The Ankeny girls’ wrestling team is off to an impressive start.
Third-ranked Ankeny opened its season on Tuesday by defeating three other squads in a quadrangular at Ankeny Centennial. The featured bout was a showdown against No. 4 Waverly-Shell Rock, which Ankeny won by a 49-30 margin.
Coach Dustin Roland’s team began the night with a 59-18 win over SWAT (Southwest Area Team). Ankeny later closed out the meet with a 57-21 triumph over Des Moines Public Schools.
“I’m very happy,” said Roland, who earned his 100th career victory against Waverly-Shell Rock. “It’s amazing that we’re three years in and how young and green our team is. It’s really exciting for the future.”
Ankeny had 12 pins on the night, including five in the win over SWAT. Second-ranked Nora Bockes recorded three of the falls at 115 pounds.
“That’s the difference (between) wins and losses in duals,” Roland said. “That’s the name of the game for girls’ wrestling so the first team that can figure out how to not give up pins is going to be really, really good. We’re working on that.”
No. 8 Elyse Engebretson at 125/130, No. 1 Haylee McGrew at 155, and Sophia Romesburg at 170 each had two falls for Ankeny.
“It’s nice to get back in the swing of things,” said McGrew. “I think we showed up pretty well. The wrestlers really showed what they need to work on, and also what they’re really good at. I’m excited to get everyone back in the wrestling room and see where they take that.”
McGrew won a battle of highly-ranked wrestlers against Waverly-Shell Rock’s Amalia Djoumessi. After a scoreless first period, McGrew took the top position for the second period, then turned the No. 3 Djoumessi onto her back and pinned her in 2 minutes 30 seconds.
“There were some positions when we were both neutral and I took a shot I was definitely scared of cradles and stuff, so I was just trying to stay in good position,” said McGrew, who had earlier pinned SWAT’s Lilliana Tafoya in just 29 seconds. “I do feel more comfortable on top, especially right now with it being so early in the season. It feels good just to go to the basics of what I know.”
Romesburg was among the newcomers in Ankeny’s lineup.
“That’s what I was most excited about,” Roland said. “Obviously, the question mark we had was that we had four or five freshmen in the lineup. All of them wrestled pretty well, especially looking at Sophia–she came out and beat a ranked girl (from SWAT) and then won another match–so she’s got a bright future, as do the rest of them.”
Bockes trailed in her match against Waverly-Shell Rock’s Macy Tiedt before recording a fall in 2:36. No. 10 Trudy Haag then did likewise in the following match at 120, overcoming an early deficit to pin Julia Stough in 4:52.
“I told them after that second dual being able to wrestle No. 3 against No. 4 night one, it was just a great test right out of the gate and our girls really rose to the occasion,” Roland said. “Obviously, we didn’t win every match–some girls lost some disappointing matches–but overall I was very pleased with our fight and our effort. Again, our goal is that if we have our best night tonight, we’re not doing a very good job. We escaped tonight with three victories over three pretty solid teams, and we’re just excited for the season. We’re having a lot of fun.”
The team joined Roland in celebrating his milestone victory.
“I’ve known Roland since my freshman year, so it’s really exciting to see him get that 100th win,” McGrew said. “It’s kind of heart-warming.”
Roland called it an achievement for his program.
“Obviously, you do something long enough, you pile up some victories,” he said. “Our coaches and wrestlers….obviously, we’re nothing without them.”
Ankeny will compete in the Central Iowa Kickoff on Saturday at Nevada.
Here are the match-by-match results from Tuesday’s meet:
Ankeny 59, SWAT 18
140: Bratland won by forfeit; 145: Krah won by forfeit; 155: McGrew pinned Tafoya, :29; 170: Romesburg pinned Beattie, 4:00; 190: Gerlock (S) pinned Staples, 5:19; 235: Peron (S) pinned Carvajal, :53; 100: Double forfeit; 105: Watson won by technical fall over Christensen, 19-2; 110: South (S) pinned Sullivan, 2:49; 115: Bockes pinned Fry, :52; 120: Haag won by forfeit; 125: Engebretson pinned Glade, :34; 130: Virchow pinned Groves, 4:00; 135: Postma won by forfeit.
Ankeny 49, Waverly-Shell Rock 30
145: Krah won by forfeit; 155: McGrew pinned Djoumessi, 2:30; 170: Stone (W) pinned Romesburg, 2:00; 190: Staples beat Ramirez, 9-1; 235: Carvajal won by forfeit; 100: Schwartz (W) won by forfeit; 105: Watson won by forfeit; 110: Doyle (W) pinned Sullivan, 3:04; 115: Bockes pinned Tiedt, 2:36; 120: Haag pinned J. Stough, 4:52; 125: Schult (W) pinned Clinton, 1:58; 130: Engebretson pinned Klein, :43; 135: L. Stough (W) pinned Postma, 2:45; 140: Bratland beat Miller, 8-4.
Ankeny 57, DMPS 21
155: McGrew won by forfeit; 170: Romesburg pinned Simmons, :21; 190: Staples won by forfeit; 235: Carvajal won by forfeit; 100: Gurisho (D) won by forfeit; 105: Watson won by forfeit; 110: Paw (D) pinned Sullivan, :47; 115: Bockes pinned Carnes, 2:59; 120: Stites pinned Elg, :51; 125: Engebretson won by forfeit; 130: Cherniss (D) beat Cole, 11-9; 135: Postma beat Standifer, 4-1; 140: Bratland won by forfeit; 145: Gaie (D) pinned Krah, 1:38.
