"What a night in Perry! What a night in Perry! Took 6 wrestlers down and placed 5," Coach Luke Ascherl summed up the Lady Eagles wrestling team's experience at the Perry Girls Invitational.
Lily Locke was the standout performer for Eagle Grove. She dominated her opponents, winning all of her matches by fall, including the first place match against Lauren Rodgers from Perry. As Ascherl put it, "Lily pinned her way to a 1st place finish, beating the 4th ranked girl in State to advance to the finals." Locke's impressive performance earned 26.0 team points for Eagle Grove.
Jaymie Anderson had a phenomenal tournament. She won both of her quarterfinal and semifinal matches by fall, securing her spot in the first place match. Anderson put up a valiant fight, but was ultimately defeated by Adyson Lundquist from S.W.A.T. Valkyrie. However, Anderson's strong performance earned 18.0 team points for Eagle Grove. "Jaymie had a tough semi match to advance to the finals," Ascherl remarked, noting that although she fell short, she placed second to "a very talented wrestler."
Evelyn Jergenson, "placed 4th in a nail biter of a match," Ascherl said. "She wrestled hard," Ascherl observed, but ultimately fell to Abby Flaherty from Urbandale. Despite the losses, Jergenson earned 7.0 team points for the Eagles.
"After an initial loss to the number one seed," Ascherl described, Julia Gardner "pinned her way to a fifth place finish." Gardner also won 10.0 team points for Eagle Grove.
Genessis Corado "was in a bracket of 3 and wrestled her heart out," Ascherl reflected, "but a win wasn’t in the cards tonight," as Corado suffered losses in the second and third rounds to Jazz Christensen and Hailey Peterson. Despite these setbacks, Corado managed to place third.
Maria Calles, "had two close matches that could have gone either way," Coach Ascherl opined. And although Calles did not triumph in the tourney, "she wrestled hard and didn't give up," Ascherl complimented.
Overall, Eagle Grove's lady wrestlers put in a strong performance at the 2023 Perry Girls Invitational, earning a total of 61.0 team points, finishing 7th of 12 teams. Perry won the tourney with 173.5 team points, followed by second place S.W.A.T. Valkyrie with 131.0 team points, and third place Nevada with 109.5 team points.
