While both girls have big goals, the Pella girls wrestlers who qualified for this week’s Class 2A state tournament are working to stay focused on what only they can control on the mat. Isabella Smith is making her second Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union state tournament appearance at 115 pounds and Elizabeth Thomas is in her first, although she participated in the wrestling coaches association state tournament as a freshman.

Echoing the mentality of Head Coach Adam Hale, both remain focused on wrestling their own best match, regardless of who they will face on the journey — even as both have goals of wrestling Friday night in the grand finals.

“I feel like I’m just going into it giving my all and knowing as long as I’m trying my best, that’s all that really matters,” Thomas says. “Just setting up my shots and trying to do my moves, and whatever happens, that’s just what happens and I just want to work as hard as I can.”

Thomas was among the first girls wrestlers in school history when she competed with the boys team in 9th grade, while Smith made a late season surge to qualify in a surprise run to the first-ever IGHSAU tournament in 2023.

Isabella, who is the No. 7 seed in Class 2A’s 115 pound weight class, opens her state meet experience with an immediate rematch — she’ll have to once again solve No. 10 seed Jackeline Rodriguez-Acosta of Southeast Polk, who Smith came-from-behind to defeat at last week’s state qualifier to win the regional championship.

“I’m going to wrestle her the same way I did before — I’m going to learn from what I was doing and I’m going into it the way I always go into matches,” Smith says. “I’m not paying attention to who I’m wrestling, I honestly don’t care and it’s going to go better if I don’t think about it too much, I just wrestle the way I wrestle.”

Elizabeth is the No. 10 seed at 135 pounds and opens against Lewis Central’s Kassidy Fiala. Find the full brackets here.

Matches begin Thursday at 10 a.m. in XTREAM Arena in Coralville. Hear more from the Pella girls wrestlers on Today’s Lely Radio Sports Page on 92.1 KRLS, and during updates from the state tournament later this week on KNIA/KRLS.