March 28, 2024

C-M takes second in first-ever girls’ state wrestling tournament

WAVERLY — Rilee Slycord spent 43 seconds on the mat on Jan. 19.

The Colfax-Mingo senior dominated her way through the 285-pound bracket at the state’s first-ever Iowa High School Girls State Wrestling Championships at Waverly-Shell Rock High School.

Slycord pinned her way to a state championship, and the title led the Tigerhawks to a runner-up finish in the team standings.

“It was awesome. There was a ton of support and having so many teammates there was cool, too,” Slycord said. “There was a lot of people cheering us on.”

Colfax-Mingo scored 78 points on the day, edging Charles City (73) for second in the state. Host Waverly-Shell Rock, which had 11 wrestlers in the field, won the state championship with 144 points.

“Just watching the girls’ excitement when they found out they weren’t only going to have individual girls bring back medals but that we were bringing back a trophy made it worth that much more,” Colfax-Mingo head wrestling coach Erin Hume said. “I was happy for them and proud of them. Bringing something positive back to Colfax-Mingo is awesome.”

Slycord was the Tigerhawks’ lone state champion, but senior Jaycie Webster was third in the 285-pound weight class, freshman Kylie Doty placed fourth at 132, freshman Mariah Webster was fifth at 126 and senior Ilia Hostetter took sixth at 120.

There were only four wrestlers in the 285-pound weight class and three of them were from Colfax-Mingo. Freshman Destiny McBride-Dannels lost to Jaycie Webster 7-1 in the third-place match.

“I hate wrestling my teammates. I had two wrestle them both, and it sucked,” McBride-Dannels said. “I wanted them to do their best and I wanted to do well, and Jaycie had some injury issues and I didn’t want to make that worse.”

The Tigerhawks’ seventh wrestler was freshman Samantha Pierce, who finished 0-2 at 170 pounds.

Pierce spent two years as a wrestling manager at the junior high level and started this season as high school manager. She joined the active wrestling roster just two weeks ago.

“Two weeks before the tournament, some of the other girls talked me into actually trying it so I did,” Pierce said. “I didn’t have high expectations because I had never done it before.

“Being part of this team and getting a trophy is awesome. I went into tournament knowing I was going to lose, but I still wanted to try it.”

Twenty-nine schools were represented in the tournament and there were 81 total wrestlers in the field. Eight of the 29 schools had more than three wrestlers on their teams.

The rest of the top 10 after Charles City in third included Waukon (64), Osage (59), Denver (46), LeMars (39), Cedar Rapids Jefferson (31), Davenport Central (30) and Pleasantville (30).

The girls’ state tournament was hosted by Waverly-Shell Rock and in conjunction with the Go-Hawks’ annual wrestling tournament. It was made possible by the Iowa Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association.

There were six mats total and three were reserved for the girls’ state tournament.

“At a smaller level, it felt a lot like the state tournament we’ve had for many years. The crowd was big. There was plenty of excitement,” Hume said. “It was nice to see the girls out of their comfort zone a bit. They were leading warm-ups and owning it and it was something we are glad we got to be a part of.”

Hume wasn’t originally going to be able to attend the historic day because it was the same day as C-M’s annual dual tournament. But that tournament was canceled due to weather, and Hume made the trip with the rest of his coaching staff.

“I thought if we wrestled well and could get some points on individual wins that we would have a chance,” Hume said. “I didn’t expect second, but I thought we would fight for something. The girls showed up, and everyone wrestled well.”

Most of the Colfax-Mingo girls felt like the Tigerhawks were underdogs because of the size of their school, but they left town knowing they proved their worth.

“It felt really good. We showed up to kick some butt, and that’s what we did,” Doty said.

In the 285-pound division, top-ranked Slycord opened her tournament with a 23-second pin over third-ranked McBride-Dannels (1-4). Fourth-ranked Jaycie Webster (3-2) then lost by fall in the second period to second-ranked Iliana Yanes of Riverside.

Slycord (4-0) pinned Yanes (1-1) by fall in 20 seconds in the championship match.

“It feels good,” Slycord said. “I knew I’d be all right going in, but I just was unsure how the match against the one girl I didn’t know would go.”

Sixth-ranked Doty won her two matches at 132. She opened with a first-period pin and then knocked off top-ranked Rylee Vercande of Mid-Prairie 8-4 in the quarterfinals.

Doty (5-2) trailed Vercande 4-3 in the third period but a locked hands violation on Vercande (6-2) tied the match at 4-all and then Doty won it with a late reversal and nearfall points.

Waverly-Shell Rock freshman Annika Behrends (7-0) came into the weekend ranked sixth at 138 pounds but won the title at 132. She pinned Doty in the second period of their semifinal match.

“It wasn’t what I expected. The girls were a lot tougher than I thought they’d be,” Doty said. “I had no clue that that was the No.1 ranked girl at the time. I found out at the end of the tournament.”

There was a reason things may have been tougher than Doty expected. Doty wrestled in the 132-pound bracket but weighed less than 130 pounds.

Hume said wrestlers were given the normal two-pound allowance that all wrestlers are given after January and also a two-pound scale allowance. That means Doty likely faced girls who weighed up to 136 pounds.

Doty finished the day 2-2 after losing by fall to Central City’s Evah Owens, who is ranked second at 138.

Mariah Webster (7-3) was 4-1 at 126 but a loss in the quarterfinals pushed her to the back side of the bracket.

She opened the day with a win by fall in the third period. She led 10-1 at the time of the pin. Her loss came by fall to Davenport Central’s Sydney Park, who is ranked No. 1 at 120.

“I was really mad at myself. I lost at the wrong time,” Mariah Webster said. “I feel like I could have placed better than I did. I just didn’t win the right one.”

Mariah Webster’s other three wins came by pin.

“I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but I think there are things we can always do to make it better,” Hume said. “Wrestlebacks and cross brackets can be added. They need to make it so girls who go 4-1 aren’t placing fifth.”

Hostetter (2-3) was 2-2 on the day at 120 and all four matches ended in fall. Both of her losses came to Anna Sondall of Boone. Sondall defeated Hostetter in the first round and then knocked her off again in the fifth-place match.

Hostetter recorded a 44-second pin in her first consolation match and then advanced to the fifth-place match with a second-period pin in the consolation semifinals.

“I hope this opened eyes for those who make the decisions and we can get this sanctioned,” Hume said. “That is the next step.”