The Ankeny girls’ wrestling team defended its title on Saturday by going 5-0 at the Dallas Center-Grimes Holiday Duals.
Fourth-ranked Ankeny competed most of the day without coach Dustin Roland, who left after the first dual to watch his son wrestle in another tournament.
“I am so proud of our staff and their continued willingness to do whatever I ask of them,” said Roland. “Our girls are so lucky to have Michael Tarin, Olivia Willers, Lori Staples, Ken Ray, Max Davis and Addison Burden in their corner.”
Ankeny opened the tournament with a 69-11 victory over Woodward-Granger. The team then followed with wins over Valley (84-0), New Hampton/Turkey Valley (49-27), Vinton-Shellsburg (54-29) and Dallas Center-Grimes (59-24).
The meet against New Hampton/Turkey Valley was the de facto championship match.
“The team did well today against some good competition,” said Tarin, whose squad improved to 16-2 on the season. “Individually, our girls went up against 11 ranked wrestlers. We enjoy getting those matches and seeing how the girls compete.”
Zoe Sullivan, Lauren Watson, Trudy Haag and Karlie Kruse each went undefeated on the day. Watson had three pins and a technical fall.
“Trudy continues being one of our most reliable wrestlers in her first week down to 120 (pounds),” Tarin said. “Karlie returned to 125 and looked great today.”
Raegan Semrow and Kaelynn Boston each went 4-1.
“Raegan built some confidence today. She continues to improve every week of her freshman season,” Tarin said. “Kaelynn did well in her first week in the varsity lineup at 130.”
Ankeny will return to action on Jan. 3 at the Lewis Central Duals in Council Bluffs.