Van Buren County captured the Southeast Iowa Super Conference Girls Wrestling Tournament championship on Monday, January 26th, at Wapello, showcasing the program’s remarkable growth in just its second year of existence. The Warriors crowned five individual conference champions and accumulated 203 team points to claim the title. Pekin finished second with 130 points and produced two conference champions in a competitive field of nine teams.
Team Standings
Van Buren County’s dominant performance highlighted a tournament that featured several close individual matchups and impressive upsets. The complete team standings were:
- Van Buren County – 203
- Pekin – 130
- Highland – 105
- Louisa-Muscatine – 99
- Lone Tree – 87
- Mediapolis – 75
- Wapello – 69
- WACO – 60.5
- Columbus/WMU – 32
Pekin Individual Results
Pekin crowned two conference champions and had multiple wrestlers place in the top four of their respective weight classes.
Lexa Nelson (110 lbs), the top seed, lived up to expectations by claiming the conference championship. Nelson won both her matches by fall in the first period, including a 1:13 victory after building a 9-2 lead and a 1:54 win over Van Buren County’s Mallory Brauns in the championship match. Nelson is approaching a career milestone and should reach her 100th win on Friday at the regional tournament.
Hailey Pedrick (145 lbs), also seeded first, dominated her way to a conference title. Pedrick won her semifinal match by fall in the first period after building a commanding 15-4 lead (1:41), then defeated Van Buren County’s Willow Worley by fall in the second period (2:36) to claim the championship.
Lila Miller (125 lbs), the top seed at her weight, reached the championship match after winning her semifinal by fall in just 26 seconds of the first period. However, she fell to Van Buren County’s second-seeded Rylee Caviness by fall in the first period (2:00) in an upset to finish second.
Autumn Coleman (120 lbs), seeded fifth, had an eventful tournament that showcased her potential. Coleman opened with an upset victory over fourth-seeded Arianna Harvey of Van Buren County by fall in the second period (3:09). After losing her second match by fall in 23 seconds, Coleman bounced back with a first-period fall in just 33 seconds. In the third-place match, she faced Harvey again in a rematch but fell by fall in 59 seconds to finish fourth. Despite the loss, Coleman’s performance showed a lot of future potential.
Carly Clubb (170 lbs), seeded second, finished third after losing her semifinal match by fall in the first period (1:01) but rebounding to win the third-place match by major decision 10-2.
Rylee Frye (190 lbs), seeded third, also claimed third place. After losing her semifinal by decision 7-4, Frye won her third-place match by default.
Bree Earnest (105 lbs), seeded third, finished third after a competitive semifinal match. Earnest fell to second-seeded Armoney Adams of Van Buren County by fall in the second period (3:56) after Adams built a 23-10 lead. Despite the loss, Earnest showed resilience with seven escapes and one takedown against Adams’ seven takedowns and one reversal.
Ella Rose (140 lbs), seeded second, placed fourth after losing her semifinal by decision 11-4 and her third-place match by major decision 11-2 in matches that were decided by points rather than falls.
Ivory Small (135 lbs), seeded fourth, finished fourth after losing both her matches by fall—the first in 36 seconds and the consolation match in 1:10.
Reece Brisby (130 lbs), seeded sixth, placed sixth after three competitive losses. Brisby was down just 8-7 in her opening match before falling by fall in the second period (2:57), then lost another close match where she trailed 5-4 before falling in the second period (3:45). Her final match against Van Buren County’s Rylee Philips ended by fall in the first period (1:44).
Alyvia Traner (115 lbs), seeded fifth, finished fifth after losing her opening match by fall in the first period (1:42) and her consolation match by fall in the second period (3:30), with a bye in the third-place round securing her fifth-place finish.
Van Buren County Individual Results
The Warriors’ championship was built on five individual titles and strong performances throughout the lineup in what has been an impressive second season for the program.
Brystol Wiley (100 lbs), the top seed, claimed the conference championship with a dominant first-period fall in 1:28 in the championship match.
Rylee Caviness (125 lbs), seeded second, pulled off the tournament’s biggest upset by defeating top-seeded Lila Miller of Pekin by fall at the end of the first period (2:00) in the championship match. Caviness had won her semifinal by fall in the second period (3:01) to set up the championship showdown.
Hadley Noe (135 lbs), seeded second, authored another impressive upset victory. After winning her semifinal by fall in the third period (5:25), Noe faced top-seeded Malya Singbeil of Highland in the championship match. Trailing 6-3, Noe staged a dramatic comeback with an escape and a takedown that led to a pin in the third period (5:01) when the score was 7-6, claiming the conference title.
Lexie Wiley (140 lbs), the top seed, delivered a flawless championship performance. Wiley won her semifinal by fall in 43 seconds of the first period, then claimed the championship with a first-period fall in 1:40. Most impressively, she didn’t allow a single point in either of her matches.
Teagan Sickels (170 lbs), seeded first, showed tremendous resilience in capturing her conference title. After winning her semifinal by fall in the first period (1:41), Sickels found herself trailing 7-3 in the championship match. However, she dominated her way back into the match, building an 11-7 lead before securing the pin in the second period (2:58) to claim the championship.
Armoney Adams (105 lbs), seeded second, reached the championship match after defeating Pekin’s Bree Earnest by fall in the second period (3:56), building a commanding 23-10 lead with seven takedowns and one reversal. Adams fell in the championship match by fall in the first period (1:46) to finish second.
Mallory Brauns (110 lbs), also seeded second, won her semifinal by fall in the first period (1:09) after being initially taken down but executing a reversal for the pin. She fell to Pekin’s Lexa Nelson in the championship match by fall in the first period (1:54) to place second.
Willow Worley (145 lbs), seeded second, won her semifinal by fall in the first period (1:13) before falling to Pekin’s Hailey Pedrick in the championship match by fall in the second period (2:36) to finish second.
Arianna Harvey (120 lbs), seeded fourth, rebounded from an opening-round loss to Pekin’s Autumn Coleman by fall in the second period (3:09) to win her next two matches. Harvey won her consolation semifinal by fall in the first period (1:32), then got revenge against Coleman in the third-place match with a first-period fall in 59 seconds to claim third place.
Adisson McLain (155 lbs), seeded fourth, placed third after losing her semifinal by fall in the first period (1:37) but winning the third-place match by fall in the first period (1:32).
Rory Philips (115 lbs), seeded third, had a competitive tournament that ended in fourth place. After losing her semifinal by fall in the first period (1:33), Philips defeated Pekin’s Alyvia Traner by fall in the second period (3:30). In a thrilling third-place match against Lena Prall of Mediapolis, Philips fell by decision 16-13 in a back-and-forth battle. Philips was down 9-3 but nearly completed a dramatic comeback with a reversal and nearfall at the end that almost resulted in a pin, but time ran out.
Rylee Philips (130 lbs), seeded fourth, finished fifth after losing her opening match by fall in 28 seconds and her consolation semifinal by fall in 24 seconds. She won the fifth-place match against Pekin’s Reece Brisby by fall in the first period (1:44).
Coach Comments
Pekin Girls Wrestling Head Coach Jeff Follman reflected on his team’s performance: “Our team delivered a strong performance at conference last night, highlighted by multiple place-winners and two individual champions in Lexa and Hailey. The girls earned a second-place team finish—an achievement they’re proud of, yet one that also fuels their drive after winning it a year ago. Overall, the night went well and showed continued progress across the lineup. With Regionals set for Friday night in Williamsburg, the focus now shifts to three days of hard, focused practice as we prepare for the next stage of competition.”
Looking Ahead to Regionals
Both teams now turn their attention to regional competition on Friday, January 30th, with spots at the state tournament on the line. Van Buren County will return to Wapello for their state qualifying tournament, while Pekin will travel to Williamsburg for their regional competition. Both programs will focus on maximizing their state qualifiers as the postseason intensifies.
Photography courtesy of Jessica Goehring and Rylie Nelson.
