Tuesday’s girls’ wrestling triangular meet at Ankeny Centennial turned into a pinning exhibition.
In the three round-robin dual meets between Ankeny, Cedar Falls and North Metro, all but three of the 32 matches that were contested resulted in falls.
In the end, Ankeny came away with a split on the night. Coach Dustin Roland’s team posted a 54-30 victory over North Metro, but dropped a 54-26 decision to Cedar Falls.
“I thought our bottom/mat wrestling was atrocious,” said Roland, whose team recorded eight falls but was also on the losing end of 13 pins. “We have to have a sense of urgency when we are on bottom, and right now we are comfortable just hanging out on bottom until something bad happens.”
Ankeny won four matches by forfeit against North Metro, which proved to be the difference against the combined Johnston-Urbandale squad. Both teams notched five falls to split the other 10 matches.
Zoe Sullivan needed just 27 seconds to pin Grace Petersen at 110 pounds. Ankeny also got falls from Karlie Kruse at 125, Kaelynn Boston at 130, Trudy Haag at 135 and Jammie Krah at 140.
“We were able to wrestle a number of different girls in between the two duals so that’s always fun,” said Roland, whose team is now 2-0 in the CIML Conference and 4-1 overall. “Jammie did a great job of getting her offense going tonight, which led to two more wins. Karlie needs to get off to quicker starts.”
Haag, a senior, earned her 100th career victory.
“That’s an important milestone for her,” Roland said.
In Ankeny’s loss to Cedar Falls, 10 of the 12 matches that were contested resulted in pins. The Tigers racked up eight falls and won another match by forfeit.
“I’m still very thankful for our lower two weights who are struggling but I am confident with the effort they are putting in, things will eventually turn around for them,” Roland said. “Even though she picked up a loss, it was great to have (Lauren) Watson back the lineup. And we are thankful for Ari Clinton dropping down to 115 to fill a void and then being a team player when we said, ‘Hey, we are bumping you up (to 120).'”
Ankeny got pins from Kruse, Krah and Aliayah Shade at 170. Haag recorded a technical fall at 130, while Aysia Moser posted a 5-0 decision at 235.
“Aysia looked strong tonight,” Roland said. “She just needs to keep building confidence. We are so proud of her maturity and the mindset she continues to show.”
There were some matches, though, that Roland thought his team should have won.
“Haley Togba had her Cedar Falls opponent on her back but couldn’t secure the pin before getting pinned herself,” he said. “This has been a point of emphasis in duals since year one. This can’t happen. We have to end matches when we have girls on their backs.”
Cedar Falls also rolled to a 71-12 victory over North Metro, racking up seven falls and a technical fall in that meet.
Ankeny will compete in the Dan Gable Donnybrook on Thursday and Friday at Xtream Arena in Coralville. Roland’s team placed third at that meet a year ago.
Here are the match-by-match results from both of Ankeny’s meets on Tuesday:
Cedar Falls 54, Ankeny 26
190: Ludeman pinned Kat, 1:42; 235: Moser (A) beat Metz, 5-0; 100: McWilliams pinned Semrow, 2:44; 105: Foss pinned Brager, 2:52; 110: Stumbo pinned Watson, 4:00; 115: Whitt pinned Aguayo, :34; 120: Rohret pinned Clinton, :47; 125: Kruse (A) pinned Conway, 1:04; 130: Haag (A) won by technical fall over Junker, 17-2; 135: Hoeppner pinned Togba, 2:56; 140: Krah (A) pinned Ernst, :51; 145: Schafer won by forfeit; 155: Ritter pinned Stephenson, 2:35; 170: Shade (A) pinned Grzybek, :40.
Ankeny 54, North Metro 30
100: Semrow won by forfeit; 105: Brager won by forfeit; 110: Sullivan pinned Petersen, :27; 115: Watson won by forfeit; 120: Spah (NM) pinned Virchow, 3:12; 125: Kruse pinned Carstensen, 1:43; 130: Boston pinned Harms, 3:19; 135: Haag pinned Fox, 1:25; 140: Krah pinned Murvee, :42; 145: Smith (NM) pinned Kasper, 1:14; 155: Hughell (NM) pinned Stephenson, 2:40; 170: Traynor (NM) pinned Shade, 3:34; 190: Badgley (NM) pinned Kat, :48; 235: Moser won by forfeit.