Pete and Dana Wenstrand raise corn and soybeans near Essex. They were nominated for the Iowa Master Farmer award by Keith Heffernan, former Iowa Corn Growers Association executive director.
Pete and Dana Wenstrand raise corn and soybeans near Essex. They were nominated for the Iowa Master Farmer award by Keith Heffernan, former Iowa Corn Growers Association executive director.
Clarinda’s Lily Weinreich, when asked about her season highlights, said her 100th career win, beating a top-ranked opponent, taking an undefeated record into the state tournament and being there for her teammates, were what she takes with her from an outstanding sophomore season.
Weinreich is the Southwest Iowa Herald Winter Sports Female Athlete of the Year after winning 54 of her 56 matches this season and placing fifth at the state tournament.
Her 100th career win came at the regional tournament in January in the regional championship match, which secured her second state tournament bid.
Clarinda sophomore Lily Weinreich won her 100th career match Friday, Jan. 30, which was also the regional championship match, sending her to her second state tournament.
Clarinda senior Lily Weinreich goes for more points against Woodward-Granger's Sunshine Casey Friday, Jan. 30, in the championship match of the regional tournament.
“It’s a cool achievement,” Weinreich said on win No. 100. “At the beginning of the season it felt so far out of reach, but it came a lot faster than I thought it was going to. As far as we know, I’m the first sophomore in Iowa to get 100 wins.”
Reaching 100 wins as a sophomore raised the obvious question for Weinreich, is 200 a goal?
“Seeing the two girls get to 200 wins this year just put that out knowing that I could do that,” Weinreich said. “That’s been a goal I have had since after my freshman year, and I want to get to 200 by the time I graduate.”
Clarinda sophomore Lily Weinreich has her arm raised for the last time this season Friday, Feb. 6, after a fifth-place match win at the State Wrestling Championships. Weinreich earned her second straight state medal.
After finishing fourth at the state tournament as a freshman, fifth wasn’t the plan for the end of her sophomore season. She called her second day at state, which saw her lose her first and second matches of the season an “emotional roller coaster,” a day that started with her as the program’s first state semifinalist.
“I went out there day two and got a little out of position,” Weinreich said, “and she got in on a double and pinned me from there. I was mentally drained after that match, and I had to come back 30 minutes later and wrestle. For that match, I forgot my credentials downstairs and my coach had to run it up there to get me downstairs to my match. And the match after that, I was just mad. I got out there, and got the match done and over with.”
Clarinda girls wrestling state qualifiers, from left: Kylar Downey (125-pound regional runner-up), Lily Weinreich (135-pound champion) and Aliyah Payne (235-pound runner-up) show off their medals and tickets Friday, Jan. 30, at the regional tournament in Atlantic.
Weinreich was one of three Cardinals who qualified for the state tournament. Aliyah Payne was a first-time qualifier and finished one win shy of a state medal. Kylar Downey, often Weinreich’s training partner, also earned her second state medal.
“We’re constantly going whenever we’re in the wrestling room together,” Weinreich said on her and Downey. “It helps because we both have the same drive and we both have the same style. I hear some people talk about how much they wish they had a partner that would constantly push them and makes me thankful for having her.”
Weinreich had a fantastic sophomore season, winning her first 53 matches, including two at the state tournament. She said, though, it was an interesting season, one that took more effort than she expected to continue to drive herself forward.
“Success is fun but this year it got to a point, and I even told my dad, that I wanted to lose just to feel that drive again,” Weinreich said. “I didn’t want to lose but then I almost lost at home and that really got me fired up.”
Weinreich has been one of the leaders of a Clarinda girls wrestling program that has seen incredible growth and quite a bit of success since the program started prior to the 2022/23 season when the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union began sanctioning the sport. She said watching her teammates be part of that success is a lot of fun for her.
“Seeing them reach their milestones and their goals,” Weinreich said, “and being there for each other makes the sport more fun.”
Weinreich has wrestled since third grade. She said before that she played basketball but after watching her brother compete in several wrestling tournaments, she wanted to give the sport a try.
“My first tournament I got second in a boys bracket,” Weinreich said. “It was kind of fun seeing the boys get mad. I continued and it was a lot of fun. I had to wrestle a lot of boys, but it was a lot of fun seeing them cry.”
She said she started taking the sport seriously around sixth grade and joined The Best Wrestler Club, out of Council Bluffs, one she is still a part of. She said she has already spent quite a bit of time there practicing during the offseason.
“I ended up taking about two weeks off,” Weinreich said, when asked about her offseason. “I’m currently doing track and training three to four times a week up at club and then wrestling in our wrestling room maybe once or twice a week.”
Weinreich’s ultimate goal of her sophomore season was a state championship. She fell short of that goal, but with two seasons left in her Clarinda career, she said winning that state title, and then another, is what she is driving for.
Clarinda sophomore Lily Weinreich looks up, looking to improve her position Thursday, Feb. 5, against Harper Humpal of New Hampton/Turkey Valley in a first round match at the State Wrestling Championships.
Clarinda sophomore Lily Weinreich leans in against Alburnett's Lyni Gusick during a consolation semifinal Friday, Feb. 6, at the State Wrestling Championships. Weinreich lost the match 5-4.
Interviews and highlights from Clarinda girls wrestling Friday, Feb. 6, at state wrestling
Shenandoah native Riley Dyche rained for the Yukon Quest, one of two 1,000-mile dog sled races in existence, in October 2017.
Shenandoah native Riley Dyche rained for the Yukon Quest, one of two 1,000-mile dog sled races in existence, in October 2017.
Jacob McGargill accomplished quite a bit during his Shenandoah wrestling career.
McGargill is a three-time John J Harris champion, a three-time Hawkeye 10 Conference Tournament champion, and four-time finalist. He’s a four-time state tournament qualifier, three-time place winner and one-time finalist. For an athlete who started in the program well before high school, to do all that means quite a bit.
Shenandoah senior Jacob McGargill shows off his championship belt, given to him by his coaching staff Saturday, Jan. 24, after breaking Shenandoah's career wins record at the Harris Tournament.
Shenandoah senior Jacob McGargill (second from left, with belt), celebrates breaking the school record for wins in a career Saturday, Jan. 24, at the John J. Harris Tournament in Corning, after his semifinal victory. From left: Hayden Roush, McGargill, Carter Wooten, Hayden Dukes and Will Berning.
“It shows a lot for the program,” McGargill said. “I basically grew up with the Elks program and that’s pretty much it. I didn’t start going to club until after my freshman year and that’s where I really grew and developed and started to understand wrestling a lot more.”
McGargill is the Southwest Iowa Herald Winter Sports Male Athlete of the Year, after a terrific season that saw him win 58 of his 59 matches with his only loss coming in the state quarterfinals. He took third at the state tournament and finished his career with a program record 200 wins.
His goal, though, was a state championship, which means with all that McGargill accomplished as a Mustang wrestler, he didn’t reach his ultimate goal. Talking more than a month after the state tournament, McGargill was asked what he remembered about that weekend in Des Moines.
“It was a learning opportunity,” McGargill said. “Obviously, I didn’t get what I wanted but I don’t get to leave my high school career satisfied. So, that definitely pushes things for college. It’s a sour taste in my mouth and a learning experience. I hadn’t really wrestled on the backside of the state tournament before and it’s not a great feeling, I hated it so much. But I got to end my high school career with a win, and 200 at that.”
Anyone watching McGargill win his four consolation matches after the stunning quarterfinal loss would never guess that he “hated” it. He was incredibly emotional after each of those four wins, all by pin, culminating with the final win, his 200th against the same athlete that beat him in the quarterfinals.
Shenandoah senior Jacob McGargill celebrates his final win, the 200th of his career, a pin of West Delaware's Lane Gudenkauf, in the Class 2A 165-pound third-place match.
“You can’t go and hang and your head,” McGargill said. “Losing happens to everybody. Even at the Division I level, I watched the NCAA Tournament, and it was like five different people who lost in the semifinals and they were done. I don’t understand that. I think wrestling is fun and I enjoy that. So, getting the opportunity to wrestle on the backside, even though I lost, was awesome. And getting to leave on a win and win that third-place medal meant a lot to me and my coaches.”
McGargill has continued an impressive line of Shenandoah wrestlers over the past few years that have led the program to new heights and McGargill said being a part of making Shenandoah Wrestling a big deal again means a lot to him as he leaves.
“My seventh and eighth grade years, I watched the high school team with 5-10 kids on the team,” McGargill said. “To go from that to qualifying for regional duals two years in a row was amazing. To be part of that and the experiences and the friendships I made with my teammates has been awesome.”
While Shenandoah wrestling has been instrumental in McGargill’s growth, he said so has his club. He started at The Best Wrestler before moving last year to Powerhouse, out of Council Bluffs, where he still goes to work on his skill about three days a week. He said club wrestling took all that McGargill knew and helped him create and master his own style of wrestling.
“Everyone is different and has a unique style,” McGargill said, “so just taking that and my understanding of it and how to do it and bring it everywhere with me. They developed my skills and my mindset to make sure I knew I could wrestle with anybody.”
His next step is college wrestling. McGargill signed before the season with NCAA Division II University of Mary, located in Bismarck, North Dakota. McGargill said watching a true freshman enter the program at Mary this season and win a national championship confirmed again that Mary is the place for him to be next.
“I’m going to go up there sometime after school is over and go wrestle with the team and see where I’m at,” McGargill said. “And to develop my style even further. I’m hoping to go have fun and be a national placer my first year.”
Before that he plans on competing at the national tournament in Fargo, North Dakota in July, where he’s hoping to place.
“I think it’s the biggest national tournament in America,” McGargill said. “I have been all three years but never got the outcome I wanted. My sophomore year I lost in the blood round in Greco and last year I was out a month and a half before Fargo after I did something to both of my knees. So, I went to Fargo on a week and a half of training and that was different than what I’m used to. I’m definitely looking forward to that.”
It was an impressive career for McGargill to finish as Shenandoah wrestling’s all-time wins leader with an even 200, and it ended with a tremendous final season. He may not have got exactly what he wanted from his senior season but 58-1, a whole lot of championships and a third-place finish at the state tournament gives McGargill more fire for the next phase of his wrestling career.
Shenandoah senior Jacob McGargill is recognized for his 100th career fall Thursday, Jan. 22, during a home quad.
Shenandoah senior Jacob McGargill earned his 150th career win Tuesday, Dec. 9, at CAM.
Shenandoah senior Jacob McGargill works on a pin Friday, Feb. 20, during a consolation match win over Taevyn Zinnel of Algona.
Shenandoah senior Jacob McGargill leans into Winterset's Jax Jensen in the 165-pound championship match Saturday, Jan. 24, at the John Harris Tournament.
Shenandoah senior Jacob McGargill on a third place senior season and a 200-win career
