The Ankeny girls’ wrestling team earned a fifth-place finish among 47 squads in the Dan Gable Donnybrook at Xtream Arena in Coralville.
The two-day meet concluded on Friday with Ankeny scoring a total of 270 points. Coach Dustin Roland’s squad had seven top-eight finishers.
“Overall, we were pleased with our effort this weekend,” said Roland. “All of our girls got some valuable experience while, from our coaches’ perspective, we made a specific effort to improve in areas that we had as goals for the weekend.”
Raccoon River-Northwest racked up 381.5 points to defend its team title. Basehor-Linwood (Kan.) was the runner-up with 320.5 points, finishing just ahead of Cedar Rapids Prairie (318) and South Tama (315).
Lauren Watson placed third at 110 pounds to lead Ankeny. Watson (6-2) pinned Olivia Hernandez of Bettendorf in 1 minute 27 seconds in the third-place match.
“Lauren had a great mindset this weekend, and it showed in her wrestling,” Roland said. “She is best when she is happy and creating action by being fearless on the mat.”
Ankeny’s Jammie Krah placed fourth at 140, Trudy Haag took fifth at 130, Karlie Kruse was sixth at 125, Zoe Sullivan placed seventh at 105, Izzy Shafer took eighth at 110, and Aliayah Shade finished eighth at 170.
Krah dropped a 9-7 decision to Stella Pettitt of Freedom, Wis., in the third-place match. She is now 9-3 on the season.
“Jammie is so much better technically than she was a year ago,” Roland said. “She is going to be a tough out for anyone in the postseason. She is the girl in the bracket none of the other coaches want to see on the other side.”
Haag pinned Carleigh Arjes of Mason City in 3:07 in the fifth-place match. She raised her record to 10-3.
“Trudy looked comfortable this weekend, and her results showed,” Roland said.
Kruse lost by a 13-5 major decision to Camille Schult of Waverly-Shell Rock in the fifth-place match. She is now 9-4.
“Karlie wrestled well this weekend, competing tough in both of the matches that she lost,” Roland said.
Sullivan posted an 11-5 decision over Ryleigh Jones of Williamsburg in the seventh-place match. She improved her mark to 8-3.
“Zoe had a great first weekend down at 105,” Roland said. “Her losses were to the No. 2 girls in 1A and 2A, but as she adjusts to the weight class, we expect her to find a way to compete in those matches.”
Shafer was pinned by Austyn Sexton of Mid-Prairie in 2:30 in the seventh-place match. Her record is now 8-5.
“Izzy had a great tournament placing in the top eight, but made a few freshman mistakes,” Roland said. “Her future in our program is so bright.”
Shade was pinned by Addison Bowman of Cedar Rapids Prairie in 3:11 in the seventh-place match. She is now 8-4.
“Aliayah went 2-3 and won the right two to finish in the top eight,” Roland said. “She needs to find a way to finish the tournament.”
Ankeny will travel to Raccoon River-Northwest on Thursday for a CIML Conference dual meet.