A loss to the eventual champions was the only blemish for the Ankeny girls’ wrestling team on Thursday at the Battle of Waterloo.
Ankeny defeated its first two opponents in Bracket C competition before dropping a 51-29 decision to Cedar Falls. The Tigers went on to beat Bettendorf and Waverly-Shell Rock to win the tournament.
Coach Dustin Roland’s team then rebounded with wins over Osage, 42-39, and East Buchanan, 45-36, to capture the Pool 2 Bracket. Ankeny placed fourth overall in the 24-team field.
“Our girls really showed some character today after taking a beating from a very good Cedar Falls squad,” said Roland, whose squad is now 13-1 on the season. “We had won 23 duals in a row and it would have been easy to feel sorry for ourselves, but they put their heads down and got back to work. We had a number of girls gut out some matches in those last two duals.”
Ankeny opened the tournament with an 81-0 victory over Waterloo East, winning 10 of the 14 matches by forfeit. Roland’s team then recorded six falls in a 54-30 win over Ames.
Ankeny had five more falls in the loss to Cedar Falls, but it wasn’t enough.
In the match against Osage, Nora Bockes got a fall at 115 pounds to tie the score at 36-36 with two matches left. After Osage won the next match to take a 39-36 lead, Elyse Engebretson pinned Emma Evens in 1 minute 15 seconds at 125 to give Ankeny the victory.
“Three ladies came through in a big way against Osage,” Roland said. “Lauren Watson was able to go feet to back and record a fall with 1 second left, Mallorie McGuire recorded a huge fall in the third period, and Trudy Haag was able to overcome a large gash in her head and keep us in the dual by only losing by a decision against a highly-ranked girl which set up the fall by Elyse to win the dual.”
Against East Buchanan, Ankeny won the first five matches to build a commanding 30-0 advantage. Bockes later posted an 8-5 decision over Kaitlyn Krum to seal the win, giving her team a 45-18 lead with three matches left.
“Nora is wrestling through some health issues and has proven to be a true warrior for us this season,” Roland said.
Bockes went 4-0 with two falls on the day, and so did second-ranked Haylee McGrew at 155. No. 4 Hayden Bratland went 5-0 with four pins at 140, and No. 6 Dana Cleveland went 5-0 with three falls at 145.
“Bratland, Cleveland and McGrew continue to be the heart of of lineup as all three went undefeated today,” Roland said.
The fifth-ranked Watson went 4-1 at 100. McGuire went 3-1 with two falls and Josie Bishop went 3-2 with two pins while competing at both 170 and 190.
“I have to give a shoutout to assistant coach Michael Tarin, who was behind the scenes all day figuring out matchups and ways to win close duals,” Roland said. “Also, I am so proud to be blessed to coach every one of the girls as they are giving us everything we can ask for. We have some girls who are banged up and looking forward to Christmas break, but for now our schedule does not get any easier as we face a very tough Racoon River team on Tuesday.”
