Panthers advance four and take silver at regionals

LEON — It was a fantastic day of wrestling for Union County schools Friday at the girls 1A wrestling regionals at Central Decatur.

Creston placed second with two regional champions, advancing four total to the state tournament on Thursday and Friday.

East Union advances two after both girls won their wrestlebacks to take the runner-up spot at their respective weights.

Creston

Freshman Karlie Kruse (33-9) came in as the two seed at 125 Friday, but she surpassed her ranking with an upset pin in the finals.

In the semifinals, Kruse faced Olivia Rupe of Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont. Kruse dominated the match, winning in a 14-1 major decision to advance to the finals where she faced Macie Little of North Mahaska, the No. 2 ranked 125-pounder in the state.

“Her last two opponents of the day, those are legitimate opponents,” Creston coach Maggie Arnold said. “In her semifinals match against Rupe from EBF, she just controlled that from the beginning. That match in semis gave her a lot of momentum going forward.”

In the finals, Little took immediate control of the match, getting a takedown and a 4-point near fall in the first minute against Kruse.

“Karlie went out there with nothing to lose,” Arnold said. “It doesn’t matter if she gets behind in a match, she’s just going to keep coming at you until the final seconds.”

Kruse scored her first points in a takedown as time expired in the second period, trailing 7-3. Shortly into the third period, she caught Little out of position, pinning her with more than a minute left to wrestle.

Kruse enters the state tournament as the five seed in the 16-woman bracket. “Of everyone on the team this year, she has the most quality wins —beating opponents that have better records or are ranked above her,” Arnold said. “She has put in work all season to earn that seed.”

Grace Keeler (36-6), a junior, was the second to claim a title for the Panthers.

“Grace is the most underrated wrestler in the state of Iowa as far as I’m concerned,” Arnold said. “She gets literally no respect from anybody and she completely deserves so much more than what she’s been given this year.”

Keeler came in the favorite at 140 and marched her way to the finals, only one match making it to the second period.

In the semifinals, it was a 16-1 technical fall over Andie Branson of Knoxville to advance to the finals where she faced Montana Mitchell of Winterset.

Keeler had defeated Mitchell once before so despite Mitchell being a state-ranked wrestler, Keeler came in confident.

It took Keeler just over a minute to pin Mitchell and claim the title. Keeler will be the 10 seed at state.

“Consistent is the best word to describe Grace,” Arnold said. “She isn’t fancy or flashy, but she goes out there and grinds every single match and gets it done.”

Senior Evy Marlin and sophomore Alainah Galanakis both suffered finals losses, forced to wrestleback for their ticket to state.

Marlin (40-5) defeated her first two opponents with first-period pins, facing Mia Luck of Oskaloosa in the semifinals. Marlin came in as the one seed as the only 135-pound ranked wrestler in the bracket, but was upset after a second-period takedown and pin.

“She got herself into a tough spot and couldn’t get out of it. She wasn’t happy with that,” Arnold said. “You have to be so mentally tough to come back from a finals loss when you have those wrestlebacks. The person coming off that third-place match and that victory definitely has the advantage.”

It was back to business for Marlin in the wrestleback where she pinned Rhowen Miller of West Central Valley in 22 seconds to take the runner-up spot. Marlin comes in seeded ninth for state.

Galanakis (37-9) came in the two seed Friday, making her way to the finals against Georgia Smith of EBF. Both girls are state-ranked at 120.

Smith proved to be a tough opponent, scoring 15 unanswered to win in a third-period technical fall.

“The thing I love about Alainah is she is not an emotional wrestler,” Arnold said. “When things are good or things are bad, she never lets things get too far in either direction.”

Galanakis came back in the wrestlebacks to handle Lilly Rinard of Winterset with a second-period pin, securing her spot at state after just missing out a year ago. She enters state as the nine seed.

Two Creston seniors ended their wrestling careers Friday, Zoey Vandevender and Karter Clayton.

Vandevender (19-12) was injured much of the season and wrestled undersized at 145 Friday where she was eliminated after the consolation semifinals.

“If we have Zoey all season long, this is a completely different look for our team,” Arnold said. “She played a great supporting role for the girls while she was out.”

Clayton (23-15) is a first year wrestler who performed well given her lack of training.

“I wish I’d had her every year,” Arnold said. “She was still learning the rules and moves and beating people.”

Creston placed second in the team results with only eight girls, scoring 123. EBF won with 254.5

East Union

The Eagles advance two after a successful wrestleback round.

Sophomore Cheyenne Dike (32-8) won on two first-period pins to make the finals where she fell to Breegan Ellison of Moravia.

In the wrestlebacks, Dike took down EBF’s Sadie Jager to place second and punch her ticket to state where she is the 14 seed.

Quynn Foster (32-9) lost a close battle with Martensdale-St. Marys’ Penelope Wearmouth in the semifinals, losing 3-1 and going to the consolation bracket to fight for a chance at a second-place wrestleback. She pinned two opponents to earn a chance at the wrestleback, but only if Wearmouth beat the one-seed, Hollie Roberts of EBF.

Eagles fans cheered for Wearmouth in the hopes for Foster’s wrestleback. With less than a minute left, the East Union crowd went wild as Wearmouth earned the pin.

Roberts was no easy match in the wrestlebacks, ranked ninth in the state at 100.

She went up 11-0 on Foster in the first period, needing only one more 4-point nearfall to win in a tech fall.

Foster got out of the spot, reversing and earning her own back points.

In the second period, Foster stuck Roberts, pulling off the upset to advance to state where she is ranked 12th.

The state tournament will be held Thursday and Friday at the Xtream Arena in Coralville.