Ames and Gilbert both qualified three individuals for girls state wrestling and Ballard advanced one to Coralville in 2A.
Ames, Gilbert and Ballard combined to qualify seven girls for the IGHSAU girls state wrestling tournament in Coralville on Feb. 5-6 at Xtream Arena.
Ames and Gilbert both advanced three wrestlers and Ballard is sending one wrestler to state following the Class 2A girls regional wrestling tournaments on Jan. 30.
Ames competed in the 2A Region 3 girls wrestling tournament at Independence. Seniors Lexa Rozevink and Lauryn Metcalf and sophomore Jaya Theilen advanced to state for the Little Cyclones.
All three wrestlers are returning to state. Rozevink is a four-time qualifier, Metcalf has been to the big show three times and Theilen is returning for the second time.
Rozevink, a four-time state placewinner and the 2025 state runner-up at 135 pounds, placed first at 135 during the 2A Region 3 meet.
Rozevink, ranked No. 1 at 135 in 2A by IAwrestle.com, dominated her competition at Independence. She pinned North Scott's Sierra Metcalf in 54 seconds and Solon's Wren Brodersen in 55 seconds to reach the finals, where she stuck Cedar Falls' Maya Swarts in 1:35 to take first and head to state with a 39-1 record.
Metcalf, ranked No. 6 at 140 in 2A, took first at 140 during the 2A Region 3 tournament. She also pinned all three of her opponents, downing Decorah's Karly Alstad in 30 seconds, North Scott's Bryn Stephens in 42 seconds and Cedar Falls' Kylie Ernst in 3:09 as she heads to state with a 41-5 record.
Theilen placed second at 125 during the 2A Region 3 tournament. She defeated Solon's Brilee Moeller by technical fall, 17-1, and Decorah's Simone Downing by fall to reach the championship match, where she lost by fall to No. 8 Jobie Conway of Cedar Falls.
Theilen had to compete in a wrestleback for second, but she rebounded from her championship loss to pin Clinton's Alaina Carpenter in 4:38 and advance to state with a 37-12 record.
Gilbert wrestlers Tatum Heaberlin and Kate Melody are both returning to state.
Heaberlin, ranked No. 9 in 2A at 130, placed first during the 2A Region 6 meet at Tama. She will take a 44-3 record into state at 130 after pinning Indianola's Riley Cunningham, Pleasant Valley's Ava Stoneking and South Tama County's Brooklyn Mitchell in a combined time of just 1:48.
Melody placed second at 125 during the regional meet.
Melody pinned Ballard's Charlee Neer and North Metro's Kenniasty Carstensen before losing to No. 5 Kaitlyn Raue of Iowa City Liberty by fall in the finals. Melody secured her spot at state with a 35-9 record after pinning South Tama County's Gianna Boswell in the wrestleback for second.
Gilbert's Cece Wagner is headed to state for the first time.
Wagner placed second at 155 in Tama. She pinned North Metro's Katelyn Hughell in the semifinals and lost by fall to Iowa City Liberty's Peyten Van Dyke in the finals to take a 36-9 record into state.
Ballard also competed at the 2A Region 6 tournament in Tama. The Bombers will send Evelyn Faubus to state at 120 after she placed second at the regional meet.
Faubus went 3-1 at the regional meet to advance to her first state tournament with a 39-8 record. She pinned South Tama County's Miyah Grabenbauer and Iowa City Liberty's Sophie Norman to reach the finals, where she lost by fall to No. 1 Abigail Myrer of Pleasant Valley.
Faubus had to go against North Polk's Audrey Lucas in a wrestleback match to secure second place, but she had no trouble getting past Lucas in winning by technical fall, 16-1.
The IGHSAU girls state wrestling tournament takes place on Feb. 5-6 at the Xtream Arena in Coralville.
Session 1 of the girls state wrestling tournament runs from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Feb. 5, and Session 2 takes place from 4:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. later that evening. On Feb. 6, sessions 3 and 4 start at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., respectively, and the championship matches will run from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Joe Randleman covers high school sports for the Ames Tribune. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @JoeRandleman
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Three Ames-area schools combine to send seven girls to state wrestling
Category: General Sports
