Ankeny’s Hayden Bratland and Haylee McGrew are both headed to the semifinals of the girls’ state wrestling tournament on Friday.
Bratland and McGrew each won three matches on Thursday at Xtream Arena in Coralville, helping Ankeny move into fourth place heading into the final day of the meet.
“Up and down, it was an emotional day. But we ended with some big wins!” said Ankeny coach Dustin Roland. “We need to find four more in the morning.”
Top-ranked Decorah leads the field with 79 points, 15 more than Cedar Falls. No. 10 Raccoon River-Northwest is in third place with 60 points, one more than No. 4 Ankeny.
The fifth-seeded McGrew posted a 4-2 decision over No. 4 Emmalee Spurgeon of Pella in the quarterfinals at 155 pounds. She avenged a loss to Spurgeon in the final of a super regional meet last week.
“The nerves haven’t really hit me yet,” said McGrew, a junior. “It might later.”
McGrew (32-2) opened the tournament with a pair of falls in a combined 1 minute 31 seconds.
“I was pretty confident,” McGrew said. “I knew the first girl (Meredith Crawford of West Marshall). I had wrestled her a couple different times at tournaments.”
The sixth-seeded Bratland, meanwhile, rolled to a 13-1 major decision over Riley Weiler of Central Lyon/George-Little Rock in the quarterfinals at 140. Thanks to a pair of upsets, she has yet to face an opponent seeded higher than 14th.
“I was hoping I could make it to the semifinals,” said Bratland. “Maybe, if I can scrape together enough courage, I can get to the finals.”
Like McGrew, Bratland (37-3) pinned her first two foes in the opening period.
“I felt like I was just able to do my stuff,” Bratland said. “I was nervous because I’m a freshman, and I’ve never been to a big tournament like this that is just for girls. But it’s cool. I had wrestled the (first two girls) before, and that helped me.”
Both Bratland and McGrew will face huge challenges in the semifinals. Bratland will meet No. 2 Shaylee Sutherland of Spencer (44-3), while McGrew will face No. 1 Skylar Slade of Southeast Polk (46-0).
Ankeny also has two wrestlers alive in the consolation bracket. No. 11 Nora Bockes at 110 and No. 2 Dana Cleveland at 145 both won three of their four matches on Thursday.
Cleveland (40-2) rebounded with a pair of falls after being upset by freshman Layna Demoss of Benton in a second-round match. Cleveland escaped in the final seconds to force overtime, but Moss then got a takedown in the extra period that led to a pin in 6:14.
Bockes (36-8) also lost a close match in the second round, dropping a 3-1 decision to No. 6 Kiersten Swart of Mount Vernon. But she bounced back to win her next two matches.
“It was tough to lose something like five matches by two points or less, but this tournament is so wide open since it’s one class,” Roland said. “We just have to take it one match at a time and score first, which we did not do in those five close matches.”
Ankeny went 6-2 and had five pins in the opening round, including one by Lauren Watson at 100. Trudy Haag at 115 and Melanie Martinez at 235 each lost their first match, but then rebounded with a fall in the consolation bracket.
Elyse Engebretson went 2-2 on the day at 120. She recorded a pair of major decisions.
“Elyse was in a brutal weight class, and there is no doubt in my mind she is right there with some of the best when she wrestles to her capabilities for 6 minutes,” Roland said. “Lauren came in this season with zero expectations and walked away with a much better understanding of what it will take to be on the podium next year. Her attitude was amazing all year, and we are very excited for her future. Trudy is on the cusp of being great, and I have no doubt she is going to put in the time in the offseason to make some jumps. And Melanie was able to pick up a win and help score some points for our team to stay in the top 10.”
Here are Ankeny’s match-by-match results from Thursday:
100: Lauren Watson pinned Lily Webster (Colfax-Mingo), 3:33; was pinned by Harley Tobin (Algona), 3:05, lost to Kylee Adams (Newton), 9-6.
110: Nora Bockes pinned Jackee Rodriguez-Acosta (Southeast Polk), 3:10; lost to Kiersten Swart (Mount Vernon), 3-1; beat Angelina Roling (Highland), 9-1; beat Avery Buhr (Valley), 7-1.
115: Trudy Haag lost to Annabelle Rohret (Cedar Falls), 10-9; pinned Hannah Park (Davenport), 4:47; lost to Natalie Keller (Raccoon River-Northwest), 3-2.
120: Elyse Engebretson beat Tegan Robertson (Ridge View), 19-10; lost to Grace Storjohann (AP-GC), 3-2; beat Jordin Derr (Independence), 8-0; was pinned by Avaeh Smith (Council Bluffs Lewis Central), 1:30.
140: Hayden Bratland pinned Addi Hudek (Manson Northwest Webster), 1:35; pinned Anna Johnson (Cedar Falls), 1:13; beat Riley Weiler (Central Lyon/George-Little Rock), 13-1.
145: Dana Cleveland pinned Halle Mosaquites (Sergeant Bluff-Luton), :42; was pinned by Layna Demoss (Benton), 6:14; pinned Jenah Gray (Dallas Center-Grimes), :56; pinned Lucy Kohnen (Manson Northwest Webster), 2:39.
155: Haylee McGrew pinned Meredith Crawford (West Marshall), 1:09; pinned Aria Rensink (Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley), :22; beat Emmalee Spurgeon (Pella), 4-2.
235: Melanie Martinez was pinned by Jocelyn Buffum (Missouri Valley), 3:23; pinned Emelia Reyes (Cedar Rapids Prairie), 1:21; was pinned by Katelyn Brokus (Dubuque Hempstead), 5:50.
