FORT MADISON – Kyle Doherty was hoping for a little better performance at the Bloodhounds girls' wrestling tournament Tuesday night in Fort Madison.
Coming out of the Thanksgiving break and following a weekend snowstorm may have left the Lady Hounds a little gassed in the HoundDome. Fort Madison finished 4th with 149 points behind Ottumwa, Burlington, and Muscatine.
Kat DiPrima and Mara Smith, both state qualifiers last season, brought home the only titles for Fort Madison. DiPrima wrestled up 10 pounds at 155 and ran through the competition. The junior got a first and second round bye and then knocked off Burlington’s Kimberly Nelson with a pin halfway through the second round leading 9-1. Then things went quickly for DiPrima (11-1 on the year) getting Muscatine’s Gianna Perales to the mat in just 16 seconds in the semifinals. That put her against Moravia senior Breegan Ellison (8-3) where DiPrima got the pin in just :36 for the title.
“My first match took the longest. I don’t like being at 155 as much because I feel those girls are definitely stronger,” DiPrima said.
“I knew today that I could make 145, but I wanted to help fill as many weight classes as possible for our home tournament and I wanted to wrestle the girl from Fort Madison. I weighed in around 146.”
She said she’s been wrestling 155 all season and her first tournament at Cardinal was the first time she realized she wasn’t as strong in tie ups and had to shoot from space.
“I figured out pretty quickly how to try and keep them away from me and keep them from my head because girls at 155 tend to want to get ahold of your head.”
Doherty said her plan was to start getting down to 145 starting yesterday.
“We thought teamwise we’d come in and wrestle way better, but from a team point aspect, she would be a good one at 155 and I wanted her to wrestle the girl from Moravia. Her sister was, like, a 3-time state place-winner,” Doherty said.
Smith came into the invitational with a 10-1 record, suffering her only loss of the season last week. She received a first-round bye and then recorded a pin at 1:03 in the first period over Keokuk’s Izzie Droege. Burlington’s Mia Oddo put up a tougher contest, but Smith was able to secure an 11-1 major decision in the semifinals before winning the title over Davis County’s Jaydee Bircher by fall in just :40.
Doherty said it was good for Smith to get a full match at home.
“Mara had to wrestle there. It was good for her going into the finals and spreading that out a bit. She’s so used to wrestling three minutes in a tournament, but it was good. She got her engine going in the finals there and usually, when that happens, it’s a nightmare for the other girl.”
Doherty said a lot of the girls were dipping in and out of practice all week with the holiday.
This was the first time they’ve really been back in the room and wrestling shape.
“We have a lot of work to do. We’re really gun shy about pulling the trigger. At the end of the day, it’s just a tournament. If you go out and wrestle cautiously and lose, that’s pretty upsetting. But if you give it all you’ve got and are shooting and lose, it happens. But not to be able to pull the trigger at the level they’ve been wrestling is very alarming.”
Aubree Bunnell picked up a 2nd-place finish falling to Sigourney’s Kia Montgomery in the second period. Bunnell had a couple opportunities in the second period getting Montgomery compromised trying to wrench her over on the mat two different times, but Montgomery would score reversals both times before getting the fall.
Briena Fenton picked up a third-place finish at 125 with a pin in the 3rd-place match over Burlington’s Sarina Cline.
Lucille Zimmerman took 4th at 100 lbs., falling in the 3rd-place match to Van Buren County’s Rory Phillips. McKayla Schinstock was 4th at 135 lbs., while Macyn Lampe was fifth at 110 lbs. Emma Wagner and Maddy Emmett both earned 6th-place finishes at 170 and 190, respectively.
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