Pekin and Van Buren County sent their girls wrestling teams to the highly competitive Highland Girls Wrestling Tournament on Friday, January 9th facing a field that included several Class 2A schools alongside the region’s top 1A programs. Iowa City Liberty dominated the 18-team field with 238.5 points, while Pekin finished fifth with 108.5 points and Van Buren County placed sixth with 104.5 points.
The tournament featured several schools that Van Buren County will face again at their regional qualifier on January 30th at Wapello, including Columbus/WMU, English Valleys-Tri County, Louisa-Muscatine, Mediapolis, Mid-Prairie, and WACO.
Team Standings
- Iowa City Liberty (2A) – 238.5
- EBF (1A) – 148
- Wilton (1A) – 140.5
- West Liberty (1A) – 137
- Pekin (1A) – 108.5
- Van Buren County (1A) – 104.5
- Fort Madison (2A) – 101
- Mount Pleasant (2A) – 80
- Mid-Prairie (1A) – 79
- Denver (1A) – 78
- Highland (1A) – 75
- Louisa-Muscatine (1A) – 59.5
- Lone Tree (1A) – 47
- Columbus/WMU (1A) – 30
- Cedar Rapids Prairie JV (2A) – 27
- WACO (1A) – 26
- English Valleys-Tri County (1A) – 22
- Mediapolis (1A) – 10
Pekin Results
Hailey Pedrick delivered the Panthers’ best performance of the day, capturing first place at 145 pounds. The third-seeded Pedrick earned a bye before defeating Mid-Prairie’s Sophie Miller by fall in the second period at 2:14 after leading 9-6. She then upset second-seeded Zenlynn Lee of Mount Pleasant with a quick 54-second fall in the first period. Pedrick capped her championship run by upsetting top-seeded Kat Diprima of Fort Madison with a second-period fall at 2:49 after building an 8-2 lead.
Lila Miller claimed second place at 125 pounds. The second-seeded Miller received a bye before pinning Denver’s Knutson in the first period at 1:10. She then defeated Brienna Fenton of Fort Madison by first-period fall at 1:51 after trailing 3-2. In the championship match, Miller fell to Aileen Aragon of West Liberty by first-period fall at 1:43.
Bree Earnest finished fourth at 105 pounds despite being seeded second. Earnest opened with a lightning-quick 15-second fall over Iowa City Liberty’s Makinlee Steapp, then pinned Van Buren County’s Singer in the second period at 3:08. However, she lost to Van Buren County’s Wiley by first-period fall at 1:22 and dropped the third-place match to English Valleys-Tri County’s Emily Sieren by first-period fall with just one second remaining.
Lexa Nelson, seeded first at 110 pounds, placed fourth after suffering her first loss of the season. Nelson received a bye and dominated conference opponent Louisa-Muscatine’s Neyva Alberhasky with a 15-0 technical fall at the last second of the first period. She then lost to EBF’s Cadence Christensen by second-period fall at 2:47 in a highly competitive match. Nelson fell in the third-place match to Mid-Prairie’s Austyn Sexton by second-period fall at 2:51.
Ella Rose took fourth at 155 pounds after upsetting fourth-seeded Danika Murdock of West Liberty by second-period fall at 2:23 following a dominant 16-2 lead. The fifth-seeded Rose then lost to eventual bracket champion and top-seeded Peyten Van Dyke of Iowa City Liberty by second-period fall at 2:48, and dropped the third-place match to second-seeded Melany Fitzer of Wilton by first-period fall in just 26 seconds.
Rylee Frye earned fourth place at 190 pounds. The second-seeded Frye defeated Sydnee Bliss of Wilton by second-period fall at 3:44 after trailing 4-3, but lost to Chloe Sexton of conference opponent Highland by second-period fall at 2:30 and fell in the third-place match to Mid-Prairie’s Ellie Callahan by first-period fall at 1:50.
Other Pekin results included Alyvia Traner at 115 pounds, who pinned Claudia Hallgren of Mediapolis in the first period at 1:04 before losing consecutive matches. Reece Brisby at 130 pounds earned one win by fall, while Ivory Small at 135 pounds went 0-2 on the day.
Van Buren County Results
Brystol Wiley led the Warriors with a second-place finish at 105 pounds. The third-seeded Wiley opened with a dominant 18-2 technical fall over West Liberty’s Addison Guerra in the third period at 4:31. She followed with a first-period pin of EBF’s Kayda Freeman at 1:24 and defeated Pekin’s Earnest by first-period fall at 1:22. In the championship match, Wiley held a 5-2 advantage but suffered a reversal and lost to Iowa City Liberty’s Taylor Cavanh by first-period fall at 1:26.
Teagan Sickels claimed second place at 170 pounds. The third-seeded Sickels received two byes before upsetting second-seeded Chloe Christianson of Wilton with a first-period fall in 55 seconds. She fell in the championship match to top-seeded Bricsia Garcia-Vasquez of West Liberty by first-period fall in 53 seconds.
Rylee Caviness fought her way to fifth place at 125 pounds despite a tough path. The sixth-seeded Caviness lost to Brienna Fenton of Fort Madison by third-period fall at 5:36 after holding a 7-6 lead. She bounced back with a second-period pin of Lone Tree’s Kalley Deese at 2:17 and another second-period fall over Denver’s Kate Knutson at 2:58. In the fifth-place match, Caviness edged Kendra Krause of EBF 15-13 by decision, securing a crucial takedown with nine seconds left to claim the lead.
Armoney Adams earned fifth place at 100 pounds. The fourth-seeded Adams lost a tough 11-6 decision to Iowa City Liberty’s Ella McGonegle, then defeated West Liberty’s Julie Garcia by second-period fall at 3:27 after leading 9-7. Adams secured fifth place with an 11-4 decision victory over Louisa-Muscatine’s Grace Keltner, avenging Keltner’s earlier victory over teammate Rory Philips.
Hadley Noe took fifth at 135 pounds. The fourth-seeded Noe lost a close battle to Molly Garcia of West Liberty by third-period fall at 5:26 after the score was 12-11, then defeated Wilton’s Clark with a first-period fall in 56 seconds. She dominated the fifth-place match, pinning McKayla Schinstock of Fort Madison in the second period at 3:00 after building a 9-1 lead.
Lexie Wiley finished fourth at 140 pounds after upsetting fourth-seeded Layken Lee of Mid-Prairie by second-period fall at 3:01. The fifth-seeded Wiley couldn’t pull off another upset against top-seeded Mara Smith of Fort Madison, losing by fall in 29 seconds. She dropped the third-place match to Highland’s Maiya Singbeil by first-period fall in 55 seconds.
Willow Worley placed sixth at 145 pounds. The eighth-seeded Worley lost to top-seeded Kat Diprima of Fort Madison by first-period fall at 1:44 before defeating WACO’s Izabelle Felts in 25 seconds and upsetting fifth-seeded Maci Bruce of Cedar Rapids Prairie with a first-period fall at 1:39. She forfeited the fifth-place match to Sophie Miller of Mid-Prairie.
Other Van Buren County results included Mallory Brauns finishing sixth at 110 pounds, Arianna Harvey competing at 120 pounds with one win by fall and one decision victory, Jacqueline Singer at 105 pounds going 1-2, Rory Philips at 100 pounds earning one win, Rylee Philips at 120 pounds going 0-2, Adisson McLain at 155 pounds going 0-2, and Randi Grimm at 190 pounds going 0-2.
Coach’s Perspective
Pekin girls wrestling head coach Jeff Follman praised his team’s performance at the challenging tournament.
“Highland tournament is always a good one to challenge our girls and give them more exposure. We had six top-place finishers with our seniors Hailey earning first and Lila earning second. Moving forward with the season, the biggest concern is keeping all healthy. Pekin is very proud of how cohesive and positive our girls are. They are a true reflection of Pekin which wouldn’t be possible without their parents or our dedicated fans.”
Looking Ahead
The tournament provided valuable experience against high-level competition, with several weight classes featuring numerous ranked wrestlers. Both teams will continue to face challenging schedules as they prepare for the postseason, with the regional qualifiers on January 30th looming on the horizon.
The competitive environment at Highland, despite some logistical challenges, gave both Pekin and Van Buren County wrestlers important mat time against quality opponents from both 1A and 2A classifications as they continue their seasons. Pekin will be back on Monday, January 12th at Ottumwa and Van Buren County will be hosting a triangular with Fort Madison and Mediapolis for their Senior Night also on Monday.
Photography courtesy of Rylie Nelson.
