The first-ever North Iowa Cedar League Girls Wrestling Tournament took place Monday at AP/GC. BCLUW-SH was the champion with 173 points, AP/GC was third with 147, and AGWSR was sixth with 59.
Storm Head Coach Mike White describes the growth of the program and how they achieved the title.
“We have girls that are excited about wrestling, and they’re the leaders in our wrestling room that are winning matches,” White says. “The other girls are going to see that. We had nine girls last year. We have 19 girls this year. That was led by a class of nine freshmen that came in. So to see three of them on the podium today is absolutely fantastic. Our program’s growing because we’re finding success, and I hope that winning the conference will help to keep the program growing and maybe be able to grab some more girls coming into next year.”
Taya Hollingsworth was the champion at 155 and Megyn Hollingsworth was first at 170.
“It just means a lot, that all my hard work and dedication has paid off, and it just shows that the Storm, especially me, is really here to wrestle,” Taya Hollingsworth says. “The first one was pretty light, didn’t really prepare me for the second one much, but I’ve seen Zoey a lot. She’s always a good competition, a good match to wrestle. And it’s always not really a flip of a coin, but I just have to bring my best match to Zoey just like I would at regionals or any other tough competition.”
Leila Wedgwood at 130 and Ceanna White at 135 each placed second. Those placing third included Layla Price at 100, Hailee Robinson at 105, Casadee White at 140 and Cheyenne Simmons at 145.
AP/GC’s Grace Storjohann was the champion at 125.
“A conference title isn’t the highest thing I’m looking for right now, and it doesn’t really the goal I’m trying to get right now,” Storjohann says. “But I’m glad that we’re starting a conference tournament now. There’s not very many girls now, but you have to start somewhere, and I hope that in the next couple of years it starts becoming even more competitive and I just hope these brackets continue to grow.”
Kathryn Patrick at 235 got the title for AP/GC. Runner-ups included Lila Reints at 140, Caylee Harken at 145, Zoey Uhlenhopp at 155 and Ainsley Scott at 235. Kylee Babcock at 120, Delaney Schafer at 170 and Queveah Books at 190 each placed third.
On the podium for AGWSR, Brooklyn Simons was second at 190 and Madison Ibeling was third at 115.
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