Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

CORALVILLE – It’s not necessary to scour the West High wrestling record books to come to the conclusion that Thursday evening produced the best 20-minute stretch in Trojan history.

Sophomore Eva Jara and junior Brianna Lucero each posted wins over defending state champions less than 20 minutes apart on Thursday to put the finishing touches on an impressive opening day for the Trojans at the Class 2A state tournament at Xtream Arena in Coralville.

“West High was definitely an underdog, so this is crazy,” Jara said. “This is a crazy thing for West High girls wrestling.”

Jara started the chaotic close to the opening session for West High by scoring the upset of the tournament.

Jara (26-9) used a six-point third-period flurry to earn a 6-4 upset of top-ranked defending state champion Briar Ludeman (47-3) of Cedar Falls in a 190-pound semifinal.

The win for Jara was the only victory over a top-seeded wrestler in the 2A tournament and just the second in either class on Thursday.

Thursday’s 6-4 quarterfinal win for Jara came after Ludeman pinned Jara twice during the regular season, most recently in the regional final last Friday.

“It’s unbelievable, I would not have predicted I would have gotten this far,” Jara said. “This is my second year wrestling and I beat the state champion from last year. It’s all a mentality thing. My coaches helped me prep for this.”

Ludeman snapped a scoreless tie with an escape just six seconds into the final period but Jara scored the only takedown of the match off a counter of a Ludeman shot with a little over a minute remaining.

Jara added three nearfall points and survived a late Ludeman reversal and a stall call in the final seconds to preserve the upset.

“I was trying to tell myself I was going to give everything I had on the mat and I left it all out there,” Jara said. “We were hand fighting for the first two periods and I knew I needed to have something. She did a move and I countered and that was it. I just can’t believe it happened.”

Jara (26-9) will face fifth-ranked Carlisle senior Mallori Stutsman (44-3) in the 2A 190-pound semifinals on Friday.

“If I win twice tomorrow this is going in the books,” Jara said. “It’s unbelievable.”

Lucero watched her teammate cement her semifinal spot and then pulled her own upset in the 115-pound consolation round with a first-period pin of defending state champ Ashlyn Leslie of Nevada.

“I think it’s really important to see your teammates win because it really sets the pace,” Lucero said. “I am really proud of her, she’s in the semifinals and she got me ready.”

After dropping a 9-3 decision to Ottumwa sophomore Jordin Mayson in the opening round Lucero rattled off consecutive first-period pins in the consolation bracket to secure a medal in her state tournament debut.

Lucero pinned Kaylea Hintze of Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson in 1:55 and needed just 44 seconds to pin Leslie.

“She tried to roll me through and I just waited until she thought I was on my back,” Lucero said. “I knew she was very comfortable with throws and I just got it and I just gripped it. It was all or nothing.”

Lucero will face seventh-ranked Liberty High freshman Kate Eggleston (43-5) in a third-round consolation match on Friday.

“I wanted to be in the semifinals but I moved on,” Lucero said. “The next thing to look forward to is getting third place.”

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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