Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

Friday will be a historic day for girls wrestling in the state of Iowa.

The first season of sanctioned girls wrestling in Iowa opens postseason competition on Friday with eight regional meets being held at four sites around the state.

All seven Your Prep Sports area teams will be competing at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse in Cedar Rapids which will serve as the host for the Region 5 and Region 6 meets.

Other regional sites include the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Luther College in Decorah and HyVee Hall in Des Moines.

The prize for the top four finishers in every weight class at each regional meet is a spot at the first ever Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union state tournament set for February 2-3 at Xtream Arena in Coralville.

As the postseason gets underway we take a quick look at the regional meets involving teams from the Your Prep Sports area.

Region 5 Meet

When: Friday, 11 a.m.

Where: Alliant Energy PowerHouse in Cedar Rapids

Teams: Belle Plaine; Benton Community; Bettendorf; Camanche; Cedar Rapids Jefferson; Cedar Rapids Kennedy; Davenport; Davenport Assumption; Durant; Fort Madison; Highland; Independence; City High; Linn-Mar; Maquoketa; Mid-Prairie; Midland; Mount Pleasant; Mount Vernon; North Scott; Tipton; WACO; Wapello; Washington; West Liberty

Ranked teams: None

What to watch: City High has enjoyed a solid debut season under co-head coaches Jeff Koenig and Ryan Ahlers and will attempt to put the finishing touches on with a strong postseason.

In the first sanctioned season of girls wrestling the Little Hawks are led by a strong group of upperclassmen which is relatively rare in the young sport.

Seniors Nabitendelo Emmanuel, Sydney Wilkes and Claire Brown are among the Little Hawks expected to be competing for state tournament spots on Friday.

Emmanuel is 19-13 at 115 pounds this season while Wilkes is 14-16 at 120 pounds.

Who to watch: City High senior Claire Brown has quickly made a name for herself as one of the more physical wrestlers in the area with an unrelenting attacking style.

Brown enters the postseason ranked sixth at 130 pounds and has been impressive this season recording 13 pins while posting an 18-3 record.

Two of the losses for Brown this season have come to second-ranked Vinton-Shellsburg freshman Chloe Sanders.

Brown is coming off an impressive performance at the Cedar Rapids Prairie unofficial Mississippi Valley Conference tournament last week where she pinned her way to the title.

Weight class to watch: One of the standout freshman in a City High lineup that features a strong group of underclassmen is 145-pound Annabelle Stelpflug.

Stelpflug enters the postseason 18-17 and should have a chance to navigate through a relatively open 145-pound bracket.

Seventh-ranked Dionni Garcia-Vazquez of West Liberty is the lone ranked wrestler at 145 pounds.

Look for Stelpflug to contend for a top-four spot and a berth at the state tournament next week.

Ranked wrestlers

100: No. 7 Gabi Robertson, Jr., Mid-Prairie

105: No. 3 Taylor Strief, Fr., Bettendorf

No. 10 Lainey Shelangoski, Jr., Durant

110: None

115: No. 10 Silvia Garcia-Vazquez, Soph., West Liberty

120: No. 9 Khylie Wainwright, Sr., North Scott

No. 10 Jadalynn Daily, Jr., Davenport

125: None

130: No. 3 Alexys Petersen, Jr., Bettendorf

No. 6 Claire Brown, Sr., City High

135:     No. 2 Dakota Whitman, Sr., Independence

No. 6 Lizzy Wolf, Fr., Benton Community

140: No. 4 Tatum Wolford, Jr., Wapello

145: No. 7 Dionni Garcia-Vazquez, Jr., West Liberty

155: No. 2 Teegan Sulentich, Sr., Washington

No. 6 Jorie Hanenburg, Sr., North Scott

170: No. 4 Libby Dix, Soph., Mount Vernon

190: No. 3 Rachel Eddy, Sr., Independence

No. 4 Ella Brown, Soph., Cedar Rapids Kennedy

235: No. 9 Bralyyn Wagler, Sr., WACO

Region 6 Meet

When: Friday, 11 a.m.

Where: Alliant Energy PowerHouse in Cedar Rapids

Teams: Cedar Rapids Washington; Central City; Central DeWitt; Clear Creek Amana; Clinton; Columbus; East Buchanan; English Valleys; Liberty High; West High; Iowa Valley; Keokuk; Louisa-Muscatine; Marion; Muscatine; Burlington Notre Dame; Pekin; Pleasant Valley; Cedar Rapids Prairie; Regina; Solon; Vinton-Shellsburg; Waverly-Shell Rock; West Branch; Wilton

Ranked teams: No. 2 Waverly-Shell Rock; No. 3 East Buchanan

What to watch: Six Your Prep Sports area teams take part in the Region 6 meet that should be among the most challenging of the eight regional fields from top to bottom.

Second-ranked Waverly-Shell Rock and third-ranked East Buchanan each put five ranked wrestlers into Region 6 brackets as all but one weight class has a ranked wrestler and eight weight classes have a pair of ranked competitors.

Liberty High, West High, Solon, West Branch and Clear Creek Amana all have competitors capable of securing state tournament spots.

West High senior 170-pounder Jannell Avila is a nationally ranked former IWCOA state champion and Baker College recruit.

Avila is 25-1 on the season and ranked third at 170 pounds.

Keep an eye on a trio of young West High wrestlers in sophomores Natalie Gentiluomo (22-16) at 115 pounds and Trinity Meyers (9-5) at 120 pounds and freshman Sylvia Brofitt (18-17) at 125 pounds.

Liberty High has several state tournament contenders led by senior Eavenly Nielsen (20-8) at 155 pounds and junior Elizabeth Eggleston (21-9) at 140 pounds.

Junior Kenzi Steele (18-14) should be in the mix at 170 pounds along with freshmen Evelyn Eggleston (15-15) at 145 and Taylor Cavanh at 100.

Clear Creek Amana is led by seniors Emma Descourouez (21-10) at 120 pounds and Kaly Thomas (21-11) at 130 pounds.

Freshman Brenna Williams (18-9) should be a contender at 115 pounds and Marlie McBride (16-8) can work into the mix in a challenging 110-pound bracket.

West Branch sophomore Teagyn Hartz (17-6) can contend at 170 pounds.

Solon has a long list of wrestlers capable of advancing to the state meet highlighted by Rogers and senior 145-pounder Addison Burden (29-10).

Sophomore Kara VeDepo (23-14) will be part of a tough bracket at 110 pounds and sophomore Olivia Bonnema (24-19) is in the same situation at 135 pounds.

Watch for junior Kate Richards (18-9) at 115 pounds.

Who to watch: Solon freshman McKenna Rogers immediately emerged as a state contender in her first season of varsity competition.

Rogers (32-1) enters the regional meeting ranked ninth and riding a 25-match winning streak and is unbeaten against in-state competition this season with her lone loss coming in the semifinals of the Donnybrook Meet in Coralville on December 2.

Rogers has 25 falls in 32 wins this season and has victories over 100-pound sixth-ranked Myah Rausch of Cedar Rapids Prairie and No. 10 Lainey Shelangoski of Durant.

Weight class to watch: Of the eight weight classes in Region 6 with a pair of ranked wrestlers perhaps none will be as entertaining as 110 pounds where fourth-ranked Bree Swenson (38-4) of Vinton-Shellsburg and seventh-ranked Emmersen Thomas of West Branch (23-3) appear to be on a collision course for a big-time championship rematch.

Swenson pinned Thomas at the Oelwein Tournament back on January 14 which accounts for one of three losses for Thomas this season all coming to ranked opponents.

Thomas has also lost to 105-pound tenth-ranked Lainey Shelangoski of Durant and fifth-ranked Hope Chiattello of Cedar Falls.

A quarterfinalist at 110 pounds at the IWCOA State Meet last season, Thomas has 13 pins among 23 wins this season.

Ranked wrestlers

100: No. 6 Myah Rausch, Sr., Cedar Rapids Prairie

105:  No. 9 McKenna Rogers, Fr., Solon

110: No. 4 Bree Swenson, Jr., Vinton-Shellsburg

No. 7 Emmersen Thomas, Sr., West Branch

115: No. 3 Caitlin Reiter, Jr., Pleasant Valley

120: No. 1 Abigail Meier, Fr., Pleasant Valley

No. 4 Hannah Rogers, Jr., Wilton

125:  No. 1 Mackenzie Childers, Soph. Cedar Rapids Prairie

No. 6 Eva Heise, Sr., Waverly-Shell Rock

130: No. 2 Chloe Sanders, Fr., Vinton-Shellsburg

No. 4 Destiny Krum, Soph., East Buchanan

No. 5 Lilly Stough, Soph., Waverly-Shell Rock

135:     None

140:     No. 3 Kiara Djoumessi, Jr., Waverly-Shell Rock

No. 5 Andelyn Cabalka, Soph., East Buchanan

145:     No. 1 Emma Peach, Soph., Iowa Valley

No. 5 Haidyn Snyder, Sr., Waverly-Shell Rock

155:  No. 3 Keeley Kehrli, Sr., East Buchanan

170:  No. 3 Jannell Avila, Sr., West High

No. 6 Brooklyn Graham, Fr., East Buchanan

190: No. 2 Breanna Peach, Fr., Iowa Valley

No. 8 Alyson Krum, Jr., East Buchanan

235:  No. 4 Madison Hinrichs, Jr., Waverly-Shell Rock

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