Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.

Pekin’s girls’ wrestling squad have had a strong start to their season, with two tournament wins and one second-place finish.

Sigourney Keota Tournament, Nov. 19

The Pekin girls’ wrestling team opened up their season at the Sigourney Keota Tournament on Tuesday, November 19.

The Panthers had an amazing first meet of the new season, coming away with the team championship and three individual champions out of 18 teams.

Pekin had nine girls wrestle in the tournament, with three taking first in their weight.

Lexa Nelson took first at 110 with a win by fall in 0:44 in the first-place match over East Union’s Khloe Parker. Lila Miller placed first at 135 with a win by fall in 1:54 over Macie Little of North Mahaska. Hailey Pedrick placed first at 140 with a win by fall in 0:38 over Kiaya Shuey of Grinnell.

Nelson also had wins in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, winning by fall over Clear Creek Amana’s Emma Staebler in the quarterfinal and winning by fall over Oskaloosa’s Alyssa Sheets in the semifinal match. Miller won her quarterfinal match over Tori Hansen of L&M by fall and won the semifinal match over Jacquelin Molina of West Liberty. Pedrick received a bye in her quarterfinal match, and won by fall in the semifinal match over Ryha Wellington of Washington.

Getting second-place finishes for Pekin were Rylee Frye at 235 and Reece Brisby at 125. Frye fell to Isabel Talley of Newton in Round 1, while having a win over Sammy Branson of Lone Tree in Round 2 and a win over Lisbon’s Shyanne Crane in Round 3. Brisby lost in the first-place match to West Liberty’s Aileen Aragon. Brisby won by fall over Clear Creek Amana’s Audrey Bulechek in the quarterfinals and won by fall over Grinnell’s Baylee Boyd in the semifinals.

Bree Earnest placed fifth at 120 after getting a win by fall in 1:27 over Grinnell’s Kyrie Chapman in the fifth-place match. Ella Rose placed sixth at 145 after losing by fall to Kayleigh Rundlett of Lone Tree in the fifth-place match.

SEISC Tournament, Nov. 21

The Panthers were crowned Conference Champs after facing off against 11 teams in the SEISC Tournament held at Columbus last Thursday, Nov. 21. Pekin finished with six first place wrestlers and four second-place finishes.

Lexa Nelson placed first at 110 after winning her first-place match by fall in 1:18 over Rylee Rice of WACO. Nelson won by forfeit in her quarterfinal match and won by fall in 0:40 over Wapello’s Clara Ball in the semifinal round.

Alyvia Traner won at 115 after beating L&M’s Ella Howell in Round 1 with a fall in 4:13. She had a win in Round 2 over Deedra Graber of WACO by fall in 2:46, and she won Round 3 by fall in 3:49 over Columbus/WMU’s Bella Mills.

Lila Miller won at 135 with a round 1 win by fall in 0:32 over Maiya Singbeil of Highland. Miller won by fall in 0:39 over Lone Tree’s Olivia Magruder in round 2, and won by fall in 0:31 over Aubrey Valencia of Columbus/WMU in round 3.

Hailey Pedrick won at 140 after winning all three of her rounds. In round 1, Pedrick won by fall over Lilly Pugh of Columbus/WMU; in round 2 she won by fall in 1:06 over Isabella Moedano of L&M, and in round 3 she won be fall in 5:17 over Lone Tree’s Alex Dautremont.

Ella Rose places first at 155 with wins over Tahlor Arroyo of Mediapolis in both round 1 (fall in 1:07) and round 2 (fall in 1:38).

Bree Earnest had a first-place finish at 120 after getting a win by forfeit in the semifinal round over Milly Pfeiff of Mediapolis.

Rylee Frye placed second at 235, getting a win in round 1 over Ashlynn Sojka of Lone Tree by fall in 1:21 and a win in round 2 over Brynn Pogmore of Columbus/WMU by fall in 0:43.

Ivory Small placed second at 130 with a round 1 win over Sophia Browning of Columbus/WMU by fall in 0:55, and a round 3 win over Kate Marquez of Wapello by fall in 1:55.

Reece Brisby placed second at 125 after falling in the first-place match to Columbus/WMU’s Kalley Deese. Brisby won the semifinal match by fall in 5:34 over Van Buren’s Rylee Caviness.

Makena Martin placed second at 100 after getting a round 1 win by forfeit over Avery Hollingsworth of Mediapolis.

BGM Tournament, Nov. 23

The girls’ wrestling team competed in their third tournament in five days and came home with a second-place team finish at BGM.

Hailey Pedrick had Pekin’s lone first place finish, winning at 140. Pedrick won by fall in 2:17 over Janesville’s Presley Pugh in the first-place match after getting a win by fall in 2:28 over Emma VanGorp of EBF in the semifinal match.

Rylee Frye had a second-place finish at 235 after winning the semifinal match over Vawn Lasley of Meskwaki Settlement by fall in 0:29. Frye lost the first-place match to Ella Ray of EBF.

Lexa Nelson placed second at 110 after falling in the first-place match to Paige Popson of Albia. Nelson had a win by technical fall in the semifinal match over Alyssa Sheets of Oskaloosa.

Ella Rose placed fourth for Pekin at 145, and Lila Miller took fourth at 135, each earning the team 13 points. Reece Brisby finished sixth at 125, while Ivory Small finished sixth at 130.