By Becky Walz,
Decorah’s Chloe Sheffield waits for the whistle as she picked up a quarterfinal fall Saturday over Lexie McCalllum of Cedar Falls. (Driftless Multimedia photo by Becky Walz)
The Decorah gym was alive with its first action of the winter sports season Saturday with 16 girls’ wrestling teams participating in the Decorah Fall Tournament.
When the last whistle blew, the Vikings finished second in the team standings with 240 points behind Cedar Falls’ 335. South Winn also compete in the season opener, picking up 63 points to finish ninth.
Five champs
The Vikings put five grapplers on top of the podium — Chloe Sheffield, McKenzie Tollefson, Ana Simon, Naomi Simon and Kamryn Steines.
In the lightest division, a 100 pounds, Sheffield picked up a trio of falls after receiving a first-round bye. In the quarterfinals, the junior pinned Lexie McCallum of Cedar Falls in 52 seconds. It took Sheffield 4:57 to turn Kennedy Bachman of MFL MarMac in the semifinal and threw Natalie Blake of Cedar Falls in the finals in 3:14.
It was four pins for Tollefson at 135 pounds as she put the shoulders of Madi Fritcher-Larson of Crestwood on the mat in 35 seconds in round one. Advancing to the quarterfinals, the junior took 57 seconds to throw North Fayette Valley’s Leslie Graves. In 1:21, Tollefson won by fall over Nya Nosbisch of Charles City to reach the finals where she turned Lana Schafer of Cedar Falls in 3:27.
At 145 pounds, Ana Simon earned the crown. Receiving a first-round bye, the sophomore opened her day with a fall over Piper Kjeldahl of the North Central Trailblazers, pinning her opponent in 1:05. A. Simon then moved on to meet Kennedy Soesbe of Cedar Falls in the semifinals, throwing her in 1:40. In the finals, she pinned Ava Bossom of Waukon in 2:27.
N. Simon pinned her way to a title, with all four of her matches taking less than two minutes. Opening her day in the second round against Mya Heather of Alburnett, the senior picked up the fall in 50 seconds. It took N. Simon 57 seconds to out Kirstyn Cotcher of Cedar Falls on her back in the quarterfinal. In 42 seconds, she threw Avery Hoffmeyer of the North Central Trailblzers in the semifinal and squared off with teammate Annaleissa Arnold in the finals, winning by fall in 1:47.
Competing at 190 pounds, Steines drew a first-round bye. In 1:11, the junior picked up the quarterfinal fall over Reagen Lubahn of Waukon, then took just 25 seconds to turn her teammate Isabelle Alley in the semifinal. Squaring off against Leah Stewart of Charles City in the finals, Steines earned the fall in 3:27.
Other Vikes reaching the finals and finishing as runners-up were Lauren Luzum (155), Arnold (170) and Madysen Lippe (235).
Also on the mats for Decorah Saturday were Cassie Wilkins (115), Ellie Adams (120, 3rd place), Stella Grinna (125), Amelia Wadsworth (140, 4th and Isabelle Alley (190, 6th)
A closer look at SW
South Winn also entered the wrestling mats for the first time this season at Decorah Saturday, with one grappler reaching the finals.
Junior Abby Wagner opened the day with a bye at 130 pounds, before pinning Abigail Schlader of Cedar Falls in 1:12. In the quarterfinal, Wagner threw Eden Melcher of Cedar Falls in 1:51 to remain in the title hunt. A 6-3 decision over Odessa Nibbelink of Crestwood put the junior in the championship bout with Lainey Schreck of Cedar Falls who got Wagner turned in 1:41, to give Wagner second place.
At 125 pounds, Kaydn Meyer earned a bronze finish, going 4-1 for the day with Maddy Jansen the only other Warrior on the podium in sixth place at 135 pounds after going 2-2 for the day.
Isabelle Goltz (105), Sophia Dvorak (120), Grace Zweibohmer (130), Ellie Knutson (145) and Adeline Kipp (170) also competed Saturday.
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