Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

CORALVILLE – The wrestling journey for Shaona Emmanuel has been relatively short when measured in time.

However, Emmanuel has taken the long route to success on the mat.

The City High senior wasn’t a ready-made superstar when she tried wrestling for the first time four seasons ago.

As evidence by a modest 16-21 record in her freshman season.

Instead, it has been a slow and steady road to greatness for Emmanuel who has worked her way into one of the state’s best.

“We use Shaona as an example in practice with other kids,” City High co-head coach Jeff Koenig said. “We have a road map for you to follow and it looks like Shaona.”

Emmanuel has emerged as the road map to success for the City High wrestling program.

Going from a sub-.500 record as a freshman to a back-to-back state medalist that will make her state semifinal debut on Friday.

“She’s the perfect example of you don’t have to come in and be a super star right out of the gate,” Koenig said. “If you don’t come in your freshman year and make it to state or have a winning record you are following Shaona paths. If you do what she does and put in the work it’s not impossible.”

Even when Emmanuel experienced her breakthrough last season it came in the toughest possible way, through determination and work.

In her state tournament debut last season Emmanuel lost her opening match before rattling off five consecutive wins in the consolation bracket on her way to a third-place finish.

For once, Emmanuel took a shorter route to success on Thursday.

Emmanuel posted back-to-back pins in a combined 3:01 of mat time to advance to the 155-pound semifinals on Thursday evening at the Class 2A state tournament at Xtream Arena in Coralville.

“Last year gave me a lot of confidence but also I didn’t want to be in that situation again,” Emmanuel said. “It was a lot of pressure after losing that first match so I wanted to make sure I wasn’t in that position again.”

With two wins on Thursday Emmanuel has now won seven consecutive state tournament matches.

Emmanuel (35-4) needed just 39 seconds to pin Cedar Falls sophomore Natalie Ritter in her opening-round match on Thursday.

She followed with a pin of No. 11 Bella Bruins of Raccoon River Northwest in 2:22 in the quarterfinals.

“Last year I was thinking too much,” Emmanuel said. “Today I just told myself it doesn’t matter who I am wrestling, even if I have beat them before I still have to do everything right, be careful, set up my shots the way I am supposed to and wrestle hard.”

Emmanuel scored a takedown 30 seconds into her quarterfinal contest with Bruin and led 4-2 after the opening period.

Starting the second period she needed less than 40 seconds to roll Bruin onto her back.

“I was able to break her down, I was pretty confident on top,” Emmanuel said. “I knew if I was on top I could get to what I needed.”

Emmanuel has now won 22 of her last 23 matches dating back to December and is 67-9 over the past two seasons.

“Obviously she has been wrestling at a high level the last few years and at this point she knows what she does well but also she has gotten so much better in different positions,” City High co-head coach Ryan Ahlers said. “Last year it was taken them down, bar them up and pin them. This year she is fighting through a lot more positions which is making her a better all-around wrestler.”

Emmanuel will face top-ranked Skylar Slade (40-0) of Southeast Polk in the 155-pound semifinals on Friday.

Slade pinned Emmanuel in 5:27 in the regional title match last Friday.

It feels good but tomorrow is going to be a tough one,” Emmanuel said. “I wrestled her at regionals and I need to change some things up.”

Class 2A State Tournament

At Xtream Arena in Coralville

Team scores (Top 10; area teams) – 1. Raccoon River-Northwest 71; 2. Ankeny 57.5; 3. Southeast Polk 54; 4. Cedar Falls 53; 5. Algona 52; 6. South Tama 42; 7. Liberty High 39.5; 8. Waverly-Shell Rock 38.5; 9. Linn-Mar 35; 10. Cedar Rapids Prairie 30; 23. West High 16; 32. City High 12

Opening Round (area results)

105 – London Vermillion (Southeast Polk) pinned Taylor Cavanh (Liberty High) 5:04

110 – Greenley Grell (Central DeWitt) major dec. Evalynn Karam (Liberty High) 13-1

115 – Jordin Mayson (Ottumwa) dec. Brianna Lucero (West High) 9-3

115 – Kate Eggleston (Liberty High) pinned Jada Mingus-Alfaro (Spencer) 2:54

120 – Abigail Meyrer (Pleasant Valley) pinned Martha Willard (City High) 1:07

125 – Jaya Theilen (Ames) dec. Kaitlyn Raue (Liberty High) 9-3

135 – Lexa Rozevink (Ames) pinned Acasia Lukalaba Ndomba (Liberty High) :50

140 – Evelyn Eggleston (Liberty High) pinned Haley Togba (Ankeny) 2:22

145 – Jenna Hansen (Sioux City North) dec. Callum Wu (Liberty High) 9-5

155 – Bella Bruins (Raccoon River Northwest) dec. Peyten Van Dyke (Liberty High) 3-2 UTB

155 – Shaona Emmanuel (City High) pinned Natalie Ritter (Cedar Falls) :39

190 – Eva Jara (West High) pinned Aubrey Borcherding (Dallas Center-Grimes) 1:59

Quarterfinals

115 – Kate Seery (Linn-Mar) pinned Kate Eggleston (Liberty High) 4:35

140 – Calista Rodish (Raccoon River-Northwest) major dec. Evelyn Eggleston (Liberty High) 9-0

155 – Shaona Emmanuel (City High) pinned Bella Bruins (Raccoon River Northwest) 2:22

190 – Eva Jara (West High) dec. Briar Ludeman (Cedar Falls) 6-4

First Round Consolation

105 – Taylor Cavanh (Liberty High) pinned Alyssa Sheets (Oskaloosa) 5:54

110 – Evalynn Karam (Liberty High) pinned Kylee Adams (Newton) 3:23

115 – Brianna Lucero (West High) pinned Kaylea Hintze (Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson) 1:55

120 – Martha Willard (City High) dec. Evelyn Faubus (Ballard) 6-4

125 – Kaitlyn Raue (Liberty High) dec. Brenna Ruff (Cedar Rapids Prairie) 7-0

135 – Emersyn Zehner (Boone) pinned Acasia Lukalaba Ndomba (Liberty High) 5:14

145 – Callum Wu (Liberty High) dec. Izzy Szabo (Cedar Rapids Jefferson) 8-6

155 – Peyten Van Dyke (Liberty High) pinned Natalie Ritter (Cedar Falls) 4:37

Second Round Consolation

105 – Taylor Cavanh (Liberty High) dec. Olivia Sheffield (Decorah) 9-7

110 – Evalynn Karam (Liberty High) pinned Aviea Holden (North Scott) 3:20

115 – Kate Eggleston (Liberty High) pinned Cora Schut (Sioux City North) 1:40

115 – Brianna Lucero (West High) pinned Ashlyn Leslie (Nevada) :44

120 – Brianna Kiger (Carroll) pinned Martha Willard 5:12

125 – Karlie Kruse (Ankeny) major dec. Kaitlyn Raue (Liberty High) 10-0

140 – Evelyn Eggleston (Liberty High) tech. fall Kylie Ernst (Cedar Falls) 15-0

145 – Callum Wu (Liberty High) major dec. Kat Diprima (Fort Madison) 12-1

155 – Peyton Van Dyke (Liberty High) pinned Kasee Huss (MOC-Floyd Valley) 3:44

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