As she walked into Xtream Arena on Thursday afternoon, sophomore Jammie Krah was confident that her Ankeny girls’ wrestling team was going to have a big day.
Third-ranked Ankeny went on to win 14 of 21 matches and sits in second place after the opening day of the Class 2A state tournament at Coralville.
“I’m so proud of my team. I love them so much,” said Krah, who advanced to Friday’s semifinals along with teammates Lauren Watson and Nora Bockes. “Going into today, I knew we were going to do a great job. Our team has put in so much work that I’m not surprised.”
Top-ranked and defending champion Raccoon River-Northwest leads the Class 2A field with 71 points and has six semifinalists. Ankeny scored 57.5 points and is just ahead of No. 8 Southeast Polk (54), No. 2 Cedar Falls (53) and No. 4 Algona (52).
Algona has four semifinalists, while Ankeny, Cedar Falls and Southeast Polk each has three.
“We’re super excited about our three semifinalists and having three more (girls) on the back side,” said Ankeny coach Dustin Roland. “If you had told me we’re sitting in second place after day one, I’d be like, ‘Ok, we’ll take it and then we’ll adjust from there.'”
The 10th-seeded Bockes knocked off two higher seeds to reach the semifinals at 115 pounds. The senior posted a 4-3 decision over No. 7 Cadence Pastor of Marion in the opening round, then pinned No. 2 Ashlyn Leslie of Nevada in 1 minute 24 seconds to raise her record to 22-4.
“It’s a great feeling,” said Bockes. “That’s the first time I’ve ever beaten (Leslie) in four years.”
Bockes avenged her loss to Leslie in last year’s championship match at 110. Leslie claimed the title by pinning Bockes in just 20 seconds.
“That was one we’ve been waiting 364 days to wrestle again,” Roland said. “We didn’t know if we’d get our chance because (Leslie) has been hurt all year, and it’s crazy how the brackets played out. We really didn’t want it in the second round, but we told Nora that (Leslie) was going to try to throw you and the minute you feel it you’ve got to get your hips in front and just let it fly, and that’s exactly what she did.”
Bockes said her strategy was to stay low and to wait for Leslie to make a mistake.
“It was just kind of sticking to what I’ve been doing all year,” she said. “No regrets, that’s just what I’ve been saying all year. I’m going to leave it all out there whether it goes my way or not, and that’s how I kind of treated that match.”
The No. 2 Watson recorded a pair of first-period falls at 110. She pinned No. 15 Mariana Angeles of Cedar Rapids Kennedy in 1:07, then pinned No. 7 Isabella Stumbo of Cedar Falls in 55 seconds.
“I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason,” said Watson, who improved to 35-6. “I was pretty confident going into that (second) match and the one before it. Just going in confident was the main key. I just had to keep my head up because I know I’ve put in the work.”
Like Bockes, Watson avenged an earlier loss. She was pinned by Stumbo during a dual meet on Dec. 2.
“It was really nice to get that match back,” Watson said. “I was real eager to get it back.”
Roland called the junior from Bondurant-Farrar a dangerous wrestler.
“I told her when she went out there, ‘Do Lauren Watson stuff and you’ll be just fine,'” Roland said. “And then she came off the mat after she won and said, ‘I did Lauren Watson stuff!'”
The No. 5 Krah also reached the semifinals in dominant fashion at 145. She pinned No. 12 Collins Ryan of Waverly-Shell Rock in 1:16, then recorded a 21-5 technical fall over No. 4 Luisa Meade of Cedar Rapids Prairie.
“It feels amazing,” Krah said. “I’m really proud of myself because I’ve made it farther than I did last year, so I’m really grateful. I’m trying not to get emotional.”
Krah had wrestled Meade several times in the past and had lost some of those matches.
“I was very confident, but not cocky,” Krah said. “I’ve known that the amount of work I put in during the offseason and during the season so far is going to show off in these matches.”
Krah lifted her mark to 43-5.
“That was a scary match. Meade is really tough, and they’ve battled a few times,” Roland said. “But when Jammie just wrestles, she’s really hard to beat. She’s obviously one of the most dynamic athletes in this tournament, not just at her weight but in the entire tournament. She’s just a freak athlete.”
Krah, Watson and Bockes will be joined on the awards podium by three of their teammates. No. 5 Karlie Kruse at 125, No. 9 Haley Togba at 140 and No. 12 Aysia Moser at 235 each won a match in the blood round to become a placewinner.
Kruse opened the tournament with a fall over No. 12 Charlee Kounkel of Hinton in 4:46. She also pinned Kounkel in the final of last week’s regional tournament.
After dropping a 4-2 decision to No. 4 Ellie Hancock of Raccoon River-Northwest in the quarterfinals, Kruse then rebounded with a 10-0 major decision over No. 6 Kaitlyn Raue of Iowa City Liberty. She is now 40-8 on the season.
Moser pinned No. 5 Emma Daniels of Carroll in 1:27 in the opening round. She then lost by a fall to No. 4 Ava Potter of Fort Dodge in 1:51 in the quarterfinals.
Moser bounced back with a 2-0 decision over No. 11 Gracelyn McCarthy of Western Dubuque, getting a reversal for the only points of the match. She improved to 41-9.
Togba, meanwhile, rebounded from a first-round loss to earn a spot on the podium. She was pinned by No. 8 Evelyn Eggleston of Iowa City Liberty in 2:22.
Togba pinned No. 16 Sophie Carney of Carlisle in 3:42 in her first consolation match. She then pinned No. 7 Danyka Peterson of Sioux City North in 2:00 to raise her record to 31-13.
Ankeny’s other two state qualifiers, No. 5 Trudy Haag at 120 and No. 10 Aliayah Shade at 170, were both eliminated from the tournament.
Haag pinned No. 13 Amelie Canales of Perry in 1:25 in a first-round consolation match before being pinned by No. 11 Morgan Krall of Independence in 3:16. She finished the season at 40-8.
Shade pinned No. 7 Precious Kredit of Sioux City North in 1:41 in the opening round before losing her next two matches by fall. She finished with a 37-12 mark.
“Obviously, we’re hurting for those two girls,” Roland said. “Trudy is a really tough one, and Aliayah…we love her. But she’ll rebound, and Trudy will rebound, too. They’re both resilient young women that we couldn’t be more proud of to have them in our program.”
Both Watson and Bockes will have rematches in Friday’s semifinals. Watson will meet No. 3 Alyssa Wheeler of Carlisle (41-7), while Bockes will face No. 3 Kate Seery of Linn-Mar (Marion) (42-4).
Bockes dropped a 4-3 decision to Seery in the finals of the Bob Sharp Invitational last month. Watson pinned Wheeler to capture a title at the same tournament.
With another victory, Watson could set up a showdown against No. 1 Katie Biscoglia of Raccoon River-Northwest in the final. Biscoglia (51-0) is seeking her fourth straight crown.
“My next match will be a tough one, but I hope I can see Biscoglia in the finals,” Watson said.
Krah will meet No. 1 Lizzy Wolf of Benton Community (49-3) in the semifinals.
Kruse will face No. 10 Kate Melody of Gilbert (37-10) in a third-round consolation match, while Togba will meet No. 6 Lauryn Metcalf of Ames (43-6). Moser will tangle with No. 7 Sage Dzeladini of North Scott (35-7).
