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Building a program in Anamosa
Anamosa High School Raiders girls wrestling was founded in 2019
Iowa-style wrestling, pioneered by legendary wrestling coach Dan Gable, is defined by relentless work and a refusal to concede an inch in the face of opposition.
It is this mentality that has served high school girls wrestlers in the state of Iowa in their fight for their sport to be sanctioned.
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Few teams in the state embody this determination as much as the Anamosa High School Raiders girls wrestlers. The team was founded in 2019 by three current juniors, Ava Scranton, Emily Watters and Maggie Wagner — freshmen when the was program started.
These girls have played every possible role in building and supporting their teammates, all of whom had no previous wrestling experience this season.
These pioneers have built a grassroots community, with enthusiastically supportive parents and provided a foundation for the sport to flourish for years to come.
Comments: geoff.stellfox@thegazette.com
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This article is from Iowa Ideas magazine, published by The Gazette.
Anamosa girls wrestling coach Dan Jenkins tightens the headgear of Addy “Applesauce” Appelhans before her first-ever wrestling match in November 2021, at Elkader Central High School. (Geoff Stellfox/The Gazette)
Anamosa junior Emily Watters flexes for her teammates after making weight, in December 2021, at Brooklyn-Guernsey-Malcolm Junior-Senior High School in Brooklyn. (Geoff Stellfox/The Gazette)
Team captains Emily Watters and Maggie Wagner embrace after watching sophomore Leah Sleep win her first match of the evening in November 2021, at Elkader Central High School. (Geoff Stellfox/The Gazette)
Sophomore Leah Sleep awaits treatment for a bloody nose, at Elkader Central High School in November 2021. (Geoff Stellfox/The Gazette)
Junior Emily Watters is consoled by coaches John Scranton (left) and Dan Jenkins after her loss in the Iowa Girls State Wrestling Championships at the Xtream Arena in Coralville in January. (Geoff Stellfox/The Gazette)
Ava Scranton sprints off the mat after qualifying for the quarter finals of the Iowa Girls State Wrestling Championships at Xtream Arena in Coralville in January. (Geoff Stellfox/The Gazette)
Junior Anamosa wrestling captains Ava Scranton (left) and Maggie Wagner loosen up before their opening matches at Iowa City High School in December 2021. (Geoff Stellfox/The Gazette)
Sophomore Leah Sleep helps crack the back of junior Emily Meyer while the team stops for a post-meet ice cream at a Dairy Queen in Manchester, in November 2021. (Geoff Stellfox/The Gazette)
Anamosa’s Maggie Wagner adjusts her braids before wrestling practice with the boys’ team at Anamosa High School January. (Geoff Stellfox/The Gazette)
Sophomore Leah Sleep flexes after winning her first match of the evening at Elkader Central High School in November 2021. (Geoff Stellfox/The Gazette)
Anamosa’s Bree Brophy looks over at the competition before her first-ever wrestling meet at Elkader Central High School in November 2021. (Geoff Stellfox/The Gazette)
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