The Fairfield girls wrestling team crowned two champions at the Bill Rex Girls Wrestling Invitational on Friday, December 5th, finishing eighth in the 12-team field. Burlington claimed the team title with 158 points, narrowly edging North Mahaska’s 157 points, while the Trojans totaled 79 points.
Team Standings
Burlington topped the field with 158 points, followed by North Mahaska (157), Sigourney-Keota (134), Pekin (126.5), Van Buren County (122.5), Davis County (121), Chariton (89), Fairfield (79), Cardinal (69.5), Lone Tree (60), Washington (51), and Moravia (46).
Fairfield Results
The Trojans crowned two champions and added a pair of fourth-place finishes at the home tournament for host Pekin.
Samantha Lyons (170) remained undefeated on the day, winning 3-0 in her opening match, 3-0 in her semifinal, and 2-1 in a hard-fought final to capture first place.
Kendra Allison (235) also earned gold after receiving a first-round bye. She won 3-0 in her semifinal and 3-1 in the championship match to claim the title.
Kensley Fligg (115) took fourth place, losing to Sigourney’s Utterback in her opening match before winning two straight bouts. She fell to Utterback again in the third-place match.
Aislinn Wise (145) also finished fourth, losing her opener before receiving a bye. She won her third match but dropped the third-place bout.
June Connor (105) went 1-2 on the day in a challenging bracket. She lost by pin in her opening match after leading 7-2, received a bye, then defeated teammate Bekah Zirkle by fall in an all-Fairfield matchup before losing to Van Buren County’s Mallory Brauns.
Bekah Zirkle (105) received a first-round bye before losing to Pekin’s Bree Earnest and falling to Connor in the consolation bracket.
Bailey Belzer (155) competed in three matches, losing her opener, receiving a bye, and dropping her third match to Pekin’s Ella Rose.
Coach’s Perspective
Fairfield coach Adam Foreman was pleased with his team’s progress despite a hectic schedule.
“I thought they made some gains from Tuesday. It’s been a weird two weeks with Thanksgiving and the weather. They’ve had four competitions—three tournaments and a quad—and four practices in 14 days. So there hasn’t been a whole lot of time to work out things from our first tournament in Wilton,” Foreman said. “So I’m excited for this week of practice where we can take a breath and slow some things down.”
The Trojans will look to continue building on their strong performances from state qualifiers Lyons and Allison as they head into a week of focused practice before their next competition.
