The Ankeny girls’ wrestling team was assigned to the Class 2A regional site at Cedar Rapids Jefferson along with seven squads from eastern Iowa.
The long trip on Friday to the “City of Five Seasons” didn’t seem to bother coach Dustin Roland’s team.
Ankeny crowned five individual champions, had four other girls qualify for state via runner-up finishes, and captured the team crown with 210.5 points. Cedar Rapids Prairie was a distant second in the eight-team field with 186.
“We had a great night as nine of our athletes punched their tickets to state,” said Roland, whose team won a second straight regional championship. “As always, that means five athletes who we care deeply about are heartbroken and will be staying home. Jaedyn Stites, Audri Headrick, Mady Postma, Sofia Romesburg and Aysia Moser are a huge part of our program, and we would like to personally thank them for their time and effort this season.”
Ankeny’s Lauren Watson at 105 pounds, Elyse Engebretson at 125, Hayden Bratland at 140, Jammie Krah at 145 and Haylee McGrew at 155 each won an individual title. They all recorded pins in the finals.
Zoe Sullivan at 100, Nora Bockes at 110, Trudy Haag at 120 and Kaylie Staples at 235 each qualified for state by placing second.
“Kaylie may have had the most exciting win of the evening as it was the last match of the tournament, and all eyes were on her,” Roland said. “She somehow was able to fight off her back twice as a very undersized heavyweight and ended up getting a fall in the third period.”
Bratland won her second consecutive crown. She pinned Addison Applehans of Anamosa in 2 minutes 33 seconds to raise her record to 38-1.
“Hayden did her thing and will be looking to continue her dominating run next week,” Roland said.
McGrew remained unbeaten by recording a pair of falls in a combined 2:05. In the finals, she pinned Peyton Van Dyke of Iowa City Liberty in 1:36 to improve to 30-0.
“Haylee is on a mission in her final season,” Roland said. “She will be wrestling at the Xtream Arena for the fourth time in her career, and she wants to go out on top.”
Watson also notched two falls to win a title. She pinned Taylor Cavanh of Iowa City Liberty in 5:45 to lift her mark to 28-11.
“Lauren wrestled smart all night and was able to secure a regional championship,” Roland said.
Krah had a pair of technical falls before pinning Hadley Frater of Anamosa in 1:22. She is now 31-9 on the season.
“Jammie is a special type of athlete,” Roland said. “She knocked off three tough upperclassmen to claim her first regional title. She may just be a freshman, but we look forward to her throwing down with anybody.”
Engebretson pinned Kaitlyn Raue of Iowa City Liberty in 1:40 to claim the second regional crown of her career. She raised her record to 40-5.
“Elyse looked solid all night and will be making her third and final trip (to state),” Roland said. “We have some lofty goals for her next week in Iowa City.”
Bockes reached the finals before dropping an 11-6 decision to Kate Seery of Linn-Mar (Marion). She is now 17-9.
“Nora looked much better than we have seen over the last month,” Roland said. “She was beating the top-ranked girl before giving up a last-second score to finish second. We are looking forward to seeing how deep of a run she can make next week.”
Both Haag and Staples lost in the finals and then had to win a wrestle-back match for a true second place. Sullivan’s path to the state tournament was even more difficult–she had to win three consolation matches after losing in the semifinals.
Haag dropped an 11-9 decision to Ally Jelinek of Linn-Mar in the title match. She then posted a 14-4 major decision over Thierrina Wolotoh of Cedar Rapids Jefferson to improve to 37-6.
“Trudy also let a championship bid slip away in the last few seconds of her finals match, but she was able to regroup and win a true wrestle back to make her third trip to state,” Roland said.
Staples was pinned by Emelia Reyes of Cedar Rapids Prairie in 2:55 in the finals. She then pinned Lydia Ahlrichs of Anamosa in 4:38 to lift her mark to 28-20.
“The last part of this season has been a growing up experience for Kaylie as she had doubts about the weight class, but ultimately, she trusted coach (Michael) Tarin’s suggestion, and it paid off for her,” Roland said.
Sullivan, meanwhile, lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Elizabeth Burns of Cedar Rapids Prairie. She then recorded a pair of falls in the consolation bracket before edging Brooke Walrath of Linn-Mar, 18-15, to raise her record to 26-12.
“Zoe just recently made the cut down to 100, and it paid off big time for her,” Roland said. “She is tough on top, and it paid off tonight.”
Placing third for Ankeny were Headrick at 130 and Postma at 135. Postma ends the season at 32-12, while Headrick finishes with a 20-13 mark.
The state tournament will be held on Feb. 6-7 in Coralville.