Girls’ state wrestling begins 2-class era today

For the first time in Iowa history, there will be Class 2A and 1A state champions in girls’ wrestling.

The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union wrestling tournament gets underway at Xtream Arena in Coralville on Thursday and concludes Friday.

Class 2A begins at 10 a.m. Thursday, with Class 1A action starting at 4:30 p.m.

Class 2A top seeds

For four area Class 2A wrestlers, their names fill the top spot in the brackets at 110 pounds, 130, 170, and 235.

Linn-Mar’s Kate Seery is the No. 1 seed at 110 pounds with a 35-2 record. In last week’s regional action, Seery won a with a first-period fall and an 11-6 decision.

Cedar Rapids Prairie’s Mackenzie Childers is in the top spot at 130. Childers is undefeated (45-0). En route to her regional title last week, Childers won her three matches with first-period falls.

South Tama’s Autumn Elsbury is No. 1 at 170. She, too, is undefeated at 41-0. During her regional performance, Elsbury won a title with a pair of first-period pins. She is a returning finalist for the Trojans, having finished as a state runner-up last season to Decorah’s Naomi Simon.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy’s Ella Brown claims the top spot in the 235. Brown has tallied a perfect season (31-0). It took two first-period falls to get Brown a regional title.

Prairie’s 8

Cedar Rapids Prairie will have over half its lineup competing in the Class 2A field and is coming off a second-place team finish at last week’s regionals.

The Hawks’ eight qualifiers is the most in program history.

The Hawks have qualifiers in Elizabeth Burns at 100, Marie Burns at 105, Childers at 130, Claire Hynek at 135, Luisa Meade at 145, Addison Bowman at 170, Aliya Phillips at 190 and Emelia Reyes at 235.

Elizabeth Burns, Childers, Hynek and Reyes were regional champions.

Lisbon’s first

In their school’s inaugural season of girls’ wrestling, Lisbon will have two Lions competing in the Class 1A field.

Lillian Gaiser won a regional title last week with three falls at the 120-pound weight class. Gaiser has a 35-12 record.

Emma Dietsch punched her ticket by finishing in second place at last week’s regional. She enters the tournament with a 28-7 record and will compete at 145.

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Moving up?

Class 1A’s East Buchanan tied with Raccoon River-Northwest for second place at last year’s IGHSAU state tournament.

Fast forward to this season, and the Buccaneers have positioned themselves to contend for the Class 1A title with seven state qualifiers.

Representing East Buchanan is Valeria Torres at 105, Kambria Ries at 110, Destiny Krum at 135, Andelyn Cabalka at 140, Tayla Stiefel at 145, Miley Walz at 155 and Brooklyn Graham at 170.

Ries, Krum, Cabalka, Walz, and Graham all won regional titles last week.

Dix repeat

Last season, Mount Vernon’s Libby Dix made school history by becoming the first girls’ state wrestling champion for the Mustangs.

This year, Dix enters the Class 1A field as the No. 1 seed at 190 pounds with a 41-0 record. In her regional performance, Dix racked up three falls, two of which were in the first period. Her fastest pin time was 14 seconds in the quarterfinals over Northeast’s Alexis Adney.

Additional qualifiers for Mount Vernon include Kate Martin at 105 pounds, Kiersten Swart at 110, Addi Whisner at 145, Kaylee Kintzel at 155 and Gracie Pinckney at 170.