The Ankeny girls’ wrestling team is still trying to figure out how to beat Raccoon River-Northwest.
The top two squads in Class 2A collided for the fourth time this season on Tuesday in the CIML Conference Invitational at Northview Middle School. And, once again, No. 1 Raccoon River-Northwest came out on top, claiming the team title with 238.5 points.
No. 2 Ankeny, the two-time defending champion, took second with 218.5 points. No. 6 Southeast Polk was third in the six-team field with 207.5.
“There was some good and some not so good (results),” said Ankeny coach Dustin Roland. “Overall, we wrestled fairly well but left some points out there, which ended up being the difference between first and second.”
Raccoon River-Northwest won a dual meet at Ankeny, 37-33, on Jan. 7. Roland’s squad also finished behind Raccoon River-Northwest in the Central Iowa Kickoff on Nov. 21 at Nevada and in the Dan Gable Donnybrook two weeks later at Coralville.
On Tuesday, Raccoon River-Northwest won six individual titles–including three of the five head-to-head matchups against Ankeny in the finals. Southeast Polk had four champions, while Ankeny finished with three.
Top-ranked Hayden Bratland defended her crown at 140 pounds, while No. 6 Trudy Haag at 120 and No. 1 Haylee McGrew at 155 also won championships.
“We went 3-6 in the finals which is disappointing, but we weren’t favored in many of the losses,” Roland said. “Haylee, Hayden and Trudy all wrestled well to take home titles.”
Bratland recorded a fall over No. 4 Naomi Templeman of Raccoon River-Northwest in 1 minute 35 seconds to earn a repeat crown. She also pinned Templeman in last year’s final.
McGrew notched three consecutive falls to remain unbeaten on the season, spending a total of just 2:18 on the mat. She pinned No. 12 Gwen Wright of Valley in 1:07 to capture the title.
Earlier on Tuesday, McGrew was named a finalist for the Dan Gable Ms. Wrestler of the Year by IAwrestle. She is one of 15 girls in contention for the Class 2A award.
Haag matched Bratland with a pair of pins in the tournament, one of them in just 20 seconds in the quarterfinals. She then posted a 6-3 decision over No. 8 Izzy Duncan of Raccoon River-Northwest in the finals.
Ankeny placed second at six other weights. Earning runner-up honors were No. 8 Lauren Watson at 105, No. 2 Nora Bockes at 110, Ariana Clinton at 115, No. 4 Elyse Engebretson at 125, No. 11 Mady Postma at 135 and No. 6 Jammie Krah at 145.
Both Bockes and Engebretson were seeking a third consecutive CIML title, but lost to opponents from Southeast Polk in the finals. Bockes was pinned by No. 9 London Vermillion in 5:55, while Engebretson was pinned by No. 5 Addie Nelson in 5:35.
Watson dropped a 15-1 major decision to No. 1 Katie Biscoglia of Raccoon River-Northwest. She was pinned by Biscoglia in last year’s 100-pound final.
Watson won by a 16-0 technical fall over teammate Zoe Sullivan in the semifinals–one of several intrasquad matchups in the tournament. Sullivan went on to earn a third-place finish.
Postma pinned teammate Liz Makovec in 55 seconds in the semifinals. She was then pinned by No. 6 Edie Collins of Raccoon River-Northwest in 1:03.
Krah pinned teammate Reagan Stephenson in the second round before losing by a technical fall, 17-0, to No. 2 Skyler Slade of Southeast Polk. Like Sullivan, Stephenson went on to earn a third-place finish.
Clinton pinned No. 5 Jackee Rodriguez-Acosta of Southeast Polk in 3:10 in the semifinals. She was then pinned by No. 4 Natalie Keller of Raccoon River-Northwest in 2:55.
“Ari won a big match to get into the finals,” Roland said.
Ankeny also got third-place finishes from Audri Headrick at 130, No. 11 Aysia Moser at 190 and No. 10 Kaylie Staples at 235.
“Most of our varsity is off now until regionals (on Jan. 31),” Roland said. “A few varsity girls will compete Saturday and Monday. Our goal of bringing home a team trophy is still very much alive, and we are happy with where we are sitting.”
