Union area girls off to state

CORALVILLE — The stage is set for Thursday’s Iowa High School Girls Athletic Union girls wrestling tournament, and 12 Union area athletes will be in action at XTreme Arena in Coralville on Thursday morning.

Over the weekend, Union teams split out across four different regionals, and eight area schools will be sending at least one representative to the state meet.

Mid-Prairie competed at the Region 4 tournament in Des Moines. The Golden Hawks had two third place finishers and one fourth. Four wrestlers in each bracket make state.

Ashlee Farrier took bronze at 130 pounds. Ellie Brenneman joined her with a third-place finish at 135 pounds. Ellie Callahan took fourth at 170.

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Also in Region 4, Cardinal put two wrestlers through. Ajaah Cox took second place at 155 pounds, and Abigail Durflinger was third at 105.

In the Region 5 tournament at Cedar Rapids, Columbus/Winfield-Mount Union sent two wrestlers on. Josie Nelson finished third place at 140 pounds, and Lecet Quiroz took fourth at 155.

Highland and WACO each sent a wrestler through at the Region 6 tournament in Cedar Rapids. Highland’s Angelina Roling took second place in the 110-pound bracket, and WACO’s Rylee Rice finished fourth at in the very same 110-pound tournament. The two never faced off.

Fairfield’s lone qualifier is Samantha Lyons, who took third place at the 170 pound bracket as part of Region 3 in Des Moines. Pekin’s Hailey Pedrick had a smiliar day, getting third at 135 pounds.

The lone area regional champion from the weekend is still undefeated Reanah Utterback out of Sigourney-Keota.

Utterback finished the day with four pins to punch her ticket to the state meet at 115 pounds. Utterback, a former placewinner at the co-ed and boys’ state meets will make her girls’ tournament debut.

Wrestlers will begin the day at 10 a.m., on Thursday, Feb. 1. The tournament will last until championship night on Friday, Feb. 2.