‘We would be selling ourselves short’: Ankeny girls look to win title in 4th season

The arm of Ankeny’s Nora Bockes is raised after she pinned Valley’s Avery Buhr in a Class 2A quarterfinal match at 110 pounds in last year’s state tournament at Xtream Arena in Coralville. Bockes went on to earn runner-up honors, helping her team to a second-place finish. The three-time state qualifier and two-time placewinner is back for her senior season. (Photo courtesy of Dylan Shoemaker)

The fourth season for the Ankeny girls’ wrestling program promises to be another exciting one.

Seven state qualifiers are back from a team that earned runner-up honors in last year’s Class 2A state tournament, led by defending state champion Hayden Bratland.

“We return the second-most state tournament points behind Raccoon River-Northwest,” said Ankeny coach Dustin Roland, whose team scored 143 points at last year’s meet–13 fewer than its CIML Conference rival. “Last year our goal was to bring home a trophy, and we did that. We would be selling ourselves short if anything other than winning a state title was our goal.”

Ankeny posted a 17-3 dual record a year ago, including a 3-2 mark in the conference. The only losses came to Cedar Falls, Raccoon River-Northwest and Southeast Polk in early January.

There are 58 girls on this year’s roster.

“The first week of practice is always a challenge with all the extra stuff that goes into getting the season going and getting everyone on the same page, but the girls were great in understanding that,” Roland said. “Our second week started on Monday with some live wrestling and longer conditioning. It was a little shock for some of the newer girls, but I was happy with our effort.”

Ankeny’s Hayden Bratland controls Shaylee Sutherland of Spencer en route to a 10-0 major decision in last year’s Class 2A championship match at 140 pounds. Bratland became the second state champ in program history after teammate Elyse Engebretson won a crown at 125 about 30 minutes earlier. She enters her junior season with a career record of 81-5. (Photo by Evan Reiter)

Bratland, a two-time state placewinner, is the team’s top returning wrestler. Three-time qualifiers Nora Bockes and Trudy Haag are also back along with two-time qualifier Lauren Watson and three other returning qualifiers–Jammie Krah, Kaylie Staples and Zoe Sullivan.

Bratland, a junior, boasts a career record of 81-5. She is a two-time conference champion.

After going 39-4 and placing third as a freshman, Bratland went 42-1 last year and cruised to the 140-pound title. She pinned two of her opponents at the state tournament and outscored the other two by a 23-1 margin for a pair of major decisions.

Bratland became the second champ in program history after teammate Elyse Engebretson captured the crown at 125 about 30 minutes earlier at Xtream Arena in Coralville. Engebretson is now competing for Sioux Falls.

Bockes is also a two-time placewinner. She finished seventh at 110 as a sophomore before taking runner-up honors at the same weight last season, when she finished with a 20-10 mark.

“We are always looking for girls to step up and lead,” Roland said. “As our two highest returning placewinners, we are hopeful that Hayden and Nora will take on a more vocal role.”

Bockes and fellow senior Haag are both closing in on the 100-victory career mark–a milestone that Bratland will likely surpass this season as well. Bockes boasts a career record of 96-29, while Haag is 95-32.

Ankeny’s Trudy Haag works for a fall against Dubuque Senior’s Zyla Wright during a Class 2A first-round match at 120 pounds in last year’s state tournament. Haag went on to earn a fifth-place finish. (Photo courtesy of Dylan Shoemaker)

Haag placed fifth and went 40-8 at 120 as a junior. She won a conference title, helping her team to a second-place finish behind Raccoon River-Northwest.

“Trudy is looking to improve on her fifth-place finish,” Roland said.

Watson and Krah are the other returning placewinners. Watson placed third and went 33-12 at 105, improving her career mark to 70-22.

Krah, meanwhile, took seventh and went 34-11 at 145. She won a title at the regional meet to help Ankeny to the team crown.

Sullivan is back after going 26-14 at 100. Staples compiled a 28-22 record at 235.

However, Staples is expected to miss the first half of the season due to an injury. Another varsity returnee, Mady Postma, suffered an ACL injury in August and will miss the entire campaign.

Audrey Headrick, Asia Moser and Jaedyn Stites are the other returnees who competed at the regional meet.

Ankeny’s Lauren Watson tries to turn Cedar Rapids Prairie’s Marie Burns onto her back during a Class 2A first-round match at 105 pounds in last year’s state tournament. Watson posted a 10-5 decision and went on to earn a third-place finish. (Photo by Dan Holm)

“I have a (projected) lineup in my head, but we definitely have some holes to figure out as we hold our wrestle-offs,” Roland said.

Ankeny will open the season on Tuesday by traveling to Waverly-Shell Rock for a double dual meet. Decorah will also compete.

Roland’s squad will travel to Valley on Thursday for its conference opener before competing in the Central Iowa Kickoff on Saturday at Nevada.

“Let me be clear that (a state championship) is our on-the-mat goal while we have bigger goals as a program to be better people in general,” Roland said. “We are doing that by being accountable, learning to advocate for ourselves, and learning how to fight through the struggle.”