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Hawkins wins 170-pound title
English Valleys’ Gorsh and Sieren place third
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
WELLMAN — Iowa Valley’s Raelene Hawkins took home the 170-pound title at the Mid-Prairie Girls Invitational Friday night.
Hawkins was one of four Tigers’ finalists Friday night.
In the semifinals match against Western Dubuque’s Ava Pfab, Hawkins was down 7-1, but was able to turn the tide in the second period to get a pin.
Hawkins won the finals over Mid-Prairie’s Ellie Callahan, also by a second period pin, to move to 25-5 on the season.
“I feel really great after this win tonight,” Hawkins said. “That first match was not really how I wanted it to go, but I used that as fuel for my next match.”
Qualifying for state won’t be the only goal for Hawkins as the postseason nears.
“I’ve met up with a few of the people ranked above me, and I’ve wrestled well,” Hawkins said. “I feel confident wrestling them and my goal is to be a state finalist.”
The other three Tigers’ finalists were Eva Kriegel (110), Skyler Hoyt (125) and Kodie Holcomb (140).
Kriegel and Holcomb were defeated by fall, and Hoyt by tech fall, all to quality opponents.
Kriegel (23-16), Hoyt (18-8) and Holcomb (22-12) all post solid records and will look to make some noise in the postseason.
“I thought we wrestled really tough tonight,” Iowa Valley coach Lucas Krakow said. “We had some tough matches in the finals, but we knew that coming into the tournament.
“Our girls are really developing, and we have come a long way and we’re making progress.”
The Tigers scored 100.5 points with just six wrestlers, which was good enough for fifth place.
English Valleys also competed, sending four to the tournament. The Bears were able to get two third-place finishes.
The first came from Anna Gorsh, who wrestled up a class at 125. Gorsh almost had the biggest win of the tournament facing Class 1A No. 2 ranked Aileen Aragon (42-1) of West Liberty in the semifinals.
The first period was all Gorsh, who jumped out to a 14-2 lead.
Aragon took nearfall points in the second and was able to finish with a pin in the third.
Still, the match showed that Gorsh can compete with some of the state’s best.
“It was a good steppingstone for her to see where we’re at, and to know she can do it with the best,” English Valleys coach Steve Hester said.
Gorsh won by fall in the third-place match.
The Bears other third-place finisher was Emily Sieren at 100 pounds. Sieren has seen a lot of success since moving down to 100.
“It was nice to see that from her,” Hester said. “I think she’s only had two losses since going down to 100.”
Sieren finished 3-1 on the night, winning all three by fall.
The Bears scored 38 team points.
Both teams have one more competition before the postseason.
The South Iowa Cedar League meet will be Jan. 27 at Sigourney, and Regionals will be Jan. 31 at Colfax-Mingo for both teams.
Team points
1. Western Dubuque 163.5, 2. Mid-Prairie 162, 3. West Liberty 150, 4. Fort Madison 144, 5. Iowa Valley 100.5, 6. Cardinal 79.5, 7. Ottumwa 51, 8. Iowa City West 45, 9. WACO 40, 10. English Valleys 38, 11. Louisa-Muscatine 34, 12. Maquoketa 30, 13. Mediapolis 9
Championship Matches
(Area only)
110 pounds — Austyn Sexton (MP) pinned Eva Kriegel (IV), 1:29; 125 — Aileen Aragon (WL) tech fall Skyler Hoyt (IV), 18-3; 140 — Kat Diprima (FM) pinned Kodie Holcomb (IV), 1:55; 170 — Raelene Hawkins (IV) pinned Ellie Callahan (MP), 2:21
Third Place Matches
(Area only)
100 — Emily Sieren (EV) pinned Avery Hollingsworth (Mediapolis), 1:24; 115 — Alivia Garcia (WL) pinned Kennedy Thiessen (IV), 1:20; 125 — Anna Gorsh (EV) pinned Briena Fenton (FM), 1:30
