Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

In the second year of girls wrestling in Iowa the sport continues to grow in the Your Prep Sports area.

Last season there were 14 area wrestlers that qualified for the first ever Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union state wrestling tournament.

A year later 17 Your Prep Sports area wrestlers representing six schools are set to compete in the second two-day state meet that opens on Thursday morning at Xtream Arena in Coralville.

Opening-round matches will get underway at 10 a.m. on Thursday with the championship session scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday.

Before the action gets going here is a quick breakdown of the meet highlight area competitors.

The Wrestlers

Area/qualifiers/Opening round opponents

100 – No. 9 Kara VeDepo (33-6) Jr., Solon vs. Elizabeth Burns (28-14) Fr., Cedar Rapids Prairie

100 – Taylor Cavanh (32-6) Soph., Liberty High vs. Jazz Christensen (34-6) Jr., SWAT Valkyrie

105 – Eliza Mitchell (27-18) Fr., City High vs. No. 4 Kacy Miller (31-0), Sr., Western Iowa

105 – No. 3 McKenna Rogers (17-1) Soph., Solon vs. Sarah Greiner (27-17), Jr., Independence

115 – Marlie McBride (27-14) Sr., Clear Creek Amana vs. Ava Hofer (30-9) Jr., Linn-Mar

120 – Trinity Myers (20-13) Jr., West High vs. Britt Hessenius (35-5) Fr., LeMars

120 – Alannah Mahoney (25-8) Soph., Solon vs. No. 8 Ally Jelinek (38-7) Jr., Linn-Mar

125 – Helen Orszula (26-15) Sr., West High vs. No. 3 Hannah Rogers (40-2), Sr., Bettendorf

135 – Evelyn Eggleston (32-5) Soph., Liberty High vs. Ellie Hancock (24-8) Fr., Raccoon River-Northwest

135 – Halle Bormann (12-17) Sr., Clear Creek Amana vs. No. 2 Maeley Eslbury (30-1) Sr., South Tama

140 – Olivia Bonnema (31-13) Jr., Solon vs. Abigail O’Rear (32-9) Sr., West Delaware

145 – Peyten Van Dyke (23-10) Fr., West High vs. Ella Anliker (4-2), Sr., West Des Moines Valley

145 – Annabelle Stelpflug (20-11) Soph., City High vs. No. 4 Dana Cleveland (37-1) Sr., Ankeny

170 – Molly Carlson (29-11) Soph., City High vs. Kensi Steele (29-10) Sr., Liberty High

170 – Jordan Hunt (20-21) Fr., Clear Creek Amana vs. No. 3 Autumn Elsbury (33-1) Soph., South Tama

170 – No. 10 Teagyn Hartz (25-2) Jr., West Branch vs. Karissa Oldenburger (39-13) Sr., Waverly-Shell Rock

Undefeated Wrestlers

100 – Katie Biscoglia (45-0) Soph., Raccoon River-Northwest

105 – Lainey Shelangoski (37-0) Sr., Durant

105 – Kacy Miller (31-0) Sr., Western Iowa

110 – Jasmine Luedtke (33-0) Sr., Ottumwa

115 – Molly Sek (33-0) Sr., Sioux City North

115 – Reanah Utterback (44-0) Jr., Sigourney-Keota

125 – Molly Allen (27-0) Jr., Riverside

125 – Jillian Worthen (24-0) Jr., Union

140 – Kiara Djoumessi (42-0) Sr., Waverly-Shell Rock

145 – Eve Skrocki (29-0) Fr., Dubuque Wahlert

145 – Greta Brus (35-0) Soph., Davenport

155 – Skylar Slade (43-0) Soph., Southeast Polk

155 – Emmalee Spurgeon (41-0) Sr., Pella

170 – Naomi Simon (43-0) Sr., Decorah

190 – Bella Porcelli (45-0) Sr., Southeast Polk

190 – Jana Terwee (22-0) Sr., West Lyon

235 – Olivia Huckfelt (40-0) Sr., Spencer

235 – Ella Brown (28-0) Jr., Cedar Rapids Kennedy

235 – Breanna Peach (31-0) Soph., Iowa Valley

Returning State Champions

Current weight class, Wrestler, School, 2023 championship weight class

100 – Katie Biscoglia, Raccoon River-Northwest, 100

125 – Jillian Worthen, Union, 105

110 – Jasmine Luedtke, Ottumwa, 110

125 – Molly Allen, Riverside, 115

120 – Abigail Meyrer, Pleasant Valley, 120

130 – Mackenzie Childers, Cedar Rapids Prairie, 125

135 – Maeley Elsbury, South Tama, 135

140 – Kiara Djoumessi, Waverly-Shell Rock, 140

155 – Skylar Slade, Southeast Polk, 155

170 – Naomi Simon, Decorah, 170

235 – Olivia Huckfelt, Spencer 235

What to Watch

First Round Match to Watch

A pair of familiar foes will meet in the 170-pound opening round when City High sophomore Molly Carlson (29-11) and Liberty High senior Kensi Steele (29-10) square off for the fifth time this season.

Carlson is 3-1 in matches against Steele this season including a 13-4 major decision in the most recent meeting between the two at the Mississippi Valley Conference meet on January 20.

Steele is 2-3 against Carlson in her career, winning a 9-8 decision last season to go with a first-period pin of Carlson in a December 21 dual meet.

The fifth meeting between these two comes on the state’s biggest stage where Carlson has the experience advantage after reaching the state tournament a year ago while Steele will be making her state meet debut on Thursday.

Wrestler to Watch

Solon sophomore McKenna Rogers made a splash in her state meet debut last season finishing fifth at 105 pounds to cap a 39-3 freshman season.

Rogers (17-1) returns to the state meet on Thursday seeking to improve on that performance.

This season Rogers has been dominant winning 17 straight matches before dropping a 7-4 decision to unbeaten Durant senior Lainey Shelangoski in the regional title match last Friday.

The loss to Shelangoski was just the second career loss for Rogers outside of the state tournament and was the first match for the Solon sophomore this season to go more than two periods and not end in a Rogers pin.

Third-ranked Rogers will face Independence junior Sarah Greiner (27-17) in the opening round and if seeds hold could have a potential quarterfinal matchup with seventh-ranked Hillary Trainor (32-5) of Sumner-Fredericksburg.

Trainor won an 8-7 decision over Rogers in a consolation semifinal at the state meet last season.

Weight Class to Watch

Nearly a quarter of the Your Prep Sports state qualifiers are in the 170-pound bracket with four area wrestlers competing at 170.

However, the bracket to keep an eye on this week is 100 where returning state qualifiers Kara VeDepo of Solon and Taylor Cavanh will each look to earn spots on the medal stand.

Ninth-ranked VeDepo (33-6) was one of the standouts of the regional meet, winning a title with a 15-0 tech fall of Olivia Hernandez of Bettendorf.

VeDepo faces Elizabeth Burns (28-14) of Cedar Rapids Prairie in the opening round where she will be seeking her first state tournament win after going 0-2 a year ago.

Cavanh (32-6) also went 0-2 in her state meet debut last season and will open with a match against Jazz Christensen (34-6) of SWAT Valkyrie.

With an opening-round win Cavanh could face third-ranked Mia Kurth (28-2) of Waukon in the second round.

Top-ranked defending state champion Katie Biscoglia (45-0) of Raccoon River-Northwest is the unquestioned favorite in the 100-pound bracket but both VeDepo and Cavanh have the talent and experience to earn medals.

The Teams

Regional Champions (State qualifiers)

Council Bluffs Lewis Central (6); Ridge View (6); Ankeny (8); Raccoon River-Northwest (9); East Buchanan (7); Bettendorf (8); Cedar Falls (11); Decorah (9)

What to Watch in the Team Race

Decorah finished third a year ago and enters the state meet top-ranked and as a slight favorite over defending champion Waverly-Shell Rock.

The Vikings have seven ranked wrestlers among nine qualifiers highlighted by four wrestlers ranked in the top four led by defending 170-pound state champion Naomi Simon.

Waverly-Shell Rock won the title last season by 12 points of East Buchanan and has five ranked wrestlers among seven qualifiers including a pair of top-ranked wrestlers in 120-pound Camille Schult and 140-pounder Kiara Djoumessi.

Council Bluffs Lewis Central, last year’s runner-up East Buchanan and Southeast Polk should all be in the title mix.

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