Area Girls Wrestling
Members of the Clarinda girls wrestling team show off their championship trophy and brackets Saturday, Jan. 3, after winning their home tournament.
Clarinda seniors Jalon Olson (left) and Kambry Gordon (right) celebrate a perfect day with individual championships and a team title Saturday, Jan. 3, at the Clarinda Tournament.
Shenandoah sophomore Ashley Hardy secures a fall Saturday, Jan. 3, at the Clarinda Tournament.
Five Clarinda athletes won individual championships leading the Cardinals to a team championship Saturday, Jan. 3, at their home girls wrestling tournament.
Seniors Kambry Gordon and Jalon Olson led the way for Clarinda with undefeated days. Olson pinned all four of her opponents at 155, including second period falls over Kuemper’s Lucy Potthoff in the semifinals and Tri-Center’s Annabel Baxter in the final.
Gordon started her day with two wins by fall at 115. She then beat Sydney Hoffman of Creston by a 10-4 decision in a semifinal and defeated Audubon’s Olivia Poldberg 6-3 in the championship match.
The Cardinals scored 156.5 points, beating runner-up Kuemper by 26. Johnston took third.
Shenandoah and Southwest Iowa were also in the field with the Fillies placing 15th with 47.5 points and the Warriors 16th with 32 points.
Clarinda’s other three individual champions were Kylar Downey, Lily Weinreich and Aliyah Payne.
Downey pinned all four of her opponents at 125, including a second period fall over Zoe Nixt of Earlham in the semifinals and a first period fall over Johnston’s Kenniasty Carstensen in the final.
Weinreich stayed unbeaten on the season with three wins. She won by second period technical fall in the quarterfinals and then pinned Joslynn Kenealy of Treynor in the semifinals and Kenzie Maeder of Southwest Valley in the final.
Payne needed just two wins, both by fall, to claim the title at 235, beating Emma Korwes of Audubon and Alice Bell of Southwest Valley.
Jaiden Olson was on the mat for the first time this season and placed second at 190 for the Cardinals. After losing by fall to start her day, she won her next four matches, three by first period fall and an 18-6 major decision over Kuemper’s Aurora Badding.
Esmay Leedom won one match at 135 for Clarinda. Abi Lighty (105), Charlie Mertes (130) and Bella Johnston (145) were also in the field but didn’t win a match.
Southwest Iowa’s Jocelyn Tackett finished second and Shenandoah’s Chloe Nelson third at 135.
Tackett pinned her first three opponents, including a second period semifinal pin over Emersen Gunzenhauser of Wayne. Tackett lost by first period fall to Creston’s Grace Keeler in the final.
Nelson lost by first period fall to Keeler in the semifinals after winning by technical fall to start her day. Nelson battled back with two third period pins in the consolation round.
Ashley Hardy placed fourth at 115 and Kyndil Rystrom sixth at 145 for Shenandoah.
Hardy won her first two matches by fall before losing by first period fall to Poldberg of Audubon in the semifinals. Hardy won by fall in a consolation match before losing by fall in the third-place match.
Rystrom won two of her five matches on the day with both wins by fall.
Macy Kalhorn and Katie Glenn won one match each for Southwest Iowa. Kalhorn’s win came by a 12-10 decision in a consolation match at 100. She finished sixth. Glenn didn’t place but won her match by fall at 115.
Liz Covert was also in the field for the Warriors but lost twice at 155.
