Four Tigerhawks extend wrestling careers

Mariah Webster was one of the original females on Colfax-Mingo’s wrestling team.

She is one of the bigger reasons why the Tigerhawks have grown into one of the best girls wrestling programs in the state. And by the time she competed on the mat as a senior, she brought with a plethora of friends to round out a large senior class.

Four of those seniors, including Webster, held a joint signing ceremony on Monday to announce they are extending their wrestling careers to the collegiate level.

“It’s awesome that they all have fallen in love with wrestling so much that they have the confidence to help continue to grow wrestling at the collegiate level,” C-M wrestling coach Erin Hume said. “It’s exciting.”

While all four signees — Katie Schlosser, Danica Linn, Melany Vry and Webster — might have been able to attend the same college together, the foursome have decided to go their separate ways and compete at four different collegiate institutions.

Webster and Vry will wrestle at rival NAIA schools and Schlosser and Linn plan to compete at the junior college level for a pair of schools in the same conference.

“They all four have their own distinct personalities,” Hume said. “I wouldn’t have been surprised if a few of them would have went to the same place because they are so close, but they all did their homework. No one chose a school blindly. I think they picked what they thought was the best fit for them both on and off the mat.”

Webster picked William Penn University after claiming three state medals in her four-year career.

She finished fifth at 126 pounds as a freshman. Webster was third the past two seasons at 120 and compiled a combined record of 38-5.

“I feel like I fit in well there. They have a really good elementary education program and that’s what I want to do,” Webster said. “I really connected with the coach and I need a coach who will push me to do better. I bonded with the girls at practice when I visited, too.”

The William Penn head coach who Webster thinks will push her the most is former state champion Tucker Black, who is in his second season as the William Penn women’s wrestling coach.

Webster chose the Statesmen over Grand View, Indian Hills and Iowa Central. She also had an opportunity at Chadron State College in Nebraska but didn’t want to move out of state.

“Mariah is tough. She’s a hard working, blue-collar girl,” Black said. “We want to build our program around her. She doesn’t have a big ego and she’s ready to battle each match.

“I think she has a whole bunch of talent and she’s still pretty raw I think. I’m excited to see where the next four years takes her.”

Schlosser was the first-ever commitment for Iowa Central’s women’s wrestling team. The program will start its first season this coming year.

She was a two-time state place winner at Colfax-Mingo, finishing fourth and going 20-3 this past season at 170. She was fourth at 195 as a sophomore.

Schlosser will study photography at Iowa Central.

“Some other schools reached out to me but after looking at what they offered for education, I realized Iowa Central had the most direct option I want to go into,” Schlosser said.

Linn also is a two-time state place winner. She finished fifth at 113 last season and was eighth at 125 this past winter and had a record of 18-4.

Linn is headed to Iowa Western but was close to following her friends to Iowa Central and William Penn. Webster hopes Linn heads to Oskaloosa when her two years in Council Bluffs are up.

“I liked their atmosphere. They build you up to your level,” Linn said about why she chose Iowa Western. “I want to progress at a two-year first and then work my way to a four year.”

Iowa Western has competed for just one season and associate head women’s wrestling coach Oscar Ramirez said he had just two weeks to build a team to compete last year.

The Reivers still placed fourth at nationals with just 10 girls. Ramirez says the sky’s the limit for Linn and she’s everything they want in an athlete.

“Danica caught my eye at the state tournament. She has a chance to really help grow our sport,” Ramirez said. “She’s easy to talk to, has good grades and she wrestles hard.”

Vry has the fewest years of experience among the four signees. She played basketball her first two years in high school before making the switch to wrestling last year. She was 15-8 this past winter at 145.

Vry had opportunities at the school’s her friends were at, but her heart was with Grand View.

“It was mentioned and it would have been fun,” Vry said about all four Tigerhawks attending the same school. “I think us all going to four different places might be best. We are all supportive of each other and we are all going where we will be happy.

“Grand View has a great nursing program and it’s close to home.”

Vry is not the first wrestler from Colfax-Mingo who Grand View head women’s wrestling coach Angelo Crinzi has recruited. Vry joins former Tigerhawk Miranda McGill in the room and hopes to find her way into what she called “a stacked lineup.”

“Her work ethic and personality stands out. We’ve been working with her for a while and definitely wanted to put that GV logo on her,” Crinzi said. “She’s a hard worker and dedicated and a real good fit in our program. We will see where she fits into the lineup when preseason practices start, but her work ethic alone will make a big impact on our team.”

Webster felt like Linn was leaning William Penn before deciding to attend Iowa Western. They visited Indian Hills Community College together and Schlosser brought Webster, Linn and Maggie Schroeder to Iowa Central for visits in an attempt to get all three to join her in Fort Dodge.

“I am glad we made decisions for us. We were all really close to going together though,” Webster said. “I’m so excited. I’m ready for college.”

Linn hasn’t ruled out joining one or more of her teammates eventually.

“We all talked about it and it sounds great. But at the end of the day, we had to put our individual priorities first,” said Linn, who plans to major in biology. “It didn’t work out to all go to the same place but maybe in two years. We all might meet up down the road.”

Schlosser said her original future plans did not include wrestling. Now, she is not ruling out wrestling at a four-year school when her time at Iowa Central is done.

“I wasn’t going to do it unless the coach reached out to me,” said Schlosser, who plans to study business if she attends a four-year program. “But I actually checked the box first when I filled out my form. He gave me my tour when I visited and told me about the new program. This is going to be the first year so I’m excited about that.”

Wrestling at the collegiate level is different for women than it was in high school. The weights don’t exactly line up and the athletes move to freestyle and away from the traditional folk style.

“Wrestling in college can be a big step from high school,” Hume said. “It’s freestyle not folk style. So they will have to make that transition. They need to compete this summer and jump in with both feet.”

In college, the weight classes transition to 101, 109, 116, 123, 130, 136, 143, 155, 170 and 191.