Linn-Mar’s Kate Seery powers her way to first Class 2A state wrestling tournament title match

CORALVILLE — Linn-Mar’s Kate Seery walked the halls from the warmup area to the arena floor.

Each trip came with a reminder of unfinished business. The walls are adorned with photos of wrestlers on the podium at each weight, including one of her third-place finish a year ago.

“I don’t want to feel how I did the years prior,” Seery said. “I walked past those pictures on the wall. Each time I walked past down to these mats I just thought I don’t want to feel how I did then.”

Seery had reason to smile on the way back to the warmup area, following her semifinal victory. She secured her best finish and capped her career with a finals appearance at the Class 2A state wrestling tournament Friday at Xtream Arena in Coralville.

Third-seeded Seery secured a top-two finish with a 10-0 major decision over Ankeny’s No. 10 Nora Bockes, advancing to the 115-pound final. She has climbed the podium each season, improving from eighth to sixth her first two years and bronze as a junior.

“It’s great,” Seery said. “I worked at it every year but I have to thank all my partners in the room because I wouldn’t be where I am today without going to club at Big Game, or even my partners in the high school room. My (high school) practice partner (Chloe Adamson) is actually in the (120) semifinal. I told her we wouldn’t be where we are without each other.”

Seery controlled Bockes from start to finish. She notched a takedown in the first 20 seconds of the match and rode her out the rest of the period. Seery added takedowns in each of the last two periods and smothered Bockes on top.

“I thought I did pretty good,” Seery said. “I got to my shots and I rode her out. I knew I had to get one takedown and I got more than one takedown.”

Seery came off the mat and gave her dad and Lions head coach Kelly Seery a hug. He has been a guiding force and a consistent supporter, possessing a knack to push the right buttons at the right time.

“It’s really great,” Seery said. “He’s helped me all the years. He knows what to say before a match, after a match (and) hard matches. I can always hear him. I can’t hear any other coaches but I can tone in on his voice.”

While Seery reached her first final, South Tama’s Autumn Elsbury advanced to her third straight state final. She avenged one of her losses with a convincing 16-8 victory over Decorah’s Ana Simon in the 170 semifinal.

Elsbury exacted revenge already, reversing a regional loss with a quarterfinal pin over North Metro’s Payton Traynor. She had a rematch with Simon in her sights.

“I’ve been thinking about it a lot,” Elsbury said. “I got to the point where I think I was focusing on that too much and not my matches before. At regionals, I was too worried about state but then I thought about it. I need to focus on one match at a time because if you don’t do that you might not even make it to state. … You just have to take it one match at a time otherwise you won’t (get) to be here.”

Elsbury used a takedown and four nearfall in the first for an early advantage. Simon cut into the lead with a second-period reversal but Elsbury added another takedown and four-point nearfall in the third.

Elsbury said she learned from the previous meeting and thwarted Simon’s go-to move.

“I was being smart this time,” Elsbury said. “I wasn’t going to rush anything. I knew I could wrestle all three periods if I had to. I’ve got a tank on me. I knew I could do it.”

Elsbury was part of an elite trio of nationally ranked wrestlers with Simon, a state finalist last year who finished third this year, and Waverly-Shell Rock state champion Amalia Djoumessi, who advanced to the final with a pin over Western Dubuque’s Ava Pfab, who placed fifth. She said she briefly thought about moving up a class but wanted to prove herself at the weight she’s wrestled since placing fourth as a freshman.

“I knew I could come here and do some damage,” Elsbury said. “I just have to wrestle hard.”

Iowa City West’s Eva Jara entered the tournament as the No. 9 seed and reached the finals. After beating the top seed Thursday, she beat Carlisle’s No. 4 Mallori Stutsman, 9-4, in the 190 semifinals.

Cedar Rapids Prairie’s Emelia Reyes notched her third pin of the tournament. She dropped Fort Dodge’s No. 4 Ava Porter in 3:56 to make the 235-pound final.

Decorah moved a wrestler into the finals. Second-seeded Lauren Luzum pinned Racoon River-Northwest’s Natalie Keller in 2:24 of their 145 semifinal.

Linn-Mar had three others join Seery on the award stand. Adamson rebounded from the semifinal loss to place third, matching teammate Brielle Parke’s finish at 130. Aurora Lloyd was eighth at 170 for the Lions.

South Tama also had three medalists in addition to Elsbury. Maylee Rucker (140) was fifth, Kinley Jimenez was sixth at 235 and 100-pounder Livia Smith placed seventh.

Iowa City Liberty finished with six medalists. Kate Eggleston (115) and Evelyn Eggleston (140) placed third, while Evalynn Karam (110) and 155-pounder Peyten Van Dyke finished fifth. The Lightning’s Callum Wu was seventh at 155 and Taylor Cavanh (105) ended eighth.

Each Cedar Rapids/Marion Metro program had at least one medalist. Cedar Rapids Kennedy’s Olivia Hallam was sixth at 120 and Merdith Kaump was seventh at 140.

Prairie’s Luisa Meade was fourth at 145 and Addison Bowman placed sixth at 170. Marion’s Cadence Foster earned seventh place at 115.

Cedar Rapids Jefferson and Cedar Rapids Washington had their first medalist at the IGHSAU state tournament. Josephine Budederi won her final bout to finish seventh for the J-Hawks. She also closed her career with her 101st career win.

Washington’s Serenity Hawkins beat the top seed from Cedar Falls in the blood round and advanced to place seventh at 190.

Benton Community duo Lizzy Wolf (145) and Layna Demoss (155) placed third and fourth, respectively. Iowa City High’s Shaona Emmanuel was third at 155. Western Dubuque’s Elli Casey (100) and Independence’s Morgan Krall placed fifth. West’s 115-pounder Brianna Lucero finished eighth.

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