Girls state numbers quadruple in 1 year

WAVERLY - When an event nearly quadruples in size from one year to the next, those numbers alone make a statement.

Last year at Waverly-Shell Rock High School was the inaugural unofficial state wrestling tournament for girls and 87 wrestlers showed up. Friday and Saturday, there were 376 registered to take the mat in the two-day event.

'It was amazing to see all of these athletes competing in their own event,” Mid-Prairie head wrestling coach Justin Garvey said. 'They were the stars of the weekend.” Waverly-Shell Rock won the team title with 156.5 points. Mid-Prairie was 10th with 64 points. Washington was 46th and Mt. Pleasant was 69th. Cedar Rapids Kennedy was the 94th team that scored, registering three.

'It is great that the girls have their own state tournament and the increase in participation in girls division tournaments earlier in the season has been nice,” said Mt. Pleasant head wrestling coach Anthony Blint, whose daughter Abby has competed in the tournament both years. 'Last year, the tournament was her first girl matches and she went 0-2. This year she had competed in two of the girl division events prior to the tournament which helped prepare her for the tournament.”

The Golden Hawks' finish was the highest finish with the least amount of wrestlers. Each team was allowed to have 11 scoring wrestlers. The top nine teams all had 11 scoring wrestlers. Mid-Prairie had five.

There were 11 classes available for the girls whereas boys offers 14.

'This was an amazing event that needs to become sanctioned by the Iowa High School Athletic Union,” Garvey said.

Mid-Prairie had two girls finish on the medal stand in Rylee Vercande and Sarah Meadeer while Washington had one with Teegan Sulentich placing third.

There were 31 girls in Sulentich's and Meader's bracket of 152 pounds.

'Teegan seemed very focused and was motivated to do extremely well,” Washington head coach Brent Van Weelden said. 'This tournament at state is the most focused I had seen her all year.”

Sulentich recorded a pin in her first match in 1 minute, 17 seconds, then won a 7-0 decision. She eked out a 3-2 win in the quarterfinals but was pinned 12 seconds into the second round of the semifinal. In the consolation semifinals Sulentich pinned Meader in 1:30 and won her third-place match by fall in 1:45. She finished with a 5-1 record.

Meader made herself known. She was seeded at 27 and finished sixth. The 21-place improvement from seeding to finish was the third best of the tournament. Sulentich and Vercande were each seeded seventh and finished third, a four-place improvement.

Meader, a junior, lost in the opening round. She then won her next two matches by fall to advance to Day 2. She won her next two matches Saturday to advance to the medal rounds, but lost her next two matches to get sixth place. She had a 5-3 record in the tournament.

Mt. Pleasant's Abby Blint fared well this year going 3-2 on the weekend at 106 pounds. She was seeded at 15.

'There was lots of competition at this year's tournament and she got knocked to the backside of the bracket by the eventual state champion,” said Blint, who is Abby's father. 'I think she knows there is still a lot of work to do, she hasn't achieve all of the goals she has set. So the offseason work will be important to make it on the podium next year.”

Mid-Prairie's Vercande improved on her finish from last year.

'We took five girls up there,” Garvey said. 'Four were first-year wrestlers and one who is a seasoned veteran and that is Rylee Vercande.”

Vercande was a fifth-place finisher at the tournament last year. Vercande wrestled at the 120-weight class this year, where there were 55 girls in her division. Due to her seed for being a place winner last year, she drew a first-round bye. She then recorded two pins to advance to Day 2, where she lost her first match, then battled back to win her next two matches to get third place. She finished the tourney with a 6-1 record.

Mid-Prairie junior Caitlyn Busch, wrestling at 138 pounds where there were 28 participants, lost her first match, then had a bye on the consolation side. Her next match she won by fall. In the third round of consolations, she lost and was out of the tournament with a 1-2 record. There were 40 wrestlers at 138.

Mid-Prairie sophomore Madison Kelly, wrestling at 145 pounds, lost her first match, then won her wrestle back with a late takedown. She advanced to Saturday by medical forfeit. She was eliminated from the tournament in her first match Saturday with a 2-2 record.

Mid-Prairie freshman Mia Garvey wrestled at 120 pounds and won her opening match by fall. In the second round, she had to face teammate Vercande, who pinned her. She then battled through the next two rounds on the consolation bracket, getting pins in both matches. She lost in her third round of consolation to be eliminated from the tournament with a 3-2 record.

'In my 19 years of coaching, at the beginning it was the exception to have a female wrestler on your high school roster but in the last few years it has become more common,” Coach Blint said.

'With so many girls (showing up at the tournament), the sport is growing rapidly in the state of Iowa,” Van Weelden said. 'I would encourage as many girls to get involved as possible. There are approximately 12 tournaments around the state that are for girls only.”

Highland has one girl wrestling (who did not compete at state) and a large middle school contingent of females.

'We have eight to 12 in grades six through eight right now,” Highland head wrestling coach Derick Ball said. 'Girls wrestling and the hype behind it may save the sport. I love the excitement.”