Golden Hawk girls collect wins and pins

By Jeff Yoder
Posted 12/20/22

The Mid-Prairie girls bounced back from their first dual loss of the season to defeat Iowa City Liberty 39-24 on Thursday. 

The Golden Hawks won four of the five matches wrestled with the …

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Golden Hawk girls collect wins and pins

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The Mid-Prairie girls bounced back from their first dual loss of the season to defeat Iowa City Liberty 39-24 on Thursday. 

The Golden Hawks won four of the five matches wrestled with the Lightning, which included a first-period pin for junior Ellie Brenneman.  

In Brenneman’s first match of the day, she took a 2-0 lead with a reversal, but she got caught in a bad position and lost by fall in the second period against Prairie. 

When she returned to the mat, Brenneman took her frustration out on Liberty’s Elizabeth Eggleston, getting a quick takedown and pin. 

“It was kind of like I had to avenge myself,” said Brenneman who finished the day with an overall record of 13-5. “I lost that match before and I was like, I need to get this right and even out my record a little bit. And I just kind of had this (mindset) like, I can do better.”

Mia Garvey earned a 4-1 decision in her match with Liberty’s Kenzi Steele.

Gabi Roberston and Ashlee Farrier each collected a pair of pins on Thursday. Farrier trailed 2-1 in the third period of her first match, but scored with an escape to tie the match, got a takedown and finished the match with 17 seconds left. 

Prairie, the meet host, won six of the nine matches wrestled in in a 51-15 win.  

Marissa Cline had the other win for Mid-Prairie. Tied 0-0 after one period, she rode out the entire second period and scored in the third to win it. 

Cline had been dealing with some pain in her arm over the weekend. 

“It was a pretty bad day on Saturday, and it just felt good to just step on the mat again,” Cline said. It was a tough match. I’m not gonna lie, my arm started to hurt. We were both stalling a little bit there. So I just knew I just kind of had to get my shot in. I think I got my two points when I got that switch. And I’ve really been drilling that during practice. So it was nice just to get out there and just get some action.”

Cline isn’t the only Golden Hawk wrestler who was feeling less than 100 percent physically on Thursday.  

“I think we’re all battling some sickness and some issues just with our bodies,” She said. “I think that really showed in the Prairie duel and it kind of beat down on our minds a little bit. But just getting some redemption and getting some wins under our belt — it felt good.”

 

Wilton Girls Tournament

Gabi Robertson, Mia Garvey and Ellie Brenneman all had first-place finishes at the Wilton tournament on Saturday. 

Robertson won all four of her matches by pin in the first period to improve to 21-3 on the season. 

“It was good to get Gabi into a five-person round robin,” Mid-Prairie coach Dylan Walther said. “Finding matches for her has been difficult lately. She looked good, controlling every situation in all four matches.”

Garvey, who dropped down a weight class, and Brenneman each pinned three opponents in the first round as well. 

“Mia looked a lot better in her second meet at 155,” Walther said. “She looked dominant in all of her matches, with her semis and finals opponents having very good records. And Ellie controlled both of her first two matches.”

Marissa Cline suffered her only loss of the day to teammate Ellie Brenneman in the final at 135. 

“Marissa is on her way to 130, so we wrestled her with girls her weight — knowing we would have two solid wrestlers in the same bracket,” Walther said. “She had a battle in the semis, she did a good job of not letting the other girl get her flustered.

 It is tough to wrestle a teammate, much less wrestle in the finals. She is an emotional wrestler that usually gets pretty up for matches, so she wasn’t able to wrestle to her usual level in my opinion. If we would have put Ellie in a different singlet, I think that match is a lot closer.”

Grace Conway lost her only match of the day to state runner-up Tatum Wolford of Wapello. 

She pinned Wilton’s Kaydence Boorn in 44 seconds to reach the final.  

“Grace had a good bounce back day,” Walter said. She was out sick a few days, came back on the day of the Prairie meet and wrestled up a weight class. She went out against girls her size and was able to have success. Boorn has a good record, so that was definitely a big win to get her into the finals.”

Ashlee Farrier also went 2-1, dropping a semifinal match before coming back in the third place match with a pin of Tipton’s Becca Hinderaker (10-3). 

“Ashlee had a good day getting third,” Walther said. “She is tough on top. I get nervous in some matches we are favored in when we let our opponent hang with us 0-0. Once she got her takedowns today, the first round and third place matches really opened up for her.”

Sam Stacey had a bye into the semifinals and went 1-1 to finish third. 

 

Iowa City Liberty Girls Invitational

Gabi Roberston and Sam Stacey each finished on top of the podium at Liberty on Monday. Grace Conway and Mia Garvey each reached the finals and finished second. 

Ashlee Farrier, Ellie Brenneman and Marissa Cline each lost in the semifinals, but came back to win a third-place match. 

Kenda Shqair finished second in a junior varsity bracket. 

“Some seasons it is a struggle to find some wrestlers some wins, but this season every wrestler has now eclipsed the 10-win mark,” Walther said after Saturday’s tournament. “This is a fun group to coach, they are all engaged in the sport and want to get better.”