Simon sisters push each other, help lead Decorah to Dan Gable Donnybrook team title

CORALVILLE — Naomi and Anastasia Simon are sisters. They attend Decorah High School together. They share a bedroom together. And, on Friday night, they were wrestling in the finals of the Dan Gable Donnybrook wrestling tournament together.

Their bond is strong — on and off the wrestling mat.

Anastasia, a sophomore, looks up to her big sister, Naomi, and has nothing but admiration for the University of Iowa women’s wrestling commit.

“She really helps motivate me,” Anastasia said. “I know I can always look up to her. I just really love her.”

In true big sister fashion, Naomi was proud of her sister’s runner-up finish at 145 pounds in the Dan Gable Donnybrook tournament, after falling to Dubuque Wahlert’s Eve Skrocki by a narrow 4-3 decision.

As one of her sister’s biggest fans, Naomi believes Anastasia has great potential for her wrestling career.

“It’s much more stressful watching her wrestle than wrestling in one of my matches,” Naomi said. “She’s gotten so much better and has put so much time into wrestling. Her growth is exponential, and I’m excited to see where wrestling takes her.”

Regardless of the outcome of her finals match, Anastasia was proud of her tournament run.

“This was my first big finals match,” Anastasia said. “I was happy with how I did. The fight here was pretty tough, but I’m glad I went through it and got to the finals match.”

Naomi won the title at 170 pounds, getting a fall over Grace Alagbo of Apple Valley (Minn.) in 2:41.

It was a business trip of sorts.

“Our entire team showed up on this trip,” Naomi said. “We were going to make some deals and have the best business possible. I go into every match with that mentality, and it works.”

Head coach Gene Adams is confident the sisterly love of Naomi and Anastasia has a positive impact on the Vikings, as the duo inspires others to be the best version of themselves.

It is part of their relationship and dedication to the sport of wrestling and beyond.

“Whenever you have siblings working together, there can be a sibling rivalry, but also a closeness,” Adams said. “Those two do the right things and lead by example — in and out of the wrestling room.”

Decorah’s Kamryn Steines and Madysen Lippe joined the Simons in the finals. Steines won the tournament by fall in 5:36 over Macy Barber of Omaha Westside (Neb.), while Lippe earned a runner-up finish at 235 pounds, after being pinned by Alexis Stinson of Liberty (Mo.) in 21 seconds.

The Vikings went on to take home the team title with 408 points. Waverly-Shell Rock came in second with 367 points, and Bettendorf was third with 363.

“We came into the tournament with 12 confident, talented, strong wrestlers,” Adams said. “Everybody contributed to our team points. It was beautiful to watch our team come together.”

As for what’s next for Decorah, Anastasia knows the team is special and has high goals remaining in their 2023-24 campaign.

“It’s a great team this year,” Anastasia said. “We are working hard and trying to be the best. Go Vikes.”