Saturday was filled with sectional competition for Class 1A and 2A wrestlers throughout the state. The top 2 place winners in each weight class from each of the 16 sectionals qualified for districts next weekend. The top 2 in each weight class from the 8 districts will move on to the individual state championships in Wells Fargo Arena on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, February 18-20. In addition, the top 2 team finishers in each sectional, qualified for the regional dual team competition taking place Tuesday night, February 9. The dual team champion from each region will move on to the state dual team championships in Wells Fargo Arena on Wednesday, February 17.
Class 3A is structured differently, with no sectional competition. Class 3A will wrestle their district competition Saturday, February 13 with the top 2 in each weight class from each of the 8 districts moving on to the state championships. In dual team competition, Class 3A is based on the top 24 teams ranked by the IWCOA (Iowa Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association). Competition will take place Wednesday, February 10th with the champion from each of the 8 regions moving on to the state dual team championships.
Iowa High School Girls Wrestling History
Our biggest news of the week is Rachel Watters’ 145 pound Sectional 11 championship. Watters, a senior from Ballard, went 2-0 for the day. She started the competition with a bye followed by a 6-4 win over Ethan Cozad, a senior from CMB. Watters then moved to the finals to face Caleb Button, a sophomore from ADM. Watters had lost to Button in overtime the previous weekend, but was able to control the match and pick up a 4-1 decision. With that victory, Watters became the second female in Iowa history to win a sectional championship and the first to do so in Class 2A. Megan Black of Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont was the first to win a sectional in 2012. Black went on to make it to state as one of only two females in Iowa wrestling history to do so. Cassy Herkelman also made it to state but wrestled for Cedar Falls, a Class 3A school who does not have sectional competition.
Rachel Watters of Ballard, Class 2A sectional champion (145 pounds) with Head Coach Steve Mickelson
Class 1A & Class 2A INDIVIDUAL SECTIONALS
There were 10 wrestlers who competed at the varsity level in the class 1A & 2A sectionals:
106 Pounds:
Emily Reis, a senior from Regina went 0-2 for the day.
Kylie Siebrecht, a sophomore from Alta-Aurelia went 0-1 for the day.
Felicity Taylor, a sophomore from South Winneshiek went 0-2 for the day.
113 Pounds:
Shelby Blake, a freshman from Osage went 0-2 for the day.
120 Pounds:
Cheyenne Sedlacek, a senior from WACO went 0-1 for the day.
126 Pounds:
Keagan King, a freshman from South Central Calhoun went 0-2 for the day.
132 Pounds:
McKinna Faulkenberry, a sophomore from OA-BCIG went 0-2 for the day.
Brittney Shumate, a sophomore from Woodbine went 0-1 for the day.
145 Pounds:
Rachel Watters, a senior from Ballard went 2-0 for the day winning the sectional championship and will be competing in Knoxville on Saturday, February 13 in the District 6 competition.
Larissa Moore, a junior from North Cedar went 0-1 for the day.
Class 3A INDIVIDUAL DISTRICTS
Based on past competition, the following female athletes may be competing Saturday, February 13 in 3A districts:
126 Pounds:
Kaia Graham, a freshman from Oskaloosa.
138 Pounds:
Alisha Smith, a sophomore from Pleasant Valley.
Class 1A, 2A & 3A REGIONAL DUAL TEAMS
The following female athletes may be competing in regional dual team competition:
Class 1A and Class 2A-Tuesday, February 9:
Emily Reis, 106 pounds of Regina-Class 1A at Alburnett
Shelby Blake, 113 pounds of Osage-Class 2A at New Hampton
McKinna Faulkenberry, 132 pounds of OA-BCIG-Class 1A at Westwood
Rachel Watters, 145 pounds of Ballard-Class 2A at Albia
Class 3A-Wednesday, February 10:
Based on the teams represented in dual team regions, it appears that there will be no female wrestlers competing at the Class 3A level.
Here are the complete high school results since our last update:
| Wt | First | Last | Gr | School | Class | Weekly Varsity Record | Weekly JV Record | Weekly Results | Overall Varsity Record | Overall JV Record |
| 106 | Myla | Mayo | So | Sioux City East | 3A | 0-2 | 2-2 | 3-9 | ||
| 106 | Chloe | Krebsbach | Fr | Osage | 2A | 6-10 | 1-12 | |||
| 106 | Maiah | Williams | Fr | Glenwood | 2A | 0-3 | 1-0 | 1-10 | ||
| 106 | Mykenzi | Brinkman | Jr | Westwood | 1A | 11-0 | ||||
| 106 | Emily | Reis | Sr | Regina | 1A | 0-2 | 6-20 | 1-5 | ||
| 106 | Kylie | Siebrecht | So | Alta-Aurelia | 1A | 0-1 | 0-1 | |||
| 106 | Felicity | Taylor | So | South Winneshiek | 1A | 0-2 | 27-19 | 1-1 | ||
| 106 | Corby | Webb | So | Hudson | 1A | 3-3 | ||||
| 106 | Rylee | Zobac | Fr | Starmont | 1A | 6-5 | 0-3 | |||
| 113 | Britany | Flockhart | Fr | Keokuk | 3A | 2-0 | 4-7 | |||
| 113 | Morgan | Lawson | So | Ottumwa | 3A | 0-10 | ||||
| 113 | Courtney | Six | Fr | Fort Madison | 3A | 6-4 | ||||
| 113 | Shelby | Blake | Fr | Osage | 2A | 0-2 | 9-31 | |||
| 113 | Emma | Cornelison | Fr | Nodaway Valley | 1A | 4-5 | 0-2 | |||
| 113 | Kendra | Felder | So | Panorama | 1A | 3-10 | 0-3 | |||
| 113 | Makayla | Patterson | Jr | South Central Calhoun | 1A | 3-1 | ||||
| 120 | Grace | Massier | So | Des Moines Roosevelt | 3A | 1-10 | 1-7 | |||
| 120 | Alanah | Vetterick | So | Norwalk | 3A | 5-2 | 4-3 | |||
| 120 | Aubrey | McIntryre | Fr | Glenwood | 2A | 0-3 | 0-1 | 0-13 | ||
| 120 | Athena | Moad | Jr | West Burlington/Notre Dame/Danville | 2A | 7-20 | 1-2 | |||
| 120 | Dakota | Selby | Fr | Albia | 2A | 1-10 | ||||
| 120 | Cheyenne | Sedlacek | Sr | WACO | 1A | 0-1 | 0-12 | |||
| 126 | Kaia | Graham | Fr | Oskaloosa | 3A | 6-9 | 1-6 | |||
| 126 | Anne | Gadient | So | Cascade | 2A | 1-4 | 0-1 | |||
| 126 | Soledad | Castaneda | Jr | Riverside | 1A | 0-2 | 3-9 | 0-7 | ||
| 126 | Keagan | King | Fr | South Central Calhoun | 1A | 0-2 | 18-26 | 1-2 | ||
| 126 | Kaitlynn | Thoreson | Fr | Woodbine | 1A | 3-12 | ||||
| 132 | Jolynn | Harris | So | Des Moines Lincoln | 3A | 0-1 | 0-6 | 2-9 | ||
| 132 | Karleigh | Shuff | Sr | Indianola | 3A | 0-5 | ||||
| 132 | Samantha | Back | Fr | Lisbon | 1A | 0-2 | 0-12 | |||
| 132 | McKinna | Faulkenberry | So | OA-BCIG | 1A | 0-2 | 10-17 | |||
| 132 | Brittany | Shumate | So | Woodbine | 1A | 0-1 | 6-20 | 0-3 | ||
| 138 | Laura | Arroyo-Ganona | Fr | Muscatine | 3A | 2-7 | ||||
| 138 | Alisha | Smith | So | Pleasant Valley | 3A | 2-17 | 2-7 | |||
| 138 | Dominique | Mosier | Fr | Clear Creek-Amana | 2A | 1-3 | 1-6 | |||
| 138 | Brooke | Silence | Sr | Shenandoah | 2A | 0-4 | ||||
| 138 | Tammy | Vaughn | Sr | Columbus Community | 2A | 1-5 | 0-1 | |||
| 138 | Nicole | Watters | So | Ballard | 2A | 0-3 | 6-13 | |||
| 145 | Jesse | Lorano | So | Denison-Schleswig | 3A | 0-5 | ||||
| 145 | Kyla | Devilbliss | Jr | Perry | 2A | 0-3 | ||||
| 145 | Ariel | Hellman | Jr | Sheldon/South O’Brien | 2A | 2-1 | JV wins by 4-2 and Inj Forfeit | 1-0 | 4-10 | |
| 145 | Ciana | Sonberg | So | Charles City | 2A | 1-8 | 12-6 | |||
| 145 | Rachel | Watters | Sr | Ballard | 2A | 2-0 | V wins by 6-4 and 4-1 | 19-16 | ||
| 145 | Julia | Eshelman | Fr | Nodaway Valley | 1A | 2-0 | ||||
| 145 | Alley | Gray | Fr | Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont | 1A | 0-4 | 0-12 | |||
| 145 | Larissa | Moore | Jr | North Cedar | 1A | 0-1 | 1-19 | |||
| 152 | Gabriela | Castillo | Jr | Perry | 2A | 0-4 | ||||
| 152 | Tate | Hughes | Fr | Clarinda | 2A | 1-8 | ||||
| 182 | Haley | Snyder | So | Northeast Community | 2A | 0-6 | ||||
| 182 | Melinda | Collins | Jr | Tipton | 1A | 0-2 | 3-0 | 1-20 | ||
| 182 | Erica | Halferty | Jr | Wayne | 1A | 0-2 | ||||
| 220 | Sadie | Durnan | Fr | Oelwein | 2A | 0-3 | ||||
| 220 | Kali | Zufall | Jr | Estherville Lincoln Central | 2A | 0-1 | 0-19 |
College Women:
Don’t forget, the Women’s Collegiate Wrestling Association (WCWA) College Nationals will be held in Oklahoma City, February 12-13 and will determine the women’s collegiate National Champions and All-Americans. The top 3 finishers in each weight class will also qualify for the Olympic Team Trials to be held April 8-10 in Iowa City. Iowan’s Megan Black (McKendree University), Jasmine Bailey (McKendree University), Cassy Herkelman (McKendree University), Anna Poyner (Missouri Valley College), and Justice Losee (Waldorf College) will be competing.
Be sure to follow us on Twitter: @watters_ia and @FEWTeamIowa.
Know of high school, college or senior women’s wrestling info that was missed? Email me at: matt@femaleelitewrestling.org.
Interested in the benefits of wrestling at any age level? Contact Charlotte Bailey of Female Elite Wrestling (FEW) at: coach@femaleelitewrestling.org to find out more.