(Story by Stephen McDaniel)
After handling business in its season-opening triangular meet, the Ankeny girls’ wrestling team turned around on Thursday and flexed its muscles in the squad’s first CIML Conference dual of the season.
Ankeny walked into Valley High School and won 11 of 14 matches with seven wins by fall and four forfeits for a 66-15 victory over the West Des Moines team comprised of athletes from Valley and Dowling Catholic.
“Super proud of the girls that competed tonight,” said Ankeny coach Dustin Roland. “Our message beforehand was, ‘Hey, we’re the favorites here…go out, take care of business and move on to the next one,’ and that’s exactly what they did.”
Ankeny sees upside in freshmen Reagan Semrow and Mia Brager, but with the tandem just getting their feet wet at the varsity level, they’re bound to face some tough matches early on.
The Ankeny duo at 100 and 105 pounds were bested by the WDM tandem of Avery Headrick and Katarina Runyon by technical falls to open up the dual.
But once sophomore Zoe Sullivan stepped onto the mat at 110, the dual completely swayed in the favor of second-ranked Ankeny.
That spot would usually be deferred to Lauren Watson, who placed third at 105 in last year’s Class 2A state tournament, but she is overcoming an injury. However, Ankeny isn’t missing a beat with another returning state qualifier in Sullivan.
“Don’t sleep on Zoe Sullivan,” Roland said. “She’s been chomping at the bit to get some good competition and when we get her weight situated, she’ll be in the lineup sooner or later.
“Like Cal Ripken, you get a chance to get in the lineup, make something happen and 2,000-something games later he was still in. Zoe did everything we could ask of her when she gets her chance to get in the varsity lineup,” he added.
It took only 34 seconds for Sullivan to record a takedown and lock in a cradle for a fall over Layla Cruz.
Sullivan’s fall kicked off a run of three straight pins and eight consecutive victories for Ankeny.
Nora Bockes was quick to get a takedown against Caroline Craig at 115, and the senior standout worked her way to a fall at 1:19.
Sophomore Bradlynn Virchow continued to make the most of her varsity starts by recording another fall at 120. She got leg control over WDM’s Eden Fitzgerald, turned it into a takedown before also getting a cradle locked in for the pin at 1:25.
“I knew that Fitzgerald is pretty tough. She’s a freshman and she’s been wrestling a lot,” Roland said. “That was a question match for me that I was excited for coming into it. Brad did her thing that she’s done three matches in a row now. She secures that first takedown, gets to her cradle and ends the match.”
Sophomores Haley Togba and Jammie Krah both needed less than a minute to pick up back-to-back falls at 135 and 140.
Togba pinned Rowan Kaufman on the edge of the mat in 44 seconds before Krah recorded the shortest match of the night by pinning Kim Rhymes in 27 seconds.
Defending 140-pound state champion Hayden Bratland recorded multiple first-period takedowns before ultimately pinning Annabelle Grasmick in 1:29 at 145 to give Ankeny a commanding 48-10 lead.
The true match of the night for Ankeny came just two weight classes later with junior Aliayah Shade at 170.
Shade was mere inches away from getting pinned by Elly Wagner in the first period after giving up a takedown. She was able to avoid the fall, but fell into a hole with a takedown and a four-point near fall being surrendered.
“For her to fight off her back for almost a minute in the first period, then come back and get a fall against a really good wrestler,” Roland said. “That was probably the highlight of the night.”
In the second period, Shade recorded a takedown and was able to turn it into a fall at 2:56 as the last match wrestled on the night.
Sophomore Karlie Kruse (125), senior Trudy Haag (130), freshman Joyce Kat (190) and junior Aysia Moser (235) all received forfeit victories.
Outside of 100 and 105, the only other weight that favored WDM was at 155.
For years 155 was almost always a guaranteed victory for Ankeny behind former standout and two-time state runner-up Haylee McGrew, but that spot is now filled by sophomore Alexis Mkandawire.
Filling the shoes of McGrew is a tough task for anyone, but Ankeny knows there will be some growing pains as Mkandawire settles into the lineup.
She ultimately dropped her matchup with WDM’s Gwen Wright in an 18-2 technical fall.
“Alexis is still trying to figure things out, and she put in a lot of time and effort in the offseason,” Roland said. “Like I told her tonight, this is a marathon and not a sprint. We’re three days into a three-month season. We just look for her to continue to improve.”
Ankeny will be back in action on Saturday as it travels to Nevada to compete in the Central Iowa Kickoff.
Here are the match-by-match results from Thursday’s meet:
Ankeny 66, West Des Moines 15
100: Headrick (V) won by technical fall over Semrow, 21-3; 105: Runyon (V) won by technical fall over Brager, 18-1; 110: Sullivan pinned Cruz, :34; 115: Bockes pinned Craig, 1:19; 120: Virchow pinned Fitzgerald, 1:25; 125: Kruse won by forfeit; 130: Haag won by forfeit; 135: Togba pinned Kaufman, :44; 140: Krah pinned Rhymes, :27; 145: Bratland pinned Grasmick, 1:29; 155: Wright (V) won by technical fall over Mkandawire, 18-2; 170: Shade pinned Wagner, 2:56; 190: Kat won by forfeit; 235: Moser won by forfeit.
