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First Cedar Rapids Xavier girls’ wrestling team debuts with coachable mindset
Saints take 15th at City High tournament and know there is ‘so much room for progress’ in inaugural season
IOWA CITY — Results aside, the Cedar Rapids Xavier girls’ wrestling team made history Tuesday night, competing in the school’s first competition in the sport.
The Saints had butterflies all day. They took selfies before action got underway. They smiled and cheered each other on.
Above all, the Saints had the opportunity to put what they’ve learned in the first two weeks of practice to the test.
Xavier mustered enough for 33 team points, putting it in 15th place out of 16 teams at the Iowa City High tournament. In the team race, it was Ottumwa claiming the title with 171 points with Pleasant Valley second with 153, followed by Cedar Rapids Jefferson with 145 points.
Xavier Coach Henry Reicks was impressed with how his first-year team responded to its first competition, but he is also optimistic about what the team can do this season.
“We’ve practiced for two weeks,” Reicks said. “We did OK. I am not disappointed. I am just so excited for this season and there’s so much room for progress.
“I have every ounce of confidence that these girls are going to improve as the season goes on.”
One of the high points for the Saints’ first outing was how the team applied what they learned into practice during their matches. Reicks attributed it to the coachability of the team.
“They listened to the coaching we provided,” Reicks said. “They tried the moves we told them to try. They are so coachable and love to learn. Every night at practice, they ask what they are going to learn. It’s just a fantastic group of ladies to work with.”
Although freshman Eleanor Pfab is new to high school and wrestling, she was anything but a newbie en route to her second-place finish at 115 pounds.
To claim her spot in the finals, Pfab leveraged the “don’t wrestle their match, wrestle your match” mentality.
“I kept being aggressive,” Pfab said. “I tried to get the first takedown and outmuscle them.”
Pfab had a bye into the quarterfinals and faced Cedar Rapids Prairie’s Alix Zahn. She made quick work of Zahn, winning by fall in just 52 seconds. Following suit in the semifinals, Pfab recorded another first-period fall over Dubuque Senior’s Kenedy Stolk in 1:26.
Pfab lost to Pleasant Valley’s Caitlin Reiter in the finals, getting pinned in 3:25. During the match, Pfab managed to put up a valiant effort, fighting off her back several times in the first and second periods.
“It felt really good to get to the finals,” Pfab said. “It showed that we are Xavier and can wrestle. Just because I’m a girl doesn’t mean I can’t get out here and win. I’m just so proud.”
Nerves didn’t seem to be a factor for Xavier sophomore Keara Adams’ first match. She toed the line with a sense of confidence, and it showed in the result. Adams defeated City High’s Quinn Price at 130 with a fall in 35 seconds.
Adams is quick to admit the first win for Xavier’s girls’ wrestling program wouldn’t have been possible without instruction from her coaches.
“I have to leave it all up to my coaches,” Adams said. “I pretty much had zero practical wrestling knowledge before this. In two weeks, they’ve whipped us up into shape.”
For her second match, Adams faced a tad bit more adversity against Danica Goble of Burlington. Adams was trailing by five points midway through the second period, but then put Goble on her back and got the fall in 3:24.
Adams’ stellar start came to a halt in the semifinals by Tipton’s Kadi Crist, who won by fall in two minutes. During the consolation semifinal and fifth-place match, Adams was defeated by Serenity Frantz of Ottumwa and Brooklyn Mills of Cedar Rapids Jefferson — both by falls.
Using Tuesday’s performance as a springboard for the rest of her season, Adams is looking forward to continuing her journey as a part of the inaugural Saints girls’ wrestling team.
“We’ve already shown our power of coming out strong with our eight-people team,” Adams said. “Nobody has super-high expectations, but obviously we are coming out strong. I’m really excited for this season — I think it’s going to be a good one.”
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