Clarinda Girls Wrestling
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.
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 sophomore Aliyah Payne has her hand raised after an overtime semifinal win Friday, Jan. 30, at the regional tournament in Atlantic.
Clarinda junior Kylar Downey takes the lead against Missouri Valley's Madi McCall in the 125-pound championship match Friday, Jan. 30, at the regional tournament.
Clarinda senior Jalon Olson saw her fantastic career come to an end Friday, Jan. 30, at the regional tournament. Olson is seen here looking for an advantage against Atlantic's Leiah Thomas.
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.
Clarinda sophomore Lily Weinreich qualified for the state tournament by winning the 135-pound championship at the Class 1A Region 1 Tournament Friday, Jan. 30, at Atlantic.
She also won her 100th career match and broke her own program record for match wins in a season.
Weinreich easily won all three of her matches to improve to 51-0 on the season and advance to her second straight state tournament. She’ll be joined at the Girls State Wrestling Championships in Coralville by teammates Kylar Downey and Aliyah Payne. Both finished second at the regional tournament at 125 and 235 pounds, respectively. Downey qualifies for her second state tournament and Payne her first.
The Cardinals also had three more athletes finish third, one of which was Kambry Gordon. The two-time state qualifier, who along with Jalon Olson, the two pioneers of the program, saw their careers end Friday.
Clarinda was also involved in an incredibly tight race at the top of the team standings. The Cardinals finished fourth with 140 points and were just 2.5 points behind regional champion Woodward-Granger. SWAT finished second, 1.5 points ahead of Clarinda and Logan-Magnolia-Woodbine was third, just 0.5 points ahead of the Cardinals. Missouri Valley rounded out the top five with 127 points.
“This was a pretty tough district,” Clarinda head coach Jason Gordon said. “Originally, I was hoping for top three and knew it would be close. As it turned out, we got fourth. I was hoping we could get maybe five people through, and we ended up with three.”
Weinreich had the easiest time of those three, earning a 27-second pin in the quarterfinals and then winning by a 16-0 technical fall early in the second period over Adaya Miles-Crook of East Mills in the semifinals. Weinreich, who is ranked third at 140 by IAwrestle, then earned a pin in 1:31 over No. 6 Sunshine Casey of Woodward-Granger in the final.
“Lily just keeps working,” Coach Gordon said. “She had a couple tough matches before this tournament that helped her realize she has to keep working. Wrestling is her sport. She wrestles and trains all year long. 100 wins as a sophomore is great. It honestly makes me think about our schedule too and I have to keep a good schedule to get her more milestones.
Weinreich’s 51 wins this season broke her own record of 49 wins in a season, set last year.
Downey looked like she was on her way to a regional title. She opened with a pair of first period falls, the first in just 16 seconds, then in 1:20 over Montana Farrens of Western Iowa in the semifinal. Downey, ranked eighth, led Missouri Valley’s Madi McCall, ranked 10th, 9-0 in the second period of the final before a turn and a pin by McCall. Not only did Downey lose, but she was matched up in a wrestleback as well, meaning she needed one more win to advance. She got it, by second period fall over Kristyn Crouse of Woodward-Granger.
Payne, who is ranked 11th, didn’t have to wrestle until the semifinals and what a match it was. The match against sixth-ranked Miley Murdock of Logan-Magnolia-Woodbine was scoreless through six minutes. Payne, though, earned the takedown in sudden victory for a 3-0 win. Payne lost by first period fall to No. 2 Haley Armstrong of Atlantic in the final but a wrestleback wasn’t needed and Payne advanced.
Kambry Gordon finished third at 115 for Clarinda. After a first period fall in the quarterfinals, Gordon lost by second period fall to Cadence Kinzie of Atlantic in the semifinals. Gordon bounced back with two second period falls, including over Kassidy Neligh of Logan-Magnolia-Woodbine in the third-place match but didn’t get a wrestleback opportunity.
Jaiden Olson didn’t get one either at 190. She didn’t have to wrestle until the semifinals where she lost by fall in less than a minute to Claire Schumacher of Western Iowa. Olson pinned her next two opponents, both in less than a minute, but didn’t the wrestleback.
Randi Welchans lost in the quarterfinals at 140 but battled all the way back with four straight wins and got a wrestleback opportunity. She couldn’t punch her ticket to Coralville, though, losing by first period fall to No. 6 Katelyn Brandhorst of Woodward-Granger, in the wrestleback match. Welchans lost by second period fall to Rhowen Miller of West Central Valley in the quarterfinals but then her four wins all came by first period fall, including a win over Miller in the third-place match.
Abi Lighty placed fourth for the Cardinals at 100. She lost in the quarterfinals by second period fall, then won a consolation semifinal by injury default over Jlynn Vasquez of Red Oak before losing by fall to Cecilia Forrester of ATU for the second time in the tournament, this one in the third-place match.
Jalon Olson, who reached not only 100 career wins, but 100 career pins earlier this season, won two matches on the day but needed at least two more at 155. She lost by second period fall in the quarterfinals before earning an 18-1 second period technical fall and a first period fall to put her in the consolation semifinals, where she lost by first period fall to Leiah Thomas of Atlantic.
Jalon Olson and Kambry Gordon’s careers ended Friday, but the seasons continue for Payne, Downey and Weinreich. The Clarinda trio competes at the Girls State Wrestling Championships, which take place Thursday, Feb. 5, and Friday, Feb. 6, in Coralville.
Weinreich and Downey both qualify for the second time after Weinreich finished fourth and Downey eighth at state last year. Payne is a first-time state qualifier.
