The Golden Hawks trailed West Liberty 33-24 as senior Mia Garvey took the mat with two matches left in Tuesday’s dual. The noise level in Tim Grady Gymnasium reached a new level as the two teams, fans, and cheerleaders intently watched the match that could decide the outcome. 

The scene was exactly what Mid-Prairie coach Dylan Walther envisioned when the IGHSAU sanctioned the sport a year ago. 

“When the girls became sanctioned, I wanted to have some duals,” he said. “We have pretty good numbers, and the girls at other meets are yelling and screaming for each other and even when we're down by a lot. They cheer each other on and fight off their backs without much at stake, but tonight in a dual those little things add up when they fight for each other.”

The little things added up for a Mid-Prairie victory, as pins from Garvey and Sam Stacey gave the Golden Hawks 24 unanswered points in a 36-33 win over West Liberty. 

Mid-Prairie also defeated Iowa City Liberty 51-10 and Iowa City West 54-6 to finish the night 3-0. 

Mardie Berry began the Golden Hawk run with her pin of fellow freshman Alyssa Lenz in the second period at 155. Walther elected to have freshman Ellie Callahan receive the forfeit at 170, bumping up Garvey to take on Comet junior Amerie Alvarado at 190. 

“It was a little scary at first just knowing the weight difference, because I'm dropping to 155, so I'm at 160 right now,” Garvey explained. “But I just figured that if I was gonna wrestle someone that much bigger than me, I needed to take my shot first and be aggressive.” 

Garvey had the only takedown of the match and got the pin with 40 seconds remaining in the opening period. 

“It was just a lot to pick up her leg and try to finish my shot,” Garvey said. “She was very heavy and had a lot of downward pressure. She folded the other way, so I turned down and I lifted my shoulder up and threw my hips over top and got the takedown.”

Garvey’s victory brought Mid-Prairie within three points and Stacey’s 77-second pin of freshman Tatum Hale gave the Golden Hawks the victory. 

Gabi Robertson and Ashlee Farrier each had a first-period pin in the win over West Liberty as well.

Robertson and Farrier each finished the day 3-0 which included another pin in the first period for both the junior and sophomore. Stacey was also 3-0 on the day. She had a 4-2 lead when she pinned Liberty’s Abigial Carr in the final period. Callahan received a forfeit in all three of her matches.  

Ellie Brenneman went 2-1 on the day with 24 and 43-seconds pins in the wins over Liberty and West. Berry was also 2-1 with a pair of pins. Seniors Marissa Cline, Grace Conway, and Garvey each went 2-1 on the day as well. 

Conway’s first two matches were grueling. She opened the day with a 7-5 decision. 

“She was strong, but without a lot of technique, and I think that got in my head a little bit,” Conway said about her first win. “I blanked, but I kept fighting and I think that’s the most important thing.”

Conway only allowed one takedown in her second match, but her opponent racked up nearfall points in the 19-13 loss. While Conway was put on her back in each of the three periods, she did not give up the pin, which would have cost the Golden Hawks the winning margin of three points against West Liberty. 

After two six-minutes battles, Conway’s third match lasted just 40 seconds as she quickly put West’s Helen Orszula on her back. 

“It was so great,” Conway said. “I was thinking, I had been dragged out on the mat for six minutes in the two past (matches). I didn't want it to be that long of a match, so I wanted to end it quickly.”

Kenda Shqair went 2-1 in the duals, taking a forfeit against Liberty at 120 and earning a second-period pin in the win over West High at 125.

“We bumped Kenda up just to get her a match and gets her some experience and she came out and got a pin,” Walther said. “She was trying some things and didn’t quite get a couple of them, but she came out, fought and ended up getting a pin. 

“Even though we didn't get a ton of matches and the scores were pretty lopsided it was a good chance to get experience for some of them.”

Mid-Prairie 51, IC Liberty 10

105: Gabi Robertson (MIPR) over Taylor Cavanh (ICL) (Fall 0:59) 

115: Grace Philipp (ICL) over (MIPR) (Forfeit) 

120: Kenda Shqair (MIPR) over (ICL) (For.) 

130: Ashlee Farrier (MIPR) over Alex Sharp (ICL) (Fall 0:44) 

135: Ellie Brenneman (MIPR) over Harper Johnson (ICL) (Fall 0:24) 

140: Grace Conway (MIPR) over Elizabeth Eggleston (ICL) (Dec 7-5) 

145: Marissa Cline (MIPR) over Evelyn Eggleston (ICL) (Fall 2:44) 

155: Eavenly Nielsen (ICL) over Mardie Berry (MIPR) (MD 13-1) 

170: Mia Garvey (MIPR) over Kenzi Steele (ICL) (Fall 2:18) 

190: Ellie Callahan (MIPR) over (ICL) (For.) 

235: Sam Stacey (MIPR) over Abigial Carr (ICL) (Fall 4:24)

Mid-Prairie 36, West Liberty 33

110: Gabi Robertson (MIPR) over Charli Gingerich (WELI) (Fall 1:45) 

115: Alissa Sanchez (WELI) over (MIPR) (For.) 

120: Silvia Garcia-Vazquez (WELI) over Kenda Shqair (MIPR) (Fall 0:32) 

125: Ashlee Farrier (MIPR) over Katherine Barten (WELI) (Fall 1:26) 

130: Ashley Gallardo (WELI) over (MIPR) (For.) 

135: Kiley Collins (WELI) over Ellie Brenneman (MIPR) (Fall 2:28) 

140: Ava Morrison (WELI) over Grace Conway (MIPR) (Dec 19-13) 

145: Dionni Garcia-Vazquez (WELI) over Marissa Cline (MIPR) (Fall 3:17) 

155: Mardie Berry (MIPR) over Alyssa Lenz (WELI) (Fall 2:32) 

170: Ellie Callahan (MIPR) over (WELI) (For.) 

190: Mia Garvey (MIPR) over Amerie Alvarado (WELI) (Fall 1:20) 

235: Sam Stacey (MIPR) over Tatum Hale (WELI) (Fall 1:17) 

Mid-Prairie 54, IC West 6

110: Gabi Robertson (MIPR) over (ICW) (For.) 

125: Kenda Shqair (MIPR) over Natalia Gentiluomo (ICW) (Fall 2:51) 

130: Ashlee Farrier (MIPR) over (ICW) (For.) 

135: Ellie Brenneman (MIPR) over Alexandria Held (ICW) (Fall 0:43) 

140: Grace Conway (MIPR) over Helen Orszula (ICW) (Fall 0:40) 

145: Mardie Berry (MIPR) over Harper Chase (ICW) (Fall 1:02) 

155: Marissa Cline (MIPR) over (ICW) (For.) 

170: Jannell Avila (ICW) over Mia Garvey (MIPR) (Fall 0:45) 

190: Ellie Callahan (MIPR) over (ICW) (For.) 

235: Sam Stacey (MIPR) over (ICW) (For.)