The pioneers of the Pella girls wrestling team made another wave of history Friday at the first-ever Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union state qualifying tournament. The Dutch girls placed 9th in a loaded field of 25 teams from central Iowa at the Super Regionals in the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines, qualifying three individuals for the first-ever girls wrestling state tournament next week in Coralville.
“On the individual side, this group just continues to impress me with how they respond,” said Head Coach Adam Hale. “Each meet we pick a couple things to focus on improving during practice, and the next competition we see progress in those areas. For just about all of our girls, today was the best that we’ve seen them wrestle all season, which is of course exactly what you hope for.”
Isabella Smith, Emmalee Spurgeon, and Elaine Babcock all placed in the top four of their weight classes, which earns them bids to wrestle among Iowa’s best. Spurgeon was dominant and fell to one of the best in the nation in the 155 weight class finals, while Elaine Babcock dominated a 3rd place match to earn her spot. It was a rally-filled day for Isabella Smith, who came in unseeded to earn four pinfall wins — including three in a row in the consolation bracket to ultimately get 4th place.
Full team results:
Serenity Turner: 4-3 (4 pins), 5th
Isabella Smith: 4-2 (4 pins), 4th
Anna German: 0-2, Did Not Place (DNP)
Jasey Olson: 2-2 (2 pins), DNP
Elizabeth Thomas: 3-3 (3 pins), DNP
Ellison Ritzert: 1-2 (1 pin), DNP
Emmalee Spurgeon: 3-1 (3 pins), 2nd
Andie Branson: 1-2 (1 pin), DNP
Elaine Babcock: 3-1 (1 pin), 3rd
Liisbeth Rosenstein: 0-2, DNP
Team: 9th/25
Meet notes from Coach Hale:
“Ellison Ritzert put together her best day of wrestling yet and picked up a nice win and being just one small adjustment away from another. Elizabeth Thomas and Serenity Turner both had solid days but both ultimately ended up falling one win short. For both of them, all three of their losses came to girls who ended up qualifying for State. After dropping a match, Serenity actually wrestled all the way back for a chance at qualifying in a true-4th place match.”
“Emmalee was the first to officially clinch a spot at State after her semi-final win. She lost in the finals to one of the best girls in the nation, but otherwise looked really sharp on the day. She’s been putting in a lot of extra, focused work lately, and it’s really helped her shore up some of her technique.”
“Elaine lost to one of the top girls in the state, but picked up wins over three other solid competitors. She proved to herself today that she can dig deep and do more than she thinks she’s capable of. She’s also been staying late and working to improve some things, and she was able to get to those things today in her matches.”
“Isabella was perhaps one of the best stories of the entire tournament! She came in unseeded and earned her trip to Xtream Arena by picking up four falls, including one over the tournament’s #2 seeded wrestler. Isabella has shown flashes throughout the season where she does some things really well. Lately those flashes have been more and more consistent, and today she had a full tournament’s worth. Her dad Todd is our team’s athletic trainer, and to have Isabella jump into his arms after her State berth was secured is immediately among the top moments I’ve gotten to witness as a coach.”
“While Jasey Olson fell short of where she was hoping to end up, I have to mention how great she has been for the Pella Girls Wrestling program. As a competitor she’s grown a lot this season. From what I’m told, based on the date that she first went out, she was the first girl to join wrestling. Day in and day out she’s at practice working to improve. She’s been a great resource to coaches as someone to give us honest feedback about how things are going. We will be sad to see her leave when she graduates, but she’s done a lot to build this program that will carry on.”