By Mark Schafer | The News-Review
OTTUMWA – When the lights were at their brightest, the wrestlers seemed to shine the brightest.
Last Monday night, the Sigourney-Keota girls wrestling team turned in a strong performance at the Ottumwa girls invitational. Not only were they able to claim two champions, they also walked home with a third place finish overall.
Ottumwa won the meet with 224 points. East Buchanan was second with 136 total points. Sigourney-Keota was third with 127.5 total points. Pekin would finish seventh overall with 77.5 total points.
“We are starting to get the younger girls really starting to buy into what me and coach Utterback have been telling the girls since the beginning of the year,” said Sigourney-Keota head girls wrestling coach, Trevor Weeks. “Once that happens, you can just see how the girls start to wrestle to their potential.”
Two of the Sigourney-Keota girls who seemed to wrestle to their full potential at the Ottumwa meet were Sadie Clarahan and Kia Montgomery. Both wrestlers were able to win their bracket.
“Sadie has really matured as a wrestler so much from a freshman until now,” Weeks said. “She just believes in us as coaches. She believes in herself a lot of the time. She knows that she can be a really great wrestler, especially when she believes in herself.”
Wrestling in the 120-pound bracket, Clarahan seemed to be on a mission last week. She started off her tournament with a win over an Ottumwa wrestler, picking up a win in 4:21. She then won the quarterfinal match with a pin in 2:31 over a Cardinal wrestler.
In the semifinals Clarahan had a battle with Albia’s Aba Allen, but eventually she would get the pin in 4:36 to advance to the championship match.
“Sadie wrestles with Bristol Ward in practice and those two just get each other in oddball situations all the time,” Weeks said. “So I think that helps because they will get out on the mat and never know what is coming to them, but since Sadie (and Bristol) have been in those oddball situations, they just move out of them.”
In the championship match against Ottumwa’s Maravilha Vedina, Clarahan would get in a few oddball situations, but through the first two periods, she never panicked and was able to reverse the situation to wrestle offensively.
Going into the final period it seemed that Clarahan was going to have to wrestle from behind. Then, Vedina was able to give Clarahan an opening and she took it.
In one move Clarahan was able to twist Vedina onto the mat and gain the pin with just six seconds left in the match.
“One thing I’ve always told girls and boys, when I’ve coached them, is if the first move doesn’t work, try a second move. That move might not work either, but you have to try a third. The most important part of this sport is keeping moving,” Weeks said. “Sadie showed that in her championship match. She kept moving, kept improving her position and eventually she was able to get the opening to take the win.”
Another wrestler that never stopped moving was Kia Montgomery, who would win the 125-pound bracket.
Montgomery started with a first period pin in the first round. She then needed just 68 seconds to win her quarterfinal match.
In the semifinals Montgomery pinned her Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont opponent in 21 seconds.
That led Montgomery to wrestle in the championship match where she took on Paislee Kern from Ottumwa.
It wouldn’t take long for Montgomery to get the win.
Almost immediately Montgomery was able to go on the attack. In the first 30 seconds she would stack up the points. Eventually she was able to roll Kern onto the mat and earn a pin in 1:18 to win her bracket.
“I think a lot of the team wrestles and feeds off the leadership that Montgomery has brought this year,” Weeks said. “If she goes into a tournament wrestling timid, then our team wrestles a bit timid. If she goes in wrestling aggressively, then our team is more aggressive. She does what she does really well.”
The win improves Montgomery to a 33-5 overall record on the year.
Other finishers for Sigourney-Keota had Aubrey Utterback finishing fourth in the 110-pound bracket. She finished with a 2-2 record in the tournament.
Neveah Beinhart was fifth in the 130-pound bracket. Beinhart won three of her first four matches. In the fifth place match she needed 3:14 to earn a pin.
Melanie Woodsmall placed fifth in the 170-pound bracket. After being bested in the quarterfinal round, Woodsmall was able to pin a Clarke Opponent and a Cardinal opponent to finish fifth.
Madison Clarahan also was fifth. Madison Clarahan wrestled in the 190-pound bracket. She would win her fifth-place match with a pin in 1:11 over a Lone Tree opponent.
Kylie Draker wrestled in the 235-pound bracket. She finished sixth overall. Draker picked up a win over a Davis County opponent in just 26 seconds.
Sigourney-Keota results from Cascade:
Sigourney-Keota had a busy week as they would go on to wrestle at the Cascade Invitational on Jan. 15.
Sadie Clarahan had success again as she improved to 26-9 overall on the season with a second place finish in her 120-pound bracket.
Sadie Clarahan started off with a first period pin. She then recorded a tech fall in the quarterfinals. She won the semifinals with a pin in 3:03.
In the championship match Clarhan was pinned in the first period by a Don Bosco opponent.
Aubrey Utterback placed third in the 110-pound bracket. She finished her day 2-1, including a second-period pin over a Cascade opponent in the third place match.
Kia Montgomery was able to finish third in the 125-pound bracket. She won her first two matches by first period pins. After being pinned in the semifinals, Montgomery was able to finish third with a pin over a MFL MarMac opponent.
Izzy Heisdorffer was third in the 140-pound bracket. She was able to win the third place match with a pin in 59 seconds.
Bristol Ward was fourth in the 120-pound bracket. Ward went 2-2 on the day. She advanced to the semifinals before she was bested.
Neveah Beinhart placed fourth overall she wrestled in the 130-pound bracket. After pinning her first opponent she was pinned in the first period.
Abyl McCulley finished fifth overall in the 135-pound bracket. She went 4-1 overall, including a 10-8 decision in the fifth place match.
Melanie Woodsmall was fifth in the 170-pound bracket. She went 3-1 overall on the day.
Kylie Draker was able to finish sixth in the 235-pound bracket.
Sigourney-Keota results from Northwest Invite:
On Jan. 17 the Sigourney-Keota girls wrestled at the Northwest Invite.
Montgomery was able to finish sixth in the 125-pound bracket. She finished the day 3-2 overall with all three wins being pins.
Karley Greiner was able to finish sixth in the 155-pound bracket. She went 3-2 overall in the meet.
Amelia Phillips was eighth overall in the 115-pound bracket. She went 2-3 overall. Izzy Heisdorffer was able to finish seventh overall in the 140-pound bracket. She was able to finish with a 4-2 overall record.
