Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

It is state wrestling tournament time.

The 2026 edition of the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union state wrestling tournament gets underway on Thursday morning at Xtream Arena in Coralville.

Class 1A opens the tournament on Thursday morning with Class 2A action getting underway at 4:30 p.m.

There are 12 wrestlers from the Your Prep Sports area competing in the Class 2A tournament with Liberty High sending a program-record eight wrestlers to the state meet and City High and West High each with two qualifiers.

Before action gets underway on Thursday Your Prep Sports offers a quick breakdown of the 2A state meet with an emphasis on area competitors.

The Wrestlers

Area qualifiers/Opening round opponents

105 – No. 4 Taylor Cavanh (19-3) Sr., Liberty High vs. No. 11 London Vermillion (31-7) Soph., Southeast Polk

110 – No. 7 Evalynn Karam (36-8) Soph., Liberty High vs. No. 6 Greenley Grell (34-1) Fr., Central DeWitt

115 – Brianna Lucero (34-12) Jr., West High vs. Jordin Mayson (37-6) Soph., Ottumwa

115 – No. 7 Kate Eggleston (41-4) Fr., Liberty High vs. No. 8 Jada Mingus-Alfaro (35-10) Fr., Spencer

120 – Martha Willard (23-13) Jr., City High vs. No. 1 Abigail Meyrer (34-2) Sr., Pleasant Valley

125 – No. 5 Kaitlyn Raue (39-5) Sr., Liberty High vs. Jaya Theilen (37-12) Soph., Ames

135 – Acasia Lukalaba Ndomba (28-21) Soph., Liberty High vs. No. 1 Lexa Rozevink (39-1) Sr., Ames

140 – No. 2 Evelyn Eggleston (31-4) Sr., Liberty High vs. Haley Togba (29-12) Soph., Ankeny

145 – No. 6 Callum Wu (38-7) Sr., Liberty High vs. No. 10 Jenna Hansen (35-1) Soph., Sioux City North

155 – No. 6 Peyten Van Dyke (32-8) Jr., Liberty High vs. No. 11 Bella Bruins (31-13) Sr., Raccoon River Northwest

155 – No. 4 Shaona Emmanuel (33-4) Sr., City High vs. Natalie Ritter (33-16) Fr., Cedar Falls

190 – Eva Jara (24-9) Soph., West High vs. Aubrey Borcherding (33-10) Jr. Dallas Center-Grimes

Undefeated Wrestlers

100 – Nora Ohnemus (36-0) Soph., Indianola

110 – Katie Biscoglia (49-0) Sr., Raccoon River Northwest

120 – Tegan Robertson (46-0) Jr., Ridge View

130 – Avaeh Smith (35-0) Jr., Council Bluffs Lewis Central

135 – Bella Miller (26-0) Jr., Dubuque Hempstead

140 – Calista Rodish (47-0) Sr., Raccoon River Northwest

155 – Skylar Slade (38-0) Sr., Southeast Polk

Returning State Champions

Current weight class, Wrestler, School, 2025 Championship weight class

105 – Siera Becker, Indianola, 100

110 – Katie Biscoglia, Raccoon River Northwest, 105

115 – Ashlyn Leslie, Nevada, 110

115 – Lauren Whitt, Cedar Falls, 115

130 – Avaeh Smith, Council Bluffs Lewis Central, 120

170 – Amalia Djoumessi, Waverly-Shell Rock, 155

170 – Autumn Elsbury, South Tama, 170

190 – Briar Ludeman, Cedar Falls, 190

What to Watch

First Round Match to Watch

One of five first-time qualifiers for Liberty High senior Callum Wu (38-7) will get a major challenge out of the gate as she faces No. 10 Jenna Jansen (35-1) of Sioux City North in an opening-round top-10 matchup at 145 pounds.

Sixth-ranked Wu has won 11 of her last 13 matches entering the state meet and is coming off a regional title last week capped by a pin of No. 12 Paisley Bro of South Tama in the championship match.

Hansen brings a 27-match winning streak to the state meet with her lone losing coming to 1A top-ranked Teagan Carritt of Logan-Magnolia.

Wrestler to Watch

City High senior Shaona Emmanuel will look to add to her state-tournament winning streak this week while improving on a third-place finish from last season that was the highest in City High history.

Emmanuel rattled off five consecutive consolation wins at the state meet last season on her way to a third-place finish at 155 pounds.

Fourth-ranked Emmanuel (33-4) will face Cedar Falls freshman Natalie Ritter (33-16) in a 155-pound opening-round match on Thursday.

Emmanuel has won 20 of her last 21 matches with the lone loss coming to top-ranked Skylar Slade of Southeast Polk in the regional title match.

The fourth seed in the 155-pound bracket, Emmanuel could face a rematch with top-seeded Slade (38-0) in the semifinals on Friday.

Weight Class to Watch

There may not be a more loaded weight class this week than the 115-pound bracket in Class 2A which features a pair of defending state champions as the top two seeds.

Cedar Falls senior Lauren Whitt (44-4) is the top seed and the defending 2A 115-pound champion while Nevada senior Ashlyn Leslie (4-1) is seeded second and won the 110-pound title last season.

West High junior Brianna Lucero (34-12) and Liberty High freshman Kate Eggleston (41-4) will both be making their state tournament debuts in the stacked 115-pound bracket.

Lucero is the ninth seed in the 115-pound bracket and faces Ottumwa sophomore Jordin Mayson (37-6) in her opener while seventh-ranked Eggleston is the six seed and opens with eighth-ranked Spencer freshman Jada Mingus-Alfaro (35-10).

Linn-Mar senior Kate Seery who was third last year and sixth as a sophomore in 2024 is the third seed.

The Teams

Regional Champions (State Qualifiers)

Southeast Polk (8); Ankeny (8); Cedar Falls (11); Algona (6); Raccoon River-Northwest (11); South Tama (8); Carroll (4); Waverly-Shell Rock (8)

2025 Top Five Team Finishers – 1. Racon River-Northwest; 2. Ankeny 143; 3. Cedar Falls; 4. Council Bluffs Lewis Central; 5. Waverly-Shell Rock

What to watch in team race

Top-ranked Raccoon River-Northwest is seeking a second consecutive state title after winning the 2A title by 17 points over Ankeny last season in the first year of the two-class tournament.

Raccoon River-Northwest has a 2A-leading 11 qualifiers including seven that are ranked in the top four.

Second-ranked Cedar Falls, defending runner-up Ankeny, Waverly-Shell Rock and Liberty High are all among the teams trying to chase down Raccoon River-Northwest and vying for top three finishes.

Cedar Falls matches Raccoon River-Northwest with 11 qualifiers and has three wrestlers ranked in the top two while Waverly-Shell Rock was fifth last season and fourth two seasons ago in the final single-class tournament.

Fifth-ranked Liberty High has a program-record eight qualifiers, tied for third most among 2A teams and has seven qualifiers ranked in the top seven.

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