It was an historic and triumphant day for the Lady Eagles in the IGHSAU Regional Qualifier for the Lady Eagles.
"We got 4 girls going to the big dance," declared Rick Anderson, an admin of the Eagle Grove High School Girls Wrestling Team group on Facebook. In this first season of sanctioned girl's wrestling in Iowa Eagle Grove has done quite well and the coaches and players deserve to be very proud! They have truly set the bar high for future generations.
Qualifying for State this year from Eagle Grove are junior Genessis Corado, and froshes Evelyn Jergenson, Jaymie Anderson, and Lily Locke. Congratulations to all of them, their coaches, families, and teammates!
Jaymie Anderson dominated the 115 weight class, placing 1st with a score of 32.0 and winning all her matches by fall. Julia Gardner had an impressive performance, scoring 6.0 team points. "What can I say? Seeded 3rd. Pinned her way to a Championship," crowed Coach Luke Ascherl. "Watch out for this little power house at state," he warned her future opponents.
Lily Locke placed second with 26.0 team points after losing by a fall to Espie Almazan of Lewis Central. "Lily. Power house. Pinned her way to the finals, but ran into a tough opponent in the finals," Ascherl remarked, adding that "we’ll be ready for her at state."
Corado placed 3rd with a score of 12.0, winning her 3rd place match by fall over Daniela Salinas of CBCSD Co-Op Wrestling. "Genessis lost her first match to the second seed girl," Ascherl noted, but then she "came back to win her second match by fall placing third in her bracket at 100lbs.
Evelyn Jergenson placed 4th and scored 17.0 team points, winning multiple matches by fall. "Evie lost her first match to the eventual 2nd place finisher," Ascherl described, but she fought hard and "came back and won her next two matches on the back side before losing her match to wrestle for third. The opportunity opened for her to wrestle off for true fourth and she battled hard and won by fall securing her place at state at 105lbs."
Ascherl also had a lot of praise for the wrestlers on the team who didn't place high enough to advance to State.
"Bella. The girl who doesn’t know how to say quit," Ascherl extolled. "She was wrestling 10 lbs above her weight and was given the opportunity to back out but said let me wrestle. Huge amount of respect right there." Her opponents were serious contenders in the match, he noted. "Bella lost her first match to the eventual champion in her bracket and then lost her second match to the 4th place finisher."
For Kaylynn Kepler, Ascherl had great respect. "Battling an illness and not knowing if she was going to be able to wrestle, she won her first match," he praised. And she too faced tough opponents. "Lost the second match to the eventual 3rd place finisher," Ascherl observed. And her first match was a "nail biter of a match" which she lost by only one point. "KK Has grown a lot this year and we’re looking forward to what she will bring to the room and the mat next year," he concluded with pride.
Maria Calles also earned Coach Ascherl's respect after facing tough contenders, losing her first round match "to the eventual 2nd place finisher." After ending her season with a loss in her second match, Coach Ascherl expressed his satisfaction with her progress. "This was Maria’s first year and she grew and learned a lot," he commended.
In a year full of firsts, the Eagles have really pulled off a great regular season, and now go into the State Tournament with their heads held high.
