Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

CORALVILLE – Liberty High senior Kensi Steele couldn’t have picked a better time to do the best wrestling of her career.

Steele went 3-1 at 170 pounds in her debut at the IGHSAU state wrestling meet on Thursday at Xtream Arena in Coralville to advance to the final day of the two-day event.

The strong day for Steele (32-11) started with an opening-round pin of City High sophomore Molly Carlson in the fifth meeting this season between the two Iowa City rivals.

Carlson had won three of the first four meetings including a 13-4 major decision in the most recent meeting between the two at the Mississippi Valley Conference meet on January 20.

In the opening-round meeting on Thursday morning Steele broke open a scoreless match after one period with two takedowns and a pair of three-point near falls building an 11-0 lead before pinning Carlson in 5:58.

The lone loss for Steele on Thursday came in the second round when she was pinned by unbeaten and top-ranked defending champion Naomi Simon (46-0) of Decorah in 64 seconds.

Steele rebounded from the loss to Simon with a pair of pins in the evening session.

She pinned Kynnedy Gunderson of Iowa Falls in 1:26 in a second-round consolation match and added a pin of Kalen Westerfield of Council Bluffs Lewis Central in 2:33 in a third-round consolation match.

Steele will face fourth-ranked Izzy Strickert (39-6) of Independence in the Friday morning session that gets underway at 10 a.m.

Liberty High sophomores Taylor Cavanh and Evelyn Eggleston each earned the first state tournament wins of their careers in their second consecutive appearance at state on Thursday.

Eggleston (34-7) went 2-2 at 135 pounds and Cavanh (33-8) went 1-2 at 100 pounds.

Clear Creek Amana senior Marlie McBride (28-16) went 1-2 at 115 pounds for the Clippers while Hallen Bormann (17-20) went 0-2 at 135 and Jordan Hunt went 0-2 at 170 pounds.

City High sophomore Molly Carlson (30-13) went 1-2 at 170 pounds in her second trip to state while freshman Eliza Mitchell (27-20) went 0-2 at 105 pounds.

West High freshman Peyten Van Dyke (30-13) went 1-2 at 145 pounds while Trinity Myers (27-16) went 1-2 at 120 pounds and Helen Orszula (30-19) went 0-2 at 125 pounds.

West Branch junior 170-pounder Teagyn Hartz (26-4) went 1-2.

State Tournament

At Xtream Arena in Coralville  

Team scores (Top 10; area teams) – 1. Decorah 79; 2. Cedar Falls 64; 3. Raccoon River-Northwest 60; 4. Ankeny 59; 5. Bettendorf 58.5; 6. Waverly-Shell Rock 56; 7. East Buchanan 54; 8. Council Bluffs Lewis Central 52; 9. Southeast Polk 50; 10. Spencer 48; 10. Vinton-Shellsburg 48; 26. Solon 24; 42. Liberty High 18; 110; West High 5; 121. City High 3; 21. West Branch 3; Clear Creek Amana 1

Quarterfinals

105 – McKenna Rogers (Solon) pinned Hillary Trainor (Sumner-Fredericksburg) 3:05

Second Round Consolations

100 – Kara VeDepo (Solon) dec. Hailey Kemper (Fort Madison) 10-3

100 – Lilana Cortes (Postville) dec. Taylor Cavanh (Liberty High) 6-2

115 – Josie Lennon (Sergeant Bluff-Luton) pinned Marlie McBride (Clear Creek Amana) 5:52

120 – Maddie Swenson (Osage) pinned Trinity Myers (West High) :57

135 – Evelyn Eggleston (Liberty High) major dec. Annaliese Arciniega (Osage) 18-4

140 – Eliana Kooi (West Lyon) pinned Olivia Bonnema (Solon) 1:58

145 – Jalyiah Gardner (Keokuk) pinned Peyten Van Dyke 5:06

170 – Gracie Pinckney (Mount Vernon) dec. Teagyn Hartz (West Branch) 2-0

170 – Samantha Lyons (Fairfield) dec. Molly Carlson (City High) 7-5

170 – Kensi Steele (Liberty High) pinned Kynnedy Gunderson (Iowa Falls) 1:26

Third Round Consolations

100 – Kara VeDepo (Solon) dec. Alexis Kolbet (Osage) 6-0

135 – Mckenzie Tollefson (Decorah) pinned Evelyn Eggleston 4:18

170 – Kensi Steele (Liberty High) pinned Kalen Westerfield (Lewis Central) 2:33

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