Colfax-Mingo shows out at girls state wrestling

CORALVILLE — The sport of wrestling is a numbers game. Class 3A Waverly-Shell Rock came into the Iowa Girls State Wrestling Championships with 22 competitors.

The Go-Hawks were the clear favorite to win their third straight girls state tournament title.

Most of the schools in the top 40 of the team standings were 2A or 3A programs. Then there was little old Colfax-Mingo. A staple in the girls wrestling tournament in each of the three years, the Tigerhawks showed up and performed almost better than any other program on the state’s biggest stage.

Four of the nine Tigerhawks competing reached the podium and all four were top-five finishers as Colfax-Mingo scored 119 points to finish third. The Tigerhawks claimed a team trophy for the second time in school history.

“These girls deserve this. They work so hard,” Colfax-Mingo coach Erin Hume said. “I am so happy for them. Everyone contributed to this trophy. Everyone contributed whether they won a match or not. They put in so much time. They deserve everything they got.”

Colfax-Mingo was the state runner-up in 2019. But that tournament featured less than 100 wrestlers. The Tigerhawks were sixth last year when the number grew to more than 220.

The 2021 performance was the best one yet for Colfax-Mingo as this year’s tournament featured more than 450 wrestlers.

Junior Mariah Webster finished her breakout season in third at 120 pounds, while junior Kylie Doty was fourth at 138. Junior Danica Linn earned her first state medal after taking fifth at 113 and junior Maggie Schroeder ended up fifth at 160.

The other five Tigerhawks combined to win nine matches and all those wins helped 1A Colfax-Mingo compile enough points to hold off 2A Spencer (115) and 2A Osage (114), which finished four and five points back of the Tigerhawks, respectively. Class 2A Charles City (112), last year’s runner-up, was sixth and 2A Decorah (100) also reached triple-digits in seventh.

Waverly-Shell Rock’s 12 scoring wrestlers netted the Go-Hawks 256 points. Class 2A Humboldt brought 16 wrestlers and finished second with 124.

The Tigerhawks were one of only six 1A programs in the top 40, joining Clayton Ridge (60), North Cedar (52), Central City (41), Denver (41) and East Buchanan (30).

Colfax-Mingo didn’t wrap up third place until the final match. Spencer freshman Olivia Huckfelt lost to now three-time champion Millie Peach of Iowa Valley in the 285 finals to seal the deal.

Hume was on the edge of his feet during that entire match. And a fellow South Iowa Cedar League wrestler kept the Tigerhawks in third.

“It was stressful. But at some point you just let our girls wrestle,” Hume said. “When Maggie won, that put us at 3-1 for the final round. You can’t do a whole lot better so whatever happened was going to happen. The girls kicked butt today.”

In the final round, second-ranked Webster won her match third-place match 3-2 over third-ranked Ashlynn Miller of North Cedar.

Webster (20-2) placed fifth her freshman season at 126. She left last year’s tournament without a medal and with plenty of motivation.

“I was very disappointed last year. I came here this year, did what I had to do and got it done,” Webster said. “It feels amazing. It feels like I’ve improved so much.”

Webster was 5-1 in the tournament. She won her first two matches by fall and her third 16-2. Joslyn Dawson also competed at 120 and was 0-2. She lost her second match 9-7 in SV-1.

These girls deserve this. They work so hard. I am so happy for them. Everyone contributed to this trophy. Everyone contributed whether they won a match or not. They put in so much time. They deserve everything they got.

—  Colfax-Mingo wrestling coach Erin Hume after the Tigerhawks placed third at the girls state wrestling tournament on Saturday.

Eighth-ranked Linn rallied to win her 113-pound fifth-place match over Anya Lovstuen of Decorah. Linn (18-6) trailed most of the match but got Lovstuen in a headlock and scored the win by pin with 10 seconds to go in the bout.

It was Linn’s first state medal. And it came three months after testing positive for COVID-19.

“I was very excited to place this year after not placing last year,” Linn said. “And with dealing with all the COVID after effects, I am glad I made it here. It’s still kicking my butt.”

Lovstuen defeated Linn 7-3 in the quarterfinals on Saturday. It was one of only two losses Linn suffered at the state meet as she was 5-2 on the weekend. Two of her wins came by decision against No. 6 Raelynn Strelow of Cedar Falls and fifth-ranked Hannah Reel of Dubuque Senior.

“She was putting a lot of pressure into me. It was really just instincts and last second jitters,” said Linn about her pin in the final seconds. “She beat me the first time and I wasn’t going to let that happen again. It was really great to come back and beat her today.”

It was a much-needed win in the final standings. And bonus points always help.

The only loss in the final round was by Doty, but she was defeated by fourth-ranked Izzy Deeds of Ridge View in the third-place match. Her only other loss in the tournament came to top-ranked Abby McIntyre of Glenwood. McIntyre went on to win her second state title.

Fifth-ranked Doty (10-7) claimed three wins by fall, including one over sixth-ranked Evah Owens of Central City in the quarterfinals. She also defeated seventh-ranked Chloe Etten of BGM twice in the tournament. She was 4-2 on the weekend.

“It feels really good. But I do feel like I could have done better,” said Doty, who was fifth in 2020 and fourth in 2019. “I’m disappointed. I wrestled that last girl earlier in the season and she beat me then, too. I wanted to do a little bit this time.”

Second-ranked Schroeder (15-6) improved her finish two spots from last year. She was 6-2 on the weekend and five of those wins were by fall. She pinned No. 10 Marley McSwain of Dubuque Wahlert and also got a win by fall in her fifth-place match.

One of Schroeder’s losses came on the first day to No. 8 Nicole Olson of Missouri Valley. She lost 9-6 but defeated Olson 4-0 in a consolation match on Saturday.

“It feels really good. I am pumped. I didn’t think I was going to place,” said Schroeder, who was seventh last year at 170. “I didn’t have a good day yesterday. But I came in today with a better mindset. I was more confident.”

Junior Kirsten Frier (16-9) wrestled in the same bracket as Doty at 138. She won four matches but didn’t medal after losing by decision to seventh-ranked Etten and No. 10 Kiara Djourmessi of Waverly-Shell Rock. Frier’s four wins were all by fall.

Senior Miranda McGill (13-5) and junior Melany Vry (12-6) both were 2-2 on the weekend.

Sixth-ranked McGill won twice by fall but lost to No. 10 Sophie Degner of Algona in an elimination match. Vry, in her first season as a wrestler, won once by fall and one of her losses came to No. 6 Toyia Griffin of Nashua-Plainfield.

Junior Katie Schlosser, who came into the tournament ranked third, won her first match by pin before losing her next two matches. One of those losses came to No. 10 Jessie Hutchinson of Newton. Schlosser (7-2) placed fourth at 195 last year.