By Becky Walz,
Viking junior Ana Simon fell short of the 145-pound crown by an 8-7 decision in final against Eve Skrocki of Wahlert. (Photo by Becky Walz)
A stellar wrestling season wrapped up for girls around the state last weekend in Coralville, including five Vikings with one in the finals.
Heading into the big meet, Decorah was looking to defend its state title; however, the Vikes would come up short of a trophy, finishing third with 74 points. East Buchanan tallied 105 points to win the Class 1A title, followed by Mount Vernon and Osage.
A great finish for Simon
Heading into the state meet, junior Ana Simon was the top-ranked wrestler at 145 pounds with a 38-2 record, and showcased why as she pinned her way to the finals.
Simon took 20 seconds to throw Treynor’s Liz Young (36-14) in round one and spent just 48 seconds to get Addision Hochstetler (37-5) of North Tama on her back in the quarterfinals Thursday. Friday morning, the Viking stepped back on to the mats in the semifinal with Lauren Rodgers (41-6) of Woodward-Granger and held a 3-1 lead into the second before getting a takedown and turning Rodgers for the fall in 3:16.
It was an epic battle in the finals between the top two seeds as Simon went toe-to-toe with Eve Skrocki of Wahlert Catholic who entered the state meet at 37-2. Skrocki struck first with a takedown just over a minute into the match and had a 4-point nearfall as time expired. The Viking chose down in the second, and managed an escape and a takedown of her own to make it 7-4. In the third period, Skrocki took the opportunity to go down and got an escape. Late in the third period, Simon came within one with a takedown but ran out of time as she fell by an 8-7 decision to take second place. Simon finished the year with a 41-3 overall record.
More medals
Decorah had three others on the medal stand Friday night, including Chloe Sheffield (100) in third, Lauren Luzum (155) in fifth and Amelia Wadsworth (135) in seventh places.
Sheffield entered the state tournament ranked No. 1 with a 39-5 record and faced Rylin Casey (20-19) first, getting the fall in 1:34. No. 7 Audrey Cummings (39-10) of Wilton didn’t seem to be an obstacle for the Viking senior either as Sheffield won by a 13-2 major decision.
The battle of the tournament came for Sheffield during the match between her and No. 2 Ainsley Hemann (46-4) of Osage, who had defeated the Viking at the regional tournament. Following a scoreless opening period, Sheffield took the bottom position and quickly got the escape. Hemann soon got the takedown only to get reversed before a nearfall. The Osage grappler got her own reversal and nearfall to lead 9-7 with a period to go. As the two continued to battle, Sheffield got a take down and escape in the third and trailed 12-11 with just under a minute remaining, and she was unable to score again to drop into the consolation bracket. There she pinned No. 6 Mara Davis (41-11) of Algona in 34 seconds to advance to the third-place match versus No. 5 Lily Webster (44-6) taking third by a 4-0 decision on a first period takedown and a second period escape. Sheffield ended her senior campaign with a 39-5 record.
Following a first round medical forfeit, Luzum, ranked second, found herself on the mat in the quarterfinals with No. 5 Destiny Kolheim (27-5) of Charles City. Luzum fell behind in the first 3-0 and trailed 3-1 with one period to go. Luzum’s escape wasn’t enough to overcome the eventual 155-pound champion Kolheim as she fell 6-1.
That put Luzum in the consolation bracket, where she needed a win in order to medal. She faced No. 10 Kasee Huss of MOC-Floyd Valley (39-6), picking up the fall in 52 seconds.
Next up was sixth-ranked Miley Walz of East Buchanan (39-6). Luzum went up 3-1 in the first but the tides turned as Walz got the takedown and nearfall in the second to lead 8-4 and took the win 10-5. Luzum dominated Ryley Marcum (42-14) of Missouri Valley in the match for fifth place with a 19-0 tech fall. Luzum ended her season 44-4 overall in fifth place.
Fourth seeded Amelia Wadsworth came into the tournament unranked and took her first match by a 20-2 tech fall over No. 11 Lila Miller (28-6) of Pekin.
In the quarterfinal, the Viking battled for 4:40 with Isabelle Harris (23-6) of GTRA before falling into the consolation bracket. Leading 7-0 over Mia Luck (34-3), who had been ranked eighth at 130 pounds, Wadsworth turned the Oskaloosa wrestler to get the fall in 3:49.
In the third round of the consolation bracket, the Decorah grappler dropped the 13-10 decision to No. 4 Evy Marlin (44-7) of Creston to move to the match for seventh place. It was there that Wadsworth finished her tournament with a fall in 2:27 over Clarinda’s Kylar Downey (39-14) to finish her season with a 28-8 record.
One more at state
Decorah had one more on the state mats as fifth ranked McKenzie Tollefson entered the tournament with a 36-6 record as the fifth seed. The senior threw Montana Mitchell (18-5) of Winterset during round one in 1:42. In the quarterfinal, Tollefson took on No. 6 Lucy Konechne (38-5) of Central Lyon-George Little Rock, dropping the match by an 8-1 decision.
Her quest to the podium ended with Katelyn Brandhorst of Woodward-Granger. Takedowns in the first and second periods had Tollefson leading 6-5. However, the Viking struggled in the third period after getting taken to the mat, falling 8-6 and ending her season with a 37-8 record.
Class 1A team scores (top 10)
1. East Buchanan 105; 2. Mount Vernon 94; 3. Osage 79.5; 4. Decorah 74; 5. West Liberty 65.5; 6. Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont 64.5; 7. Logan-Magnolia-Woodbine 62.5; 8. Woodward-Granger 62; 9. Denver 61; 10. Charles City 48
Individual results
100 – Chloe Sheffield, 3rd place
Rd. 1 – WBF in 1:34 over Rylin Casey (Ogden); Quarterfinal – won 13-2 maj. dec. over Audrey Cummings (Wilton); Semifinal – lost 12-11 dec. to Ainsley Hemann (Osage); Cons. semifinal – WBF in 0:34 over Mara Davis (Algona); 3rd place match – won 4-0 dec. over Lily Webster (Colfax-Mingo)
135 – Amelia Wadsworth, 7th place
Rd. 1 – won 20-2 tech fall over Lila Miller (Pekin); Quarterfinal – LBF in 3:42 to Isabelle Harris (GTRA); Cons. rd. 2 – WBF in 3:49 over Mia Luck (Oskaloosa); Cons. rd. 3 – lost 13-10 dec. to Evy Marlin (Creston); 7th place match – WBF in 2:27 over Kylar Downey (Clarinda)
140 – McKenzie Tollefson, DNP
Rd. 1 – WBF in 1:42 over Montana Mitchell (Winterset); Quarterfinal – lost 8-1 dec. to Lucy Konechne (Central Lyon-George Little Rock); Cons. rd. 2 – lost 8-6 decision to Katelyn Brandhorst (Woodward-Granger)
145 – Ana Simon, 2nd place
Rd. 1 – WBF in 0:20 over Liz Young (Treynor); Quarterfinal – WBF in 0:48 over Addision Hochstetler (North Tama); Semifinal – WBF in 3:16 over Lauren Rodgers (Woodward-Granger); Final – lost 8-7 dec. to Eve Skrocki (Wahlert Catholic)
155 – Lauren Luzum, 5th place
Rd. 1 – won by medical forfeit over Kaylee Kintzel (Mount Vernon); Quarterfinal – lost 6-1 dec. to Destiny Kolheim (Charles City); Cons. rd. 2 – WBF in 0:52 over Kasee Huss (MOC-Floyd Valley); Cons. rd. 3 – WBF in 1:41 over Lucy Kohnen (Manson-NW Webster); Cons. semifinal – lost 10-5 dec. to Miley Walz (East Buchanan); 5th place match – won 19-0 tech fall over Ryley Marcum (Missouri Valley)
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