HM Waverly-Shell Rock repeats as Iowa state champions, Eight nationally ranked girls win titles

National Honorable Mention Waverly-Shell Rock repeated as Iowa state girls champions, with the first official IGHSAU girls championships held in Coralville. Waverly-Shell Rock scored 123 points, followed by East Buchanan at 113 and Decorah with 108. Leading Waverly-Shell Rock was state champion Kiara Djuoumessi, two runners-up and five total placewinners. There were eight nationally ranked girls who emerged as individual state champions, all who finished the year undefeated: No. 4 Skylar Slade of Southeast Polk (150), No. 5 Lilly Luft of Charles City (130), No. 7 Naomi Simon of Decorah (170), No. 12 Molly Allen of Riverside-Oakdale (115), No. 12 Emma Peach of Iowa Valley, Marengo (145), No. 15 Olivia Huckfelt of Spencer (235), No. 20 Jasmine Luedtke of Ottumwa (110) and No. 24 Jillian Worthen of Union LaPorte City (105). In total, 10 state champions were undefeated, the eight nationally ranked girls, plus Djoumessi and Katie Biscoglia of Racoon River-Northwest (100), Mackenzie Childers of Cedar Rapids Prairie (125). The 155-pound weight class had nationally ranked wrestlers in the top three places, champion No. 4 Skylar Slade, runner-up No. 28 Jannell Avila of Iowa City West and third-place No. 13 Keeley Kehrli of East Buchanan.

No. 27 Cleveland beats No. 28 Rossview to win Tennessee Girls State Duals

National No. 27 Cleveland won a highly competitive Tennessee Girls State Duals held in Franklin. In the finals, Cleveland defeated nationally No. 28 Rossview, 34-27. Starting at 165 with national No. 4 Piper Fowler getting a pin, Cleveland won six of the first seven matches and held off a late rally by Rossview. Third place went to national Honorable Mention Clarksville, which defeated Gibbs, 42-30. National No. 25 Saniayha Wysinger (235) and No. 29 Ella-Lina Gonzalez (126) scored pins in the third-place dual meet. Cleveland barely defeated Clarksville in the semifinals dual, winning 30-29, winning the first four bouts and seven of the first eight, before Clarksville won the last five matches. This battle between talented and nationally ranked teams will continue at the girls individual state tournament in Franklin in late February.

Lumberton wins North Carolina state team title, nationally ranked individuals Khang and Edwards get golds

Lumberton won the team standings in a tight race at the North Carolina Girls State Invitational in Greensboro, with the top five teams all within six points of each other. Lumberton had 56 points, with three teams tied at 50 points, Havelock, Lake Norman and Westover. Lumberton was led by three placewinners, including runners-up Teresa Canady (114) and Wytnergale Oxendine (235). A pair of nationally ranked wrestlers claimed titles, No. 17 Jeulenea Khang of Freedom (100) and No. 18 Leah Edwards of East Rowan (114). Khang defeated national No. 29 Jamie Hearl of Mount Airy in the finals, 2-0. Finishing with unbeaten records were Alfa Dominguez Gutierrez of Cary (126), Brianna Deleon of Weddington (132) and Savannah Bramhall of Parkwood (165).

Taylor County wins Kentucky state championship, as five nationally ranked athletes win individual titles

Taylor County won the team title at the Kentucky girls state championships, scoring 151 points, followed by Harrison County with 132 points and North Hardin with 128 points. Taylor County did not have an individual champion, but had eight medalists, including four wrestlers who placed third. Five nationally ranked wrestlers won individual titles: No. 3 Lauren Walton of Woodford County (132), No. 11 Addison Messerly of Grant County (138), No 16 Kendra Johnson of Paducah Tilghman (185), No. 23 Olivia Messerly of Grant County (126) and No. 24 Trinity Gottler of Tates Creek (165). At 235 pounds, Haley Young of Madison Southern defeated nationally No. 29 Layla Davis of Harrison County, 6-2.

Other events of note

As an update to last week’s entry, the California CIF Southern Section girls duals were completed on February 1. Nationally No. 12 Northview finished off the Div. I bracket with a tight 37-34 victory over Corona. In Div. II, Ventura stopped Laguna Hills, 37-30.

Post-season qualification events began this past weekend in Washington, Utah, Texas, Nebraska and other states.

Coming up this weekend are girls state tournaments in Montana in Billings, Nevada in Winnemucca as well as the beginning of multiple state tournanents (by class) in Utah.