CORALVILLE – Fort Madison sophomore Mara Smith wrestled her last match of the day at the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union State Girls Wrestling tournament Thursday with a mission to get to Friday's wrestling.
After three other matches, two in the day session and one in the night, Smith fired up an engine that Clear Lake’s Pieper Lester couldn’t quiet as the Lady Hound rolled to a 10-1 major decision.
The win puts Smith into Friday wrestling and she is now one win from the podium at the Xtream Arena in Coralville.
Hound junior Hailey Kemper, seeded 11th coming into the tourney, went 2-1 on the day and was eliminated in Thursday night action.
Smith almost ended her last match of the day in the first period after a takedown where she pulled Lester’s head almost to the mat then spun to her right to slide in for the 2-pointer. Then Smith almost locked up a cradle and a 3-point nearfall, but Lester was able to fight through it. Smith took a 5-0 lead into the second period.
She overpowered Lester, seeded 18th, again in the second period for two points and then caught a takedown and was awarded a penalty point at the end for a Lester stall to win the match.
Smith will now face Waverly-Shell Rock junior Lilly Stough, the sixth seed at 125 lbs. and 31-4 on the year.
Smith stands at 33-6 with the win. The match with Stough on Friday morning will send the winner to the podium and a minimum 8th place finish in the 125 lb. bracket.
Smith said she’s been calmer this year than when she wrestled in the tournament last year.
“Last year was really new for me. This year I came in and it was like I was more calm coming into it today than I was last year. I came in in a way better mindset that I could win," Smith said.
"I feel like coming back from a loss last year, that was my main struggle, but coming into the match with an open mindset is what helped me more tonight.”
Smith got through the first match with BCLUW-SH’s (Beaman, Conrad, Liscomb, Union, and Whitten located between Des Moines and Cedar Falls) Leila Wedgwood. It took Smith half a round to get a feel for the Comet sophomore but then recorded eight points including a near fall as the horn sounded on the first period for an 8-2 lead. The two girls started neutral in the second period and Smith executed a lift and toss 15 seconds in and was able to finagle the pin 45 seconds later.
The Lady Hound sophomore found herself up against 7th-seeded Destiny Brown of Ridge View in the second round of the championship bracket. Brown executed several rolling takedowns where she got Smith on her shoulder and rolled her to the mat. The last came with just 27 seconds left in a match for an 8-6 win. Smith had the lead at the end of one after getting an escape and takedown in the final 30 seconds.
Brown rolled up two more takedowns in the second period and was hit with a caution, but Smith managed to escape both times, being able to get to her feet and spin free, and trailed by just one point going into the final two minutes.
Smith and Head Coach Kyle Doherty decided to start the 3rd standing instead of down to try to get a point back on an escape and tie the match at 6 all.
“I was confident I would win that match, but in the 3rd period I knew I had to do something. Things don’t always go the way we want,” Smith said.
“Honestly, I didn’t even know the score. I wasn’t paying attention to that. But looking back, both ways, she still ended up shooting on me, so either way, I would have had to do something.”
Doherty said he was expecting some controversy on that, but said he’s seen Smith wrestle well on her feet all year, and wrestling for a tie isn’t what was on their minds.
"So I know there’s a little controversy around that. It’s pretty simple - I get the extra point to tie it, but to me, I feel like Mara’s best on her feet in those situations. We’re not up here to go into overtime. We want to trust and believe in the work we put in that we can execute from all angles,” Doherty said.
“I felt (Brown) was broke and Mara’s fantastic with her gas tank and was going to be able to keep pushing and she did. But that girl just fought it off. Mara had taken her down once already close to her back. Later in the period if she takes a shot, a high-cross, double leg and takes her to her back - she seals the deal."
Kemper expended a lot of energy in her first-round match trying to get Charles City’s Sophia Calpito to the mat in the first period and was finally awarded 2 points on a takedown a minute into wrestling. She would hold that 2-0 lead almost to the horn, but Calpito managed an escape with four seconds left.
Kemper would get warned for stalling six seconds into period 2, which caused her to shift and allowed Calpito to escape to tie things at 2. A Calpito toss scored two more points for the Charles City freshman. Kemper would score a 2-point reversal when Calpito couldn’t execute a cradle, allowing Kemper to slide out and roll Calpito over. Kemper would give up the escape again with just seconds left in the period.
The Bloodhound would choose to start on top during the 3rd period and quickly gave up an escape point before Calpito took a shot and tossed Kemper back to the mat for a 3-point nearfall before getting the pin.
In the first wrestleback in the consolation bracket, Kemper scored a 7-2 win over Addison Schulte of West Delaware (Manchester). The two squared off in the center measuring each other up until Kemper scored a takedown with 12 seconds left in the first period. Schulte would escape for a point right at the horn. Kemper started round two on top and rode Schulte for close to a minute before the Hawk scored another escape to tie things at 2. Kemper would then gain another takedown while battling some nausea for a 4-2 lead going into the final period.
Schulte started on top in the third and Kemper quickly worked an escape scrambling to her feet on the whistle and spinning out of Schulte’s grasp. The Lady Hound would execute another takedown with about 20 seconds left that she was able to maintain until the final horn.
She lost in her second-round consolation match to No. 5 Kara Vedepo of Solon.
Vedepo held a 2-1 lead halfway through the second period with Kemper’s point coming on an escape after finally getting to her feet and shaking off Vedepo’s hold. But the Solon junior grabbed onto Kemper after the escape, swung her back to the center of the mat, and scored 4 points on the takedown and near fall for an 8-1 lead.
Kemper started on top in the 3rd period but gave up a reversal on the ride about 45 seconds in. She would score her own reversal, but right at the end of the period to make it a 10-3 loss.
Kemper said she didn’t feel well to start the day.
“After my first match I didn’t feel good and, after the second match, I threw up. My stomach did hurt in the first match, but it wasn’t until the second match that it really got to me,” she said.
She said the day didn’t start right when Calpito wanted to stay upright in the beginning.
“It’s happened before, and I hate it when we’re on our feet for the whole period, but it happens. I’m disappointed, but I’m not gonna dwell on it. I still have next year.”
Doherty said Kemper still has a bright senior year ahead of her.
“Hailey may have wrestled a little cautious and I know she’s not feeling the best right now,” he said.
“You didn’t get a chance to really see her wrestle, but the great thing about it is no matter what happened today, she’ll be back up here next year, hopefully on the podium.”
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