Girls wrestling Super Regionals took place across the state on Friday, Jan. 26, but Clear Lake was fortunate enough to stay close to home.
Heading to Super Regional Qualifier 7, the Lions only traveled down the road to Mason City where they competed for a spot in Coralville at the Girls Wrestling State Tournament.
It was a long day of wrestling with over 20 schools there to compete and nearly 12 hours of wrestling to be had at Mason City High School, which was filled to the brim with fans cheering on their favorite wrestlers.
It was no easy task for any of the girls across the state, as girls of all classes were competing with one another. Clear Lake proved to be up to the task.
The Lions battled hard throughout the day and once the dust settled four Lion grapplers were standing on the podium and headed to Coralville for the second ever Iowa High School State Wrestling Tournament.
Saphira Olsen, Alexa Heflin, Pieper Lester and Kendra Kruckenberg will be the Lion girls headed to Coralville today and tomorrow to compete for a state title.
Here’s how the day went down with Clear Lake girls listed first.
100 – Avery Williams began her day with a battle against Charles City’s Sophia Calpito. Williams was able to last the full three rounds but at the final whistle, Calpito won in a 15-2 major decision, putting Williams into consolation. Williams then faced South Tama County’s Livia Smith and after a match of 4:52, Williams was pinned, which ended her day.
110 – Shaelyn Ulrich began her day with a battle against MFL Marmac’s Brooke Donlon. Ulrich lasted 3:23 against Donlon, falling by pin into consolation. Ulrich then faced South Tama County’s Ava Hendricks in a match that saw Ulrich pinned in just under five minutes at 4:58, ending her day.
115 – Saphira (Sassy) Olsen began her state qualifying quest against South Central Calhoun’s Mady Smidt. Olsen got the pin after 2:48 had elapsed and then faced Cedar Falls Annabell Rohret.
Olsen lasted 3:01 before Rohret got the pin. Sassy, not backing down from the challenge, wrestled her way through consolation to take third place, beginning with South Tama County’s Keylee Holloway. Olsen made quick work of the match, pinning Holloway in :54 seconds.
Next up was Waverly-Shell Rock’s Addison Buseman. Olsen got the pin in 1:21 to move on against Waverly-Shell Rock’s Teaghan Bird. This match proved to be a little more challenging, but Olsen persisted and won in a 5-2 decision. Waterloo West’s Kammie Gleiter was the next challenge for Olsen in a third place bout. Olsen defeated Gleiter with a pin in 1:01.
120 – Aali Martinez started her day with a win over Oelwein’s Emmah Hoveland, pinning her in 1:10 to move on against Waverly-Shell Rock’s Camille Schult. Martinez came up short in a 13-0 major decision and went into the consolation bracket.
Martinez’s next opponent was South Tama County’s London Jeannette. The match went 5:02 with Martinez taking the victory. It was West Delaware’s Lexi Bunting that would be the match for Martinez, however, as Bunting defeated Martinez by pin in 3:25.
125 – Pieper Lester had herself a good day with a fourth place podium finish and state berth finish. The Clear Lake sophomore faced South Central Calhoun’s Meia Hefley, pinning Hefley in 1:43 before falling to Waverly-Shell Rock’s Lilly Stough by a 7-1 decision.
Making her way through consolations, Lester faced Ella Schares, of Sumner-Fredericksburg.
Lester won the 6-0 decision after three rounds before wrestling Central Elkader’s Taylor Moser. Lester got the pin after 4:20 to face Cedar Fall’s Destiny Hoeppner.
It was another win for Lester, this time in a 5-0 decision before falling to Charles City’s Edie Collins by pin after 1:08.
130 – Emma Allie had two matches on the day beginning with Nya Nosbisch, of Charles City. Allie fell in :29 seconds by pin before facing Ella Knutson, of New Hampton/Turkey Valley. Allie fell in :47 seconds by pin, ending her day.
140 – Charlie Larsen had a busy day with her first bout coming against Kiara Djoumessi, of Waverly-Shell Rock. Larsen fell after 1:04, by pin, to then face Lilly Kalous, of South Central Calhoun. Larsen won by pin in 2:19 to wrestle Postville’s Evelyn Martinez. The match went for 5:05 before Larsen was pinned.
145 – Alexa Heflin found herself in fourth at the end of her day. The day began with a loss for the Lion, facing Cedar Falls’ Emerson Bartlett. Heflin took the match to 3:36 before being pinned.
Heflin then faced Mia Schluter, of Humboldt, pinning her in 3:36 and than she pinned Postville’s Ariana Menne in 2:50.
In the consolation semifinal, Heflin battled Brooklyn Mitchell, of South Tama County, defeating her after a lengthy 5:29 Heflin got the pin.
In the third place match, Kelly Throndson, of New Hampton, Turkey Valley, defeated Heflin, pinning her in 3:27 and in the fourth place battle, Heflin defeated West Delaware’s Addison Burger by fall in 3:32, qualifying her for state.
155 – Gracey Smith was just outside looking in with a sixth place finish to her day. She started with a victory over New Hampton/Turkey Valley’s Raelen Manderfield in a 5-3 decision.
Smith would fall by pin in 1:03 in the quarterfinal to Destiny Kolheim before two wins in the consolation round. She defeated Abigail Hatcher, of Grinnell, by fall in 2:31 and Evie Wagner, of Waverly-Shell Rock, by fall in 3:21.
In the semifinal, Abigail Chyma, of South Tama County pinned Smith after 4:17. Smith would lose in the 5th place match by fall in 3:17 to Cascade’s Baleigh Martin.
170 – Kayma Burleson placed fifth on the day with an opening match victory against Oelwein’s Cassandra Tucker in a quick :15 seconds.
Burleson then defeated Humboldt’s Danica Diedrick by fall in 1:17. In the semifinal the Lion wrestler fell in 1:39 to South Tama County’s Autumn Elsbury.
In consolation, Burleson lost by pin to Waverly-Shell Rock’s Karissa Oldenburger by fall in 3:23. Burleson defeated Fernanda Ramirez, of West Fork, by pin in :48 seconds to take fifth.
190 – Kendra Kruckenberg qualified herself for state with a third place finish on the day.
The first match for Kruckenberg was a victory over Sumner-Fredericksburg’s Maddisen Kolaas, pinning her in 1:11.
The quarterfinal round saw Kruckenberg defeated by Samantha Murray, of West Delaware, by fall in 3:03.
Leah Stewart, of Charles City, defeated Kruckenberg by fall in 3:37 in the semifinal to put Kruckenberg into consolation against Ava Soesbe, of Waverly-Shell Rock. Kruckenberg got the pin in 3:29 and in the third place match she faced Murray once again. This time, the match lasted for 5:20 before Kruckenberg got the pin to finish third.
