The difference between a medal and mettle

Sometimes chasing a state championship opens up storylines other than the championship itself.
I’ve seen one champion roll through Fort Madison in my 10 years covering high school sports. That was Harlan Steffensmeier’s Class 3A title at 152 lbs. on Feb. 17, 2018.
Fort Madison’s Mara Smith was ranked as high as 3^rd by IAWrestle this year at 140 lbs. and came into the 2026 IGHSAU State Wrestling Championships looking to make her mark on her final senior season.
She walked away with a 6^th place finish after having to medically forfeit her final two matches due to a severe strain in her left shoulder. Smith was tied with Waverly-Shell Rock’s McKana Miller in the third period at 4, but a fall to the mat with about 30 seconds left, aggravated the injury and fascilitated a 2-point reversal for Miller that ended up being the deciding points in the match.
After some discussions in a short time frame, Smith and her coaches Kyle Doherty and Ryan Smith, decided it was best to step away and not risk a more severe injury with possibly two more matches in the works.
Mara said it was one of the toughest decisions she’s ever had to make, but she wasn’t sad about the loss. A pretty mature stand from a girl who had the carpet pulled out from under her.
But what we saw in the semifinal match is what should be taken away, not her place on the podium, which was the second time in as many years that Smith had a spot. She finished 4^th at last year’s event.
Smith was battling some tendon strains, at a minimum, in her left shoulder since her second match Thursday. Smith suffered through not one, but two medical timeouts in her first match Thursday after feeling a pop in her shoulder in a scrum with Western Dubuque’s Khloee Schmidt. When she stood at a stoppage, she knew something was wrong.
With her season on the line and the searing pain in her shoulder knocking in her brain, she got back on the mat after the second medical timeout and got a final takedown for a 17-1 tech fall.
It was ice from then on out with a new brace that her brother Teague tracked down for her before her second match with Ames’ Lauryn Metcalf.  Metcalf came out aggressive and Smith had to trust the brace and the shoulder. She led 3-2 before getting a pin halfway through the second period to advance to semifinal action.
A shoulder draped with ice bags and wrapped with ace bandages was the reward for Smith’s efforts… and a date with Miller in the semis.
Both Smith and Head Coach Kyle Doherty said Mara wrestled her best match ever in the Friday contest. With Smith jogging in place for close to a match and a half and her dad Ryan keeping her shoulders loose, Smith waited with anticipation as the preceding matches unfolded.
Once she got onto the mat and strapped on her red ankle tag, she was all business, working to bait Miller into some shots so she could fend them off and secure a front headlock. She did that about five times in the match but wrestling is a competition of moments and momentum and Smith struggled with getting the strength, working with one and a half arms, to muster Miller to the mat.
No points were earned in the first period as they both fought off takedown moves. Miller would choose to start down in the second period and would work a 1-point escape. She would convert that with 41 seconds left in the second period and a 3-point takedown. Smith landed on her arm and, reeling in pain, was given a medical timeout. On the restart she was able to escape from Miller for a point and 4-1 deficit that stood until the final period.
Struggling with a left arm that was clearly being favored by Smith, she was able to get Miller compromised in another front headlock after Miller made another shot at Smith’s midsection. Smith was able to get control for a 3-point takedown to tie things up at 4 with less than 30 seconds left in the match.
Then, in what seemed like slow motion to me, but probably hyperfast for Smith, her dad in the chair in the corner, and her family in the stands, Miller rolled trying to get a reversal and the two got caught up in a flip where Smith was planted on the mat on her left shoulder grimacing from the pain.
Miller got the two-point reversal and rode Smith to the buzzer 10 seconds later for a 6-4 win.
We sit on the sides with our cameras dodging the multitude of other photographers and cheerleaders to get pictures and chronicle the events for our readers. I found that very difficult watching this girl, who has now become the brand logo for FMHS girls' wrestling, in tears as her shoulder gave out before she did.
I immediately thought back to Sam Hayes in 2019 who almost wrestled his way onto the podium before an aggravation of a right shoulder injury sustained in a late-season tournament left him on the sidelines. Hayes battled through the pain of that injury and worked strategically to keep the match on his terms that year. Smith did the same this year.
I’m a homer, I’ve said that before. I literally root for these kids. It's a privilege to know them and their families and we try to weave together stories that reflect the paths taken.
A closer look at Mara, who also runs track and cross country, shows a student-athlete who’s commitment to all aspects of her life, has rewarded her with something she will always have with her. And it’s not just a medal, or a photo, or a banner, or even a memory. It’s something she knows, and something we saw. What 100% really means. Congrats, Mara.
And speaking of grappling, I’ve been doing some of my own lately around social agencies using social money and not having any social accountability and you should be paying attention to that, but that’s Beside the Point.
Chuck Vandenberg is editor and co-owner of Pen city Current and can be reached at Charles.V@PenCityCurrent.com.