WELLMAN

Showing out in front of their home crowd, the Golden Hawk Gals picked up plenty of pins, wins, and cheers during their home tournament last Friday.

Led by four Hawks winning their brackets to claim first place, Mid-Prairie rocketed to the runner-up spot in the final team standings with a score of 162. It was a close battle between first and second as Western Dubuque won the team title with first place score of 163.5.

“Team performance is great, they fought hard, they got after it, everybody gave their all,” Mid-Prairie head coach Brock Moore said about his team. “It was 100% one of the best performances I’ve seen in a long time out of any team.”

One of the four Hawks to capture first place was Ashlee Farrier wrestling at 130 lbs.

The three-time state qualifier has been nothing short of impressive in her senior season and she continued her upward momentum by winning her semifinal match by fall in 1:36 and the first-place match due to injury default over Fort Madison’s Mara Smith.

With a 31-1 record this year, Farrier made Mid-Prairie history earlier in the week during a quadrangular in West Branch where she earned her 100th career win to become the first girls wrestler in school history to accomplish this feat.

“100 wins is a huge deal. It couldn’t happen to a better girl,” coach Moore said about Farrier reaching 100 career wins. “She’s just a good person and works hard. She’s constantly working hard. It’s not just here, she goes to clubs, and she works hard there too to get better.”

Fellow senior Gabby Gingerich also ended her night with a first-place finish wrestling at 115 lbs. Gingerich won her quarterfinal match by fall in 1:17, her semifinal match by fall in 3:24, and finally her first place match by fall in 1:59 over Fort Madison’s McKayla Schinstock.

Another first-place performance for Mid-Prairie came from Austyn Sexton wrestling at 110 lbs. Sexton only wrestled in two matches but she made sure to win both in convincing fashion. In the semifinals she won by fall in 1:06 and in the first-place match she won by fall in 1:29 over Eva Kriegel of Iowa Valley.

The final Hawk to reach first place status was Cassie Trimpe, wrestling at 155 lbs. Trimpe also only competed in two matches but they were both over in a flash. She won by fall in 47 seconds in the semifinals and then won by fall in 23 seconds over West Liberty’s Danika Murdock in the first-place match.

Other notable finishes for Mid-Prairie came from the trio of Ellie Callahan, Mardie Berry, and Emmerson Moore who all placed second in their respective brackets.

Callahan, wrestling at 170 lbs, won her semifinal match by fall in 1:18 but was defeated in the first-place match by fall in 2:21 to Iowa Valley’s Ralene Hawkins.

It was a similar route for Berry, wrestling at 145 lbs, winning the semifinals by fall in 55 seconds but suffering a loss in the first-place match by fall in 2:33 to Fort Madison’s Aubree Bunnell.

Moore, wrestling at 135 lbs, also won her semifinal match by fall in 2:57 before being defeated by tech fall (18-1) against West Liberty’s Jacquelin Molina in the first-place match.