Two Valkyries medal at girls state tourney

The girls state wrestling tournament is in the books and two girls from the local SWAT team, which includes Nodaway Valley and Cumberland-Anita-Massena (CAM) wrestlers, came away with two state medalists.

Four wrestlers from the Valkyries qualified for the state meet. Jazz Christensen placed seventh and Ellen Gerlock eighth. Other qualifiers were Destiny Fry and Bailey Lillard.

Christensen, ranked 11th by IA Wrestle in Class 1A’s 100-pound class, was 3-2 in five matches at state, ending the year 39-11. She opened with a pin of 12th-ranked and 10th-seeded Koda Fogg of Tipton in 4:53. Facing second-seeded and fourth-ranked Kenadee Helscher from Wapello in the quarterfinals, Christensen lost by 16-0 tech fall. Christensen came back and pinned Midland’s Taelynn Gravel in 3:06 to advance on the back side. She then lost to Mara Davis of Algona by 16-0 tech fall. In the seventh place match, Christensen beat 13th-seeded Molly Konechne of Central Lyon/George-Little Rock by pin in 5:12 to finish seventh.

“It feels amazing and I am thankful to medal at state. It was a great experience,” Christensen said. “It was cool to go through the grand march and make my parents proud. It feels great and to be able to add my run to the program.”

Christensen’s favorite matches were her three wins.

“There was a lot of pressure to wrestle Thursday night [and win in order to advance]. I wanted to get to the second day and that helped me focus to get the pin,” she said.

Christensen was trailing in her seventh place match when she scored a reversal on her opponent with 19 seconds remaining in the period before she later earned the pin.

“I was losing and then I got the pin. When it happened, I was stunned and it was a lot to take in,” Christensen said.

Gerlock came in seeded sixth at 190, ranked sixth by IA Wrestle. She went 2-3 at state, ending 26-5 on the year.

Gerlock pinned 11th-seeded Atalissa Lobberecht from Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont in 2:56 to advance to the quarterfinals. There, she faced third-seeded and third-ranked Briscia Garcia-Vasquez from West Liberty and was pinned in 1:36. On the back side, Gerlock pinned 12 seed Grace Hammer of Ogden in 2:54 to stay alive. She lost in her next match, 10-2 to Kennedy Burk of Denver. Teagyn Hartz of West Branch, the seventh seed, pinned Gerlock in 2:28 for seventh place.

Seeded 14th at 120 pounds, Fry was 1-2 at state, ending the season 32-12. Fry was pinned in the first round by the weight class' eventual runner up. In the consolation side, Fry secured a big upset, toppling Oakland Riverside’s Veronica Schechinger in 1:17 by fall. In the second round of consolations, Fry fell by pin to 12th-seeded Malyn Davis of Algona in 2:42.

The win over Schechinger was Fry’s favorite moment from the state tournament.

“I started out by trying to down block her and she got a takedown. She tried to cradle me but I worked through it and I got the pin,” Fry said. “I lost to her at regionals so I wasn’t sure how it would go. Getting that win was good and it was my highlight from state. It was good to get to state. It was a new experience and a new place to wrestle. It motivates me to keep working hard to get back there.”

Lillard was seeded seventh at 145 and ranked 12th in the last IA Wrestle rankings. She went 1-2 at state and ended her season 28-6. She pinned Moravia’s Breegan Ellison in 1 minute to open the tournament. Eve Skrocki of Dubuque Wahlert, the eventual state champion who was seeded second and third-ranked, defeated Lillard by fall in 1:01. A loss to Addi Whisner of Mount Vernon by fall in 2:46 ended her season.

The future is bright for SWAT as they graduate four seniors and return nine next year.Departing due to graduation are Christensen, Gerlock, Anastasia Peron and Lilliana Tafoya.