups we were excited for.”
Ankeny got a pin from fourth-ranked Lauren Watson at 100 pounds to open the meet. Presley Sullivan then followed with another fall at 105.
“Lauren got us started off with a pin, which is always a good thing for momentum in a dual,” said Roland, whose team is ranked fourth by the Iowa Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association and fifth by IAWrestle. “And Presley continues to improve in her young career.”
Elyse Engebretson and Emma Daggett later had two more falls at 125 and 130, respectively.
“That’s our North Polk duo,” Roland said. “They both had first-period pins.”
No. 4 Hayden Bratland at 140, No. 2 Dana Cleveland at 145 and No. 3 Haley McGrew at 155 then needed a total of less than 2 minutes to record three more falls.
“Those three continue to be the heart of our lineup,” Roland said.
Valley’s only wins came at 110 and 170, where the Tigers notched a pair of pins.
“I would have liked to have seen (Nora) Bockes, (Trudy) Haag, (Lily) Hans, (Josie) Bishop and (Melanie) Martinez get matches, but that was out of our control,” Roland said.
Ankeny will compete in the Dan Gable Donnybrook on Thursday and Friday at Xtream Arena in Coralville. The tournament will feature 43 teams from six different states.
“It is going to be a great test for us to see where we are,” Roland said. “This is a great tournament to get acclimated with the venue that will host our state tournament in February.”
Here are the match-by-match results from Tuesday’s meet:
Ankeny 72, Valley 12
100: Watson pinned Brennecke, 1:54; 105: Sullivan pinned Blumberg, 5:15; 110: Buhr (V) pinned Fife, 1:44; 115: Bockes won by forfeit; 120: Haag won by forfeit; 125: Engebretson pinned Knox, :36; 130: Daggett pinned Spier, 1:49; 135: Hans won by forfeit; 140: Bratland pinned Stodden, :45; 145: Cleveland pinned Bierma, :36; 155: McGrew pinned Wright, :38; 170: Krell (V) pinned McGuire, 1:42; 190: Bishop won by forfeit; 235: Martinez won by forfeit.
