Three Valkyries go top-3 at Atlantic

The SWAT Valkyries girls wrestling team placed third, behind a couple of programs representing much larger schools, in a tournament Saturday, Jan. 25 at Atlantic High School.

Stella Beattie (170) and Ellen Gerlock (190) earned championships on the day, while Jazz Christensen (100) was a silver medalist and Nadia South (110) earned bronze.

Christensen (22-9 on the season) opened with a quarterfinal pin over Denison-Schleswig’s Daniela Salinas in 3:13, then beat Racoon River Northwest’s Phoebe Timm with a pin in 2:22 in the semifinals. Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln’s Ellie Johnson won a 15-2 major decision against Christensen in the championship round.

Beattie’s championship came with three falls. She stuck CBAL’s Audrey Schmitz in 1:45, then needed just 23 seconds to pin Denison-Schleswig’s Kasandra Barroso in the semifinals. One minute, 54 seconds into the first place match, Beattie pinned Clarinda’s Jalon Olson.

Gerlock’s day also included three pins. She beat Western Iowa’s (West Monona/MVAOCOU/West Harrison/Whiting) Mariah Nichols in 42 seconds, then needed only 59 seconds to defeat CBAL’s Amaiah Brooks. In the championship, Madison Wright of Lewis Central fell victim to Gerlock in 1:19.

South went 3-1 in matches wrestled, utlimately beating South Central Calhoun’s Emery Kramer with a 57-second pin in the third place match.

Destiny Fry (115) placed fifth, losing by tech fall in the semifinals and making the fifth-place match, where she won against Red Oak’s Elaina Kuipers by fall in 1:54. Lilly Barber (155) also placed fifth. Lilliana Tafoya placed sixth at 135.

Lewis Central claimed the team title (196 points) with Des Moines Public Schools finishing with 158 in second and the Valkyries scoring 140. Western Iowa (125) and Clarinda (113.5) rounded out the top five.