5 questions ahead of the 2022-23 Iowa high school girls’ wrestling season

Here are answers to five questions ahead of the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union’s inaugural wrestling season.

1. How will competition and scheduling work?

The inaugural season of sanctioned girls’ wrestling allows for teams to schedule 15 competition dates with additional scrimmage opportunities. They will be in the form of duals, tournaments and scrambles. Bigger tournaments will be held on Saturday with various competitions throughout the week. Some will compete in standalone events, some on mats adjacent to boys’ duals. Home-and-home duals and boys’ and girls’ doubleheaders are possible.

Wrestlers will compete in one class at 14 weights, consisting of 100, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125, 130, 135, 140, 145, 155, 170, 190 and 235 pounds. Even though girls’ programs are allowed to practice with boys’ program, co-ed competition is no longer allowed.

The postseason will consist of four super regional qualifiers across the state set for Jan. 27. The top eight wrestlers at each weight from each regional advance to the first IGHSAU state wrestling tournament Feb. 2-3 at Xtream Arena in Coralville.

2. What are some interesting events?

The first official date for competition was Monday. The first Metro/Iowa City event is a tournament at Iowa City High on Tuesday. Independence, which has had girls’ tournaments in previous boys’ seasons, will host a tournament the opening weekend, expecting more than 30 teams. Linn-Mar will host a tournament during Thanksgiving weekend, welcoming Iowa Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association girls’ state team champion Waverly-Shell Rock, City High, Cedar Rapids Prairie, Waukee and Dubuque Hempstead, to name a few. Cedar Rapids Kennedy and Marion have tournaments set for Dec. 10.

The marquee event in the regular season will be the Dan Gable Donnybrook Dec. 1-2. The girls’ competition has 29 teams from five states, including area programs City High, Decorah, Iowa City West, Linn-Mar, Mount Vernon, Oelwein, Solon, Vinton-Shellsburg and Williamsburg.

The super regionals are new since the IWCOA girls’ state meet was open for all entrants. In addition to being the first sanctioned girls’ state tournament, the championship meet will be part of a three-day affair that includes two of girls’ state and capped with the Iowa High School Athletic Association boys’ state duals tournament.

3. What impact has sanctioning girls’ wrestling had on participation?

Wrestling supporters always said participation would increase with opportunity, while being told the opportunity would come when the interest grew.

Well, establishing the IWCOA girls’ state tournament produced a boost, going from a one-day event with 87 competitors at Waverly-Shell Rock High School. After 350 wrestled at WSR in Year 2, the tournament became a two-day affair at Xtream Arena with a field of 457. More than 700 registered for last year’s tournament, which included the IGHSAU’s announcement before the finals that the sport would be sanctioned.

Kennedy Coach Craig Mallicoat said he has 25 wrestlers, while Lions Coach Mike Geers said he has 20. Cedar Rapids Prairie Coach Zach Becicka counted 22 Hawks on the roster. Marion doubled its total from five to 10 over the last year.

The IGHSAU announced via Twitter that more than 2,000 high school girls’ are entered on trackwrestling.com rosters. The sport continues to gain steam and support.

4. Who is the top pound-for-pound wrestler in the Gazette area?

The individual talent in the area is strong and deep. Six wrestlers are ranked in USA Wrestling’s national rankings. Many have won IWCOA girls’ state titles and have been successful in events all over the country.

Hard to argue against Decorah junior Naomi Simon. She has an unbeaten mark against in-state girls, reaching the 20-win plateau in each of her first two seasons. She has titles at 170 and 145, pinning her way to both crowns. Simon was ranked seventh at 164, nationally, and won the Brian Keck Memorial Preseason Nationals in Des Moines last month.

Union Community’s Jill Worthen and Iowa Valley’s Emma Peach are part of a wave of younger talent cresting in the area. More experienced wrestlers like seniors Jannell Avila, of Iowa City West, and Independence’s Rachel Eddy — both past state champs — rank among the area’s best.

5. What are some of the top teams?

Top teams will be hard to identify just because participation numbers vary greatly from program to program. Northeast and North Central Iowa have always led the way. Teams like Waverly-Shell Rock, Decorah, Charles City and Osage have had strong contingents in the past. City High and West have had girls’ teams somewhat in place already and should be good, while Kennedy, Linn-Mar and Prairie are tops in the Metro. Anamosa was one of the first to really recruit girls to the sport. Mount Vernon has good numbers and Vinton-Shellsburg possesses some talented individuals. It will be interesting to watch how teams develop throughout the season.