Britten cruises to win Ogden tournament

Two Nodaway Valley/O-M girls’ wrestlers competed in a large tournament Saturday at Ogden that included over 185 other girls.

Grace Britten put together three wins, two of them coming by fall, to win her class in the tournament. She defeated Lewis Central’s Dana Swedensky in 1:57 before edging out Spencer’s Emma Strohman by 4-2 decision in the second round. In the final round, she stuck Osage’s Aubrey Chapman in 2:11.

Rose Lonsdale had a 2-0 start to her day, pinning Humboldt’s Ashlyn Sutterfield in just 33 seconds and LeMars’ Savannah Salen in 2:52. Chariton’s Jada Kelley won by 6-0 decision over Lonsdale in the third round before Lonsdale was edged 4-2 in sudden victory by Boone’s JoLynn McKnight.

Erin Ford is still recovering from a concussion she suffered early in the season but is expected to return to the mat soon.

“You go into our practice room, you don’t know the difference between our boys and our girls,” Honnold said. “Those girls are in there doing the exact same things our boys are, they’re in early in the weight room in the mornings, and it’s paying dividends for them. They’re not just in there to be in the sport, they have some high goals to go to Iowa City in a few weeks to the girls’ state tournament and come home with medals. If they keep working like they have I think that’s a real possibility that they could come home with some medals.”