SIGOURNEY – North Mahaska’s girl’s wrestling team took to the mats for their first competition of the season Tuesday night at the Sigourney-Keota Invitational. The Warhawks competed in an 18-team event with more than 100 wrestlers seeking one of three places on the podium.
Pekin won the team meet with 132 points followed by West Liberty with 123.5.North Mahaska placed eighth with 63 points, just one point behind East Union. The Warhawks crowned one champion, two runnerup finishes, a fifth and two sixth place.
NM coach Erica Groom fund many positives in Tuesday’s matches.
“I’m proud of all of the girls win or lose,” said Groom. “We take every chance we can get to learn and that’s what we did tonight. We didn’t get to have all our girls wrestle tonight due to the structure of the tournament so I’m excited to see a couple other girls hit the mat Saturday at BGM.”
Addison Terpstra had just two matches at 100 pounds but pinned Izzy McCullough of Sigourney in 3 minutes 56 seconds then outlasted West Liberty’s Addison Guerra 14-7 for the title.
“Addie is a go-getter and fighter,” said Groom. “She pushed herself tonight and didn’t give up no matter how tired she was. Wrestling a real match is tough and she did great. She is a quick learner and has been working hard in practice and it showed tonight on the mat.”
Sophomore Kaylie Shipman started her night at 120 pounds with a pin of Newton’s Julianna Maldanoado-Hidal in 42 seconds. In her semifinal match with Sadie Clarahan of Sigourney, a late takedown led to a pin 5:36. In the finals she lost to Silvia Garcia-Vasquez of West Liberty in 1:14.
“Kaylia met a girl in the finals who placed second at state last year,” said Groom. “She fought hard and will learn from that match moving forward. She’s been a leader in the room and handled herself well tonight.”
Last season’s lone state qualifier for NM, Macie Little, pinned her way into the finals at 135. She pinned Kenna Spencer of Moravia in 22 seconds and took just 1:03 to pin Lone Tree’s Olivia Magruder to reach the finals. Pekin’s Lila Miller made a move and Little found herself on the wrong side falling in 1:54.
“ Macie didn’t make the weight she wanted to, so she wrestled up a weight class,” said Groom. “She’s been working on legs and tried some new things tonight in her finals match. Unfortunately, she got too high in the wrong position and pinned herself.
“She’s hard on herself but she will pick herself up and work hard to learn from this mistake. She too has been a leader in our room and will remind herself of her goals and push forward.”
Freshman Madison Davis took the mat for the first time in high school at 105 pounds. She faced five opponents on her way to a fifth place finish. She lost to Gracie MacCready of Tri-County in 1:32 and Piper Madren of Grinnell in 52 seconds. East Union’s Ouynn Foster pinned her in the third round in 58 seconds. Elyssa Gaber of WACO won by pin in 28 seconds. In the fifth place match, Davis took what she learned in the prior matches to earn a fall over Lisbon’s Ann Mari Morgan in 30 seconds.
Junior Amara Edwards-Hinton fell in all her matches for sixth place. Freshman Lilly Briggs also placed sixth going 1-2 on the night. Her win came in the consolation semifinal where she pinned Pekin’s Alyvia Traner in 1:29.
“Lilly saw No. 1 ranked Reanah (Utterback) in the first round,” said Groom. “It was a learning experience and great opportunity to wrestle one of the best. You just have to hold your head high and move to the next match.”
Groom said she is pleased with the team this early in the season.
“Currently, we have nine active wrestlers with hopefully a couple more coming soon,” said Groom. “I keep trying to recruit new girls every day. Girl’s wrestling is the fastest growing sport. It’s still new so it’s a good time for girls to try it. The group we have is such a fun group. They encourage each other no matter the level of experience. These girls are gonna turn heads and I’m excited for it.”
The Warhawks will see more action this weekend at the BGM tournament.
