SWAT girls win Valkyrie Invitational

The SWAT (Southwest Area Team) girls wrestling team held an invitational tournament for the first time Saturday, Jan. 20, and outlasted all the rest of the competition for the team title.

The event was held at Atlantic High School and featured girls from 19 programs on matches wrestled on four mats.

The Valkyries, which include wrestlers from Atlantic, Nodaway Valley and CAM, scored 202 points. Second was Lewis Central with 189.5 and Carroll was third with 187.

“After being out of competition since January 5 and only having a couple of practices, I’m super proud of how my girls hit the mats today,” SWAT head coach Tiffany South said. “We had a lot of tough competition and ended up taking the team championship. Every one of my girls showed up to wrestle today and hopefully this tournament puts a fire underneath them going into superregionals next weekend.”

At 170 pounds, Grace Britten brought home another championship. The second-ranked girl at 170 pounds, according to IAWrestle, Britten pinned her way into the championship, where she defeated Lewis Central’s Kalen Westerfield 7-5 in sudden victory.

Britten, 37-1 on the year, is one of the more seasoned wrestlers on the SWAT team this year, having wrestled for several seasons before. She commented that the growth her team has made in its second year of existence has been fun to watch.

“It has been amazing to see how our girls have grown. I’m really just hoping to end my senior year with a bang,” Britten said. “Being ranked higher than I was last year, and being a returning state place winner, girls know who I am and they know what I do, but I’ve been able to handle it this far.”

Ellen Gerlock of CAM was SWAT’s other champion, also pinning her way into the championships. She beat Lillian Howe of Southwest Iowa 9-5 in the finals.

Jazz Christensen of Nodaway Valley placed third. She opened the tournament with a first-period pin, then lost a 9-6 decision in the semifinals. She bounced back with a pin of her own over South Central Calhoun’s Kourtney King in 1:09 before quickly sticking Racoon River-Northwest’s Phoebe Timm in 46 seconds in the third-place bout.

“I definitely feel I’m learning a lot more and am doing better than I was last year,” said Christensen, who is 35-6. “I’m improving, getting a lot more brackets and a lot more wins than I thought I ever would. We also have a great team. We have a lot of new wrestlers who came in this year that are also doing well. I can’t wait to see how we do when state comes.”

Destiny Fry, also from Nodaway Valley, took fifth at 105 pounds. She opened with a quarterfinal-round loss but bounced back with a 19-6 major decision win and won over Audubon’s Jordan Mulford for fifth with a 59-second pin.

“I feel my season has gone well so far,” Fry told the newspaper. “I have approved a lot from last year.

“For the postseason, I’m really excited because of the chance I’ll have to make it to state.”

Addison Herr of Nodaway Valley went 1-2, getting a win on the back side with a pin in 3:03 over Addison Ransom of Denison-Schleswig.

Herr, a first-year wrestler, is pleased with the outcome of her season thus far. She says this season has been a learning experience, however that only makes her more and more excited for future seasons.

“There’s always room for improvement, and having an open mindset is very important. It’s the only way to learn the rules and technique of wrestling. It’s always wrestling season, on and off the mat. I will continue working on shots, finishing them, and staying fit and ready for the next seasons to come,” Herr said. “SWAT hasn’t been ranked this season, even though we’ve won the majority of meets we have competed in. I’m excited to show everyone what we’re made of in the postseason.”

Other place winners were Quincy Sorensen, who took sixth at 115; Cadence Kinzie, who was fourth at 120; Bailey Lillard, who placed third at 130; Mia South, who was fourth at 140; Stella Beattie, who was second at 155; Cleidy Perez-Rivas, who was sixth at 170; Megan Gerlock, who placed fifth at 190; and Haley Armstrong, who was second at 235.

Friday, Jan. 26, the Valkyries wrestle in a supperregional meet that begins at 10 a.m. at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City.