Nevada's Mackenzie Arends becomes Tribune area's first girls state wrestling champion

Nevada's Mackenzie Arends made history Friday by becoming the first wrestler from the Ames Tribune coverage area to win a girls state wrestling championship.

Arends, a sophomore, won her title at 190 pounds. She defeated West Lyon's Jana TerWee by ultimate tiebreaker in the championship match Friday during the girls state wrestling tournament at the Xtreme Arena in Coralville.

"We are all very proud of her," said Nevada coach Tawnia Leslie. "She went into the match ready to go."

Arends picked up her point during sudden death. Leslie said Arends did a tremendous job keeping TerWee down on the mat during sudden death to ride out the victory and earn a spot atop the podium as a state champion with a 38-2 record.

More:Mackenzie Arends initially rejected wrestling. Now she's one of the best girls wrestlers in Iowa

"It was the best feeling in the world," Leslie said. "Words cannot describe all the emotions we were feeling."

Arends went 5-0 during the tournament. She pinned Ridgeview's Maya Waldo in 1:06 during the first round, won a 3-2 battle over I-35's Ciera Hutton-Spieker in the second round, pinned South Winneshiek's Isabelle Kipp in 3:05 during the quarterfinals and pulled off a 3-1 victory over Iowa Valley's Breanna Peach in the semifinals.

Nevada had two other wrestlers compete at state in the sister tandem of Ashlyn and Gracie Leslie.

Ashlyn, a freshman, went 2-2 with a pair of victories by fall at 110 to finish with a 34-11 record. Gracie, a junior, also finished 2-2 with two wins by fall at 130 to conclude her season with a 41-14 record.

Nevada finished 25th in the final team standings with 42 points.

Three Ames wrestlers earn spots on the podium

Ames placed 10th out of over 150 teams at the tournament with 68 points.

The Little Cyclones had three wrestlers end up on the podium at the conclusion of the tournament. Alexis Winkey placed fourth at 125, Lexa Rozevink fifth at 120 and Greta Goodman sixth at 100.

"Our girls did a great job at the state tournament this week in Iowa City," said Ames coach Andy Fecht. "All the girls won matches and three were able to get on the awards stand, which helped get us into 10th place as a team out of (over) 138 schools represented at girls state."

Winkey went 4-2 during the tournament to finish her season at 30-7.

Winkey pinned Perry's Ayden Erickson in 40 seconds and Red Oak's Nicole Bond in 1:17 during the first two rounds and lost by fall to Lewis Central's Sophie Barnes in the quarterfinals. She came back with wins by fall over West Marshall's Carli Pfantz in 1:30, Waverly-Shell Rock's Eva Heise in 1:21 and Ridgeview's Tatum Shepard in 1:11 before losing the third-place match by fall in a rematch with Barnes.

"She is a leader on our team and all the girls look up to her in our room," Fecht said. "Her focus and intensity is unmatched on our girls team.  Alexis will be hungry for the opportunity to compete for a state championship next year.  She is one of the top girls in the state."

More:How Ames siblings Alexis and Jackson Winkey have bonded through wrestling

Rozevink went 6-2 to end her season at 35-5.

The Ames freshman pinned Waverly-Shell Rock's Brinley Meier in 1:12 then lost by a 12-7 decision to Moravia's Layla Ewing in her first two matches. She came back and topped Sioux Center's Cora Schut in 43 seconds, Ballard's Ally Baker in 2:42, South Central Calhoun's Evelyn Kramer in 2:38 and Anamosa's Ava Scranton in 5:51 before losing by fall to North Scott's Khylie Wainwright in the consolation semifinals.

Rozevink rebounded from her loss to Wainwright to win the fifth-place match over Raccoon River-Northwest's Calista Rodish by fall in one minute flat.

"Lexa is only a freshman with an unbelievable amount of upside," Fecht said. "Not many people knew of her going into the state tournament, but she made a name for herself this week. She is super strong and finds herself in good positions to come out on top during matches.  She is a pinning machine!  Lexa will be one of top girls in the state next year as a sophomore."

Goodman completed the tournament with a 4-3 record to finish her season at 23-5.

Goodman pinned Postville's Liliana Cortes in 5:20 and won a 7-5 decision over Lewis Central's Ava McNeal during the first two rounds, then lost in the quarterfinals to Mariah Michels of the North Central Trailblazers by a 9-2 decision. Goodman rebounded to pin Newton's Elizabeth Elliott in 2:45 and win a rematch with McNeal by a 6-5 decision before losing by fall to Waukon's Mia Kurth in the consolation semifinals and by a 3-1 decision to Cedar Rapids Prairie's Myah Rausch in the fifth-place match.

"She has overcome some injuries that she has been facing this year and showed a lot of toughness going out there and wrestling seven tough matches in two days," Fecht said. "Greta is only a sophomore and will be one of our leaders moving forward in the program.  She can flip the switch when she needs to and compete at a high level."

Leah Stagg went 2-2 at 145 for the Little Cyclones to end her senior season at 26-7.

Stagg pinned Southwest Iowa's Emily Kesterson in 3:52, lost by fall to Iowa Valley's Emma Peach and won by fall over Alburnett's Lindsey Hospodarsky in 1:19 during the consolation second round. She came up short in the consolation third round with a 6-0 setback against Decorah's Lauren Luzum.

Allison Metschke finished 1-2 at 170. Metschke lost by fall to West Branch's Teagyn Hartz, scored a 7-5 decision over Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley's Aria Rensink and suffered a loss by fall in the consolation second round to Waverly-Shell-Rock's Karissa Oldenburger to end her season at 22-8.

"Leah has done an amazing job the past three years in our program and has improved a ton from when she first started," Fecht said. "She will be missed within our program and has left a legacy for other girls coming up to look up to. Allison Metschke had a great season in only her second year of ever wrestling.  She has a ton of upside and will be back next year hungry for more." 

Gilbert's Alex Harswick places fourth at 145

Gilbert's Alex Harswick ended her senior season in style at the girls state wrestling tournament.

Harswick placed fourth at 145 for the Tigers to finish her final campaign with a 32-6 record.

Harswick earned a 7-1 victory over Mason City's Kallie Gibbons then lost by fall to Williamsburg's Phoenix Gryp during the first two rounds. She came back to five consecutive consolation matches — pinning Anamosa's Hadley Frater in 1:10, Davenport's Greta Brus in 4:54 and Des Moines Public Schools' Diana Gaie in 5:04 and earning a 7-4 revenge victory in a rematch with Gryp and a 3-1 decision over Ridge View's Isabella Deeds.

That put Harswick in the third-place match, where she lost by fall to New Hampton/Turkey Valley's Ali Russler.

More:Girls wrestling has arrived in Iowa. Central Iowa Kickoff Tournament a huge success.

Fern Neubauer went 1-2 at 155 for Gilbert. Neubauer's win came by fall in 1:58 over Iowa City's Molly Carlson in the consolation first round.

Cecelia Bowers was 0-2 at 125 for the Tigers. Neubauer ended her season at 19-10 and Bowers finished 20-15.

Three Ballard wrestlers get a win at state

All three wrestlers who competed for Ballard at the girls state wrestling tournament ended up with a victory.

Noel Boettger went 3-2 at 130 to finish her senior season at 27-4.

Boettger pinned Tipton's Becca Hinderaker in 3:31 during the first round and lost by fall to Waverly-Shell Rock's Lilly Stough in the second round. She scored an 8-2 victory over East Sac County's Olivia Villegas and a fall Treynor's Emerson Gregg in 2:32 in the consolation second and third rounds and lost by fall to Center Point-Urbana's Lyni Gusick in the fourth round.

More:Ballard's Noel Bottger's love of physical competition has helped her fit in on the wrestling mat

Ally Baker went 2-2 at 120. Baker lost by an 11-2 major decision to Riverside's Carly Henderson, bounced back to pin Ankeny's Trudy Haag in 4:27 and Davenport's Jadalynn Daily in 2:48, then lost to Rozevink in the consolation third round to finish 17-7.

Rhiner ended her season at 21-7 after going 1-2 at 145. Rhiner lost by fall to East Buchanan's Tayla Stiefel, earned a 7-2 victory over CBCSD Co-Op Wrestling's Jules Thomas in the consolation first round and suffered a close 4-3 loss to Lewis Central's Espie Almazan during the consolation second round.

This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Nevada's Mackenzie Arends wins girls state wrestling title at 190