Waverly-Shell Rock feels ahead of the curve

Douglas Miles for the Courier

Waverly-Shell Rock’s Kiara Djoumessi pins Cedar Falls’ Madisen Theel during the Battle of Waterloo wrestling tournament at the Young Arena in Waterloo on Saturday.

CHRIS ZOELLER courier service photographer

CEDAR RAPIDS – When it comes to the newly sanctioned sport of wrestling for girls, Waverly-Shell Rock feels ahead of the curve.

With a whopping nine wrestlers in the field, the Go-Hawks, winners of the last four unsanctioned state meetings, are a strong contender for the first-ever state meeting sanctioned by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union next week.

“People know what’s expected,” WSR assistant coach Josh Meier said after the Go-Hawks totaled 254 points and the Region 6 team title at a regional girls’ wrestling meet Friday at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse in Cedar Rapids won. “You are not expected to win the state tournament. You are expected to invest the time and put yourself in a position to win the state tournament. They understand that the system works and if they believe in the plan and follow it, they will be right there.”

WSR is sponsored by Waverly Area Wrestling Club, a youth wrestling program that currently has a total of 260 athletes on its male and female teams. WSR junior Kiara Djoumessi joined the program in kindergarten and by the time she was in middle school she was able to train against high school girls.

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“We have some really good coaches for younger kids,” said Djoumessi. “Our philosophy for our program is that our high school coaches also coach our younger girls so that they are ready to go to high school.”

Djoumessi – third-placed by IAWrestle at 140 pounds – improved to 43-0 this season, winning all four of her matches by pin and claiming one of two regional singles titles for the Go-Hawks.

“I knew I had to approach every game the same way,” said Djoumessi. “I just had to really do what I do, hit what I hit and I ended up in a lot of positions that I was really good at.”

The Go-Hawks’ second regional titleholder was junior Madison Hinrichs (37-2), who sits in fourth place and won her two 235-pound matches through the fall, topped by a pin in under three minutes in the title match against DeWitt Central Averyia Binnion, who went into the tournament with just two losses all season.

Waverly-Shell Rock’s Madison Hinrichs takes on Osage’s Emma Schipper during Friday’s Battle of Waterloo wrestling tournament at the Young Arena in Waterloo.

CHRIS ZOELLER courier service photographer

“I’m just trying to stay aware of my surroundings and what they’re going to do,” said Hinrichs, who finished third with 220 at last year’s unsanctioned state meeting. “She’s known for headlocks, so I’ve definitely been working on my headlock defense for the past week. I was just trying to make sure I had the best availability on the mat and just making sure I was in the best possible position.”

Hinrichs represents a bit of a departure from veteran WSR wrestlers like Djoumessi. This is only Hinrichs’ third season on the mat, but the WSR “system” still applies.

“They fought smartly,” said Meier. “They did what they should do to win big matches against some tough girls and that’s why they won the tournament today.”

The top four finishers of each weight in each of the eight regional meets statewide will qualify for the state meet taking place Thursday and Friday at Coralville’s Xtream Arena.

The Go-Hawks let four wrestlers finish second by winning two out of three fights in their respective weight classes. At 100 pounds, junior Amber Hoth (36-8) earned a decision and a pin. Freshman Macy Tiedt (28-15) with 105 and fifth-place senior Haidyn Snyder (38-5) with 145 both recorded two pins, as did senior Brinley Meier (31-9) with 120.

Waverly-Shell Rock’s Madison Hinrichs takes on Osage’s Emma Schipper during Friday’s Battle of Waterloo wrestling tournament at the Young Arena in Waterloo.

CHRIS ZOELLER courier service photographer

“I’m really proud of how hard we all worked,” said Brinley Meier. “We have invested a lot of time in the past two or three months. We put a lot of dedication into it. I’m just really proud of all my teammates and how well they did.”

WSR added four more state qualifiers with 125, 130, and 170, respectively, as sixth-place senior Eva Heise (41-5), fifth-place coed Lilly Stough (42-4) and junior Karissa Oldenburger (38-11) all earned thirds space occupied. The Go-Hawks nearly had a fourth qualifier as senior Kyla Foy (15-12) moved up to fifth at 115 pounds.

“It was a good day,” said Josh Meier. “I figured we could get through somewhere between seven and ten, and nine is a good number. I thought we wrestled well and performed the things we were working on.”

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