Saturday was another amazing day for the Ankeny girls’ wrestling program.
Third-ranked Ankeny remained unbeaten by defeating four opponents to win the Holiday Duals at Dallas Center-Grimes. Coach Dustin Roland’s team improved to 11-0 on the season.
Ankeny posted wins over Woodward-Granger (42-36), Valley (54-24), Vinton-Shellsburg (51-24) and Dallas Center-Grimes (57-23). it was the team’s second victory over Valley in the last 12 days.
The win over Vinton-Shellsburg, the No. 9 team in Class 1A, was the de facto championship match.
“I was happy with the team’s performance,” said Ankeny assistant coach Michael Tarin. “We started a little slow, and Woodward-Granger came ready to battle. I think that was a wake-up call to the girls, and they were able to rebound for the next rounds and come away with the team title. Our top JV team was also able to be in the duals and came away with a lot of good varsity experience. It’s always nice when we can have our varsity and JV at the same meet.”
Seven Ankeny wrestlers went a perfect 4-0 on the day, including top-ranked Hayden Bratland at 140 pounds. She had two falls and won another match by forfeit.
In her only match to go the distance, Bratland posted a 4-2 decision over Chloe Sanders of Vinton-Shellsburg, who is ranked No. 1 at 145 in Class 1A. Sanders had posted a 9-4 decision over Bratland in the semifinals of the Dan Gable Donnybrook on Dec. 6 at Coralville.
“Hayden was able to avenge her lone loss on the season against a very good and nationally ranked wrestler,” Tarin said. “Like last time, she was able to get the early takedown in the match. She did a great job sticking to the game plan and continuing to wrestle through situations. That’s a really big win for her.”
No. 5 Trudy Haag at 120 and Audri Headrick at 130 both won all four of their matches by fall.
“Audri got her first varsity dual action, and she made the most of it,” Tarin said.
Haag recorded all of her pins in the first period, three of them in 31 seconds or less. One of the quick falls came against Ellie Weets of Vinton-Shellsburg, who is ranked fifth at 115 in Class 1A.
“Trudy had a great day,” Tarin said.
No. 4 Lauren Watson at 105, No. 8 Elyse Engebretson at 125 and No. 1 Haylee McGrew at 155 each went 4-0 with three falls on the day. Kaylie Staples went 4-0 with a fall at 190.
“Elyse and Haylee continue inching closer to a milestone both have been working hard toward,” Tarin said. “Kaylie was also able to avenge a previous loss this season and showed a good amount of improvement as she progresses through her freshman season.
“Overall, we’re going into break on a good performance but looking forward to the break and a chance to recover, rest, and get the lineup healthy,” he added.