The Ankeny girls’ wrestling team crowned four individual champions and placed second overall in the Ogden Invitational on Saturday.
Osage won the 27-team event with 231.5 points. The Green Devils were led by sisters Ainsley and Gable Hemann, who won titles at 100 and 110 pounds, respectively.
Ankeny racked up 209.5 points to easily finish ahead of third-place South Tama, which totaled 167 points.
“We had a pretty good day overall,” said Ankeny coach Dustin Roland.
Ankeny’s Hayden Bratland at 140 and Haylee McGrew at 155 each defended the crown that they won a year ago. Teammates Lauren Watson at 105 and Jammie Krah at 145 also captured titles.
Bratland (27-1) recorded three straight falls before posting a 12-8 decision over top-ranked Shaylee Sutherland of Spencer (32-2) in the finals, defeating Sutherland in the title match for the second straight year. However, Sutherland pinned Bratland in the semifinals of last year’s state tournament.
“It definitely felt good to finally get to prove myself and get my No. 1 ranking back,” said Bratland, a sophomore. “I think the key was just to be confident in my wrestling and wrestle smart.”
McGrew (19-0) matched Bratland with pins in her first three matches. She then remained unbeaten with an 11-5 decision over Haley Glade of Earlham (15-2) in a matchup of the No. 1 wrestlers in Classes 2A and 1A, respectively.
Krah (23-7) won all four of her matches by fall. In the finals, the freshman pinned Audrey Chapman of Osage (33-12) in 2 minutes 42 seconds.
“Jammie dominated her bracket,” Roland said.
Watson (20-8) advanced to the finals by recording her third straight pin–this one against Kylee Adams of Newton in 3:17. She then posted a 15-8 decision over Mercedes Ponce of Perry (26-3) to win the crown.
“Lauren beat the No. 2 girl in 2A in the semis and then beat the No. 4 girl in 1A, who has beaten her at least three or four times over the last two years,” Roland said.
Ankeny got a runner-up finish from Elyse Engebretson at 125. Engebretson (28-3) reached the finals before being pinned by Destiny Brown of Ridge View (27-2) in 4:19.
“Elyse was working a major decision on the second-ranked girl, a returning state finalist, when she made a mistake that cost her the match,” Roland said. “It was not a great ending, but I feel good about a (possible) rematch.”
Trudy Haag at 120 (28-4) and Mady Postma at 135 (24-10) each placed third for Ankeny. Haag was pinned by Malyn Davis of Algona in 4:12 in the quarterfinals, but later pinned Davis in 4:59 in the third-place match.
“Trudy avenged a loss to the girl who has beaten her twice this year,” Roland said. “Postma lost (in the opening round) and battled her way back to third place (by winning five straight matches).”
Ankeny got sixth-place finishes from Bradlynn Virchow at 130 (11-6) and Aysia Moser at 190 (18-11). Kaylie Staples (21-15) took eighth at 235.
Moser posted a 6-5 decision in overtime against No. 3 Cadence Heggen of Boone in the quarterfinals. She was later pinned by Heggen in the fifth-place match in 3:45.
Ankeny’s Nora Bockes (11-6) recorded a fall in the opening round at 115 before dropping a 6-5 decision to Cate Erickson of Perry in the quarterfinals. She then forfeited her way out of the consolation bracket.
“Nora got a couple of matches in and got clipped by a pretty good girl but two matches was the plan for her going in as she tries to work her way back to being 100 percent,” Roland said.
Ankeny will travel to Urbandale on Tuesday for a CIML Conference dual meet against the J-Hawks.