Douglas Miles

Your Prep Sports

CORALVILLE – Eva Jara heard a pop in her right shoulder and knew her night was finished.

And just like that, an unlikely run through the Class 2A girls wrestling state tournament came to an abrupt end for the Iowa City West sophomore.

“I performed a lot better than I thought I would,” Jara said after losing to second-seeded Reagan Haynes of Algona in the 190-pound finals Friday night at Xtream Arena. “I’m proud of that. I could have won that match. I saw her wrestle. I don’t know what happened. She got a chicken wing on me, I heard my arm pop and I figured it wasn’t really worth it to wrestle with a dislocated arm.”

Jara reached the finals despite entering the tournament as a No. 9 seed.

Of the 14 championship matches in 2A, no other participant was seeded worse than fifth.

“We are very proud of her,” West High coach Michael Mettenburg said. “Very proud of her. She’s young. It was a great tournament for her.”

After defeating a No. 8 seed and the tournament top seed Thursday, Jara (27-10) opened Friday with a win via a 9-4 decision in the 190 semifinal against Mallori Stutsman of Carlisle.

With that, she became the second state finalist for the West High girls wrestling program joining Jannell Avila who finished runner-up in 2023.

“I definitely was an underdog in this tournament,” Jara said. “I’m glad they had someone to root for. For Trojans, this is a really big moment for them. I hope I made my team proud and my family proud.”

Jara’s ascension is even more surprising when she details her lack of offseason preparation. Now, she is looking to join a wrestling club.

“I’m definitely going to put in more work,” Jara said. “Try to get stronger and meaner for the next season.”

That is not to say there weren’t signs that a performance like this was possible.

The West High coaching staff saw the potential and coached her hard throughout the season, and Jara responded with force.

“In wrestling, the real work is behind doors,” Mettenburg said. “Our coaching staff this year was incredible. They would push her in practice. I would have coaches come to me and say, ‘Oh gosh, do I have to go with Eva again?’ She clubs hard, so our coaches were jumping in and pushing her. We definitely believed in her.”

West was 25^th in the Class 2A team standings with 25 points.

Liberty (82.5 points) was fifth and City High (22) was 32^nd.

The Trojans had a second wrestler reach the podium when junior Brianna Lucero finished eighth at 115 pounds.

“West is a great place to wrestle,” Mettenburg said. “It’s a great wrestling community.”

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