West High Senior Avila Advances to Semifinals at First IGHSAU State Wrestling Meet
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
CORALVILLE – As a former champion at the 2020 IWCOA state tournament West High senior Jannell Avila knows what it takes to win.
At the inaugural Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union state wrestle meet it will take Avila exactly five wins to claim a state title.
After a dominating performance on Thursday Avila is more than halfway there.
Avila posted three consecutive pins to advance to the 155-pound semifinals on the opening day of the IGHSAU state wrestling meet at Xtream Arena in Coralville.
“Of course we expected her to be at this point but anything can happen in a wrestling match, everyone has to show up at the state tournament and be ready to wrestle, you see a lot of upsets every single round,” West High head coach Elijah Sullivan said. “Obviously her goals are set high and she wants to achieve those goals and she is on track there but she just has to take it one match at a time in the postseason.”
Avila took it one at a time on Thursday and each step she took was more impressive than the last.
After back-to-back first-period falls against Abigail Chyma of South Tama and Kassiday Fiala in her first two matches Avila needed just 3:48 to pin seventh-seeded Jorie Hanenburg (39-4) of North Scott.
“She puts in a lot of work,” Sullivan said. “She does a lot of extra work so she is a great person to have in the room for our up-and-coming wrestlers. They see Jannell and all that she has accomplished but they also see what she does to accomplish those goals.”
Avila snapped a scoreless tie with a takedown with 20 seconds remaining in the opening period and added a pair of nearfall points for a 4-0 lead over Hanenburg after one period.
She ended the match with just 12 seconds remaining in the second period.
“She was a little bit smaller her freshman year so she has grown up wrestling with quick feet and a little more geared toward a lighter weight and she still tries to use all those moves at the upper weights,” Sullivan said. “She is physical and she wrestles whistle to whistle.”
Seconded-seeded Avila (30-2) will get a rematch with third-seed Keeley Kehrli (47-4) of East Buchanan in the semifinals.
Kehrli defeated Avila 2-0 in the regional final last Friday and advanced to the semifinals with a 3-2 win over six seed Halyee McGrew of Des Moines Public Schools.
Avila was the only one of three area quarterfinalists to reach the semifinals.
City High senior Claire Brown (23-5) dropped a 9-0 major decision to top-ranked and unbeaten two-time defending state champion Lilly Luft (38-0) of Charles City in the 130-pound quarterfinals.
Luft led just 2-0 after a late takedown in the opening period but added a reversal and a penalty point in the second and a takedown and two nearfall points in the third.
“She knew that she had possibly the best wrestler, pound-for-pound in the state and against someone like that you just have to try to get to where you are good at, fend off things that she is good at and wrestle hard in every position,” City High coach Ryan Ahlers said. “I thought Claire did a really good job of that.”
Brown will face Tipton junior Becca Hinderaker (32-11) in a consolation match on Friday morning.
“If she comes back and wrestles the way she did in that match I think she’ll be right there,” City High coach Jeff Koenig said. “She could run her way all the way back to third place she just has to let that one go.”
Solon freshman McKenna Rogers (35-2) fell to fellow freshman Taylor Strief (35-3) 7-4 at 105 pounds in one of the best quarterfinals of the evening.
Rogers fell into an early 2-0 deficit after a first-period takedown by Strief but took the lead 4-2 with a takedown and a pair of nearfall points with 47 seconds left in the second period.
Streif scored the final five points, recording a takedown in the second to take a 5-4 lead and adding another 30 seconds into the final period.
Rogers will face Ava Gannon (13-3) of Dallas Center-Grimes in a consolation match on Friday.
“McKenna does what McKenna always does which is she goes out there and battles and leaves it on the mat and that is really what we ask of wrestlers in our program is to go out there and give it all you’ve got and see what it gets you,” Solon coach Jake Munson said. “She came up a little short in that match but her attitude after was disappointed but positive and excited to go into tomorrow.”
West Branch senior Emmersen Thomas won a pair of consolations matches to stay alive in the 110-pound bracket.
Thomas won a 4-1 decision over Avery Buhr of West Des Moines Valley and added a 4-1 win over Morgan Krall of Independence.
IGHSAU State Meet
Team scores (Top 20; area teams) – 1. Decorah 82; 2. Waverly-Shell Rock 74; 3. East Buchanan 72; 4. Council Bluffs Lewis Central 63; 5. Osage 55; 6. Ridge View 49; 7. Cedar Falls 48; 8. Anamosa 43.5; 9. Mason City 43; 10. SWAT Valkyrie 42; 11. Vinton-Shellsburg 41; 12. Missouri Valley 39; 12. Cedar Rapids Prairie 39; 14. Independence 36; 15. Racoon River-Northwest 33; 16. Southeast Polk 32.5; 17. Ames 32; 18. Spencer 31; 19. Centerville 30; 19. Dallas Center-Grimes 30; 19. Iowa Valley 30; 49. West High 15; 79. Clear Creek Amana 9; 89. Solon 8; 89. West Branch 8; 109. City High 6
Quarterfinals (Area athletes)
105 – Taylor Strief (Bettendorf) dec. McKenna Rogers (Solon) 7-4
130 – Lilly Luft (Charles City) major dec. Claire Brown (City High) 9-0
155 – Jannell Avila (West High) pinned Jorie Hanenburg (North Scott) 3:48
Second Round Consolation
110 – Emmersen Thomas (West Branch) dec. Avery Buhr (West Des Moines Valley) 4-1
110 – Kacy Miller (Western Iowa) dec. Marlie McBride (Clear Creek Amana) 5-3
120 – Emily Lundvall (Glenwood) pinned Emma Descourouez (Clear Creek Amana) 3:33
125 – Abbe Gorham (Algona) won by medical forfeit over Erin Anderson (City High)
130 – Tierney Perkins (Crestwood) dec. Kaly Thomas (Clear Creek Amana) 7-0
170 – Maya Fritz (Dallas Center-Grimes) dec. Teagyn Hartz (West Branch) 7-5
Third Round Consolation
110 – Emmersen Thomas (West Branch) dec. Morgan Krall (Independence) 4-1
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