Two Panther finalists at WCV

STUART — Senior Grace Keeler and freshman Eva Chesnut were finalists as Creston placed sixth in a 14-team field Saturday at the West Central Valley Girls Invitational.

Kuemper Catholic won a close battle for the team championship with 136 points. Clarinda was runner-up with 130. Southwest Area Team (SWAT), combining CAM and Nodaway Valley, edged Riverside for third place, 124 to 123. Creston’s total of 107 points was 2.5 points behind fifth-place Davenport Assumption.

SWAT had one champion in 170-pounder Stella Beattie and Addi Glade made the finals at 105 pounds.

East Union finished 10th with 81 points, led by 105-pound champion Quynn Foster and 145-pound runner-up Cheyenne Dike.

Chesnut lost to top-seeded Jersey Hilgenberg of Riverside in the finals, 8-6. Chesnut won by two falls on her way to the finals.

“The Riverside girl is ranked number four this year,” Creston coach Maggie Arnold said. “Eva got hit with a stall call late and took a shot that wasn’t a really good shot, and she (Hilgenberg) was able to score off it. She’s learning things as a freshman and had a really good day.”

Keeler and top-ranked Lily Weinreich of Clarinda are familiar opponents and easily marched to the finals at 135 pounds. After cruising with first-period falls in her first two matches, Keeler got the initial takedown against Weinreich to take a 3-0 lead.

It was an action-packed match that showed a 4-4 tie after one period. Weinreich scored a second-period reversal to go ahead 6-4, and added a takedown in the final period to win 9-4.

“Grace got a little bit closer to Lily today,” Arnold said. “That’s the closest score that the two of them have had. They are so familiar with each other, it’s really hard for either of them score. Grace had a great day.”

Panther senior Sydney Hoffman beat Clarinda rival Kambry Gordon twice on her way to a third-place finish at 115 pounds. Hoffman opened up a 10-2 lead before pinning Gordon in the quarterfinals. Champion Hailey Harvey of Riverside, who won a 16-1 technical fall in the finals, pinned Hoffman in the semifinal after building a 9-5 lead.

Hoffman won a 37-second pin in the consolation semifinals and then followed with another pin over Gordon in 33 seconds in the third-place bout.

“That 115-pound bracket was absolutely stacked and Sydney started out as the five seed,” Arnold said. “The Clarinda girl had just beaten hear at the Clarinda tournament last weekend. Syd stuck her in the first round, wrestled a really good girl in the semis, and came back to wrestle Clarinda again for third. So now she leads that matchup, 2-1.”

Junior Alainah Galanakis was edged 6-4 by 2025 state runner-up Ellexis Stephens of Harlan in the 130-pound quarterfinals, but came back through the consolation bracket to place fourth. Stephens ended up runner-up to Willow Ray of West Central Valley.

Galanakis rolled up an 11-0 lead before winning by fall in the consolation third round, then pinned SWAT’s Erin South to reach the third place match. Sadie Smith of team champion Kuemper Catholic pinned Galanakis in 3:29 after Galanakis had opened with a 3-1 lead.

“Alainah had a really tough bracket,” Arnold said. “The Harlan girl is just back from injury and has had only six matches this year. She was state runner-up at 125 last year. Alainah had her for 5:30 of the match, but was on top and got pulled under. That girl in the third-place match was good, too.”

Others on the podium for Creston in fifth place were Kaylee Wells (105) and Christina Strand (190). Ella Pryor was sixth at 100 pounds.

The Panthers wrestle Winterset and Carroll at Winterset Thursday before hosting the Panther Girls Invitational Friday. The boys tournament follows on Saturday.

Team scoring, championship bouts and placing matches involving Creston and area wrestlers:

WCV INVITATIONAL

Team scoring — 1. Kuemper Catholic 136; 2. Clarinda 130; 3. SWAT 124; 4. Riverside 123; 5. Davenport Assumption 109.5; 6. Creston 107; 7. West Central Valley 106; 8. Red Oak 87; 9. Central Decatur 81.5; 10. East Union 81; 11. Interstate 35 73.5; 12. North Polk 53.5; 13. Clarke 48; 14. Martensdale-St. Marys 36.

100 — 1. Jersey Hilgenberg (Riverside) dec. Eva Chesnut (Creston), 8-6. 5. K. Edwards (Assumption) major dec. EllaRae Pryor (Creston), 19-6.

105 — 1. Quynn Foster (East Union) pinned Addi Glade (SWAT), 0:30. 5. Kaylee Wells (Creston) pinned S. Skidmore (Assumption), 1:09.

110 — (round robin) M. Nehring (MStM) pinned Nadia South (SWAT), 0:44; South (SWAT) pinned S. Buckingham (CD), 0:20. South (SWAT) pinned I. Krause (RO), 0;21; A. Bass (Assumption) pinned South (SWAT), 1:54. (South placed third).

115 — 1. Hailey Harvey (Riverside) tech fall Shiann Byrd (CD), 16-1. 3. Sydney Hoffman (Creston) pinned Kambry Gordon (Clarinda), 0;33. 5. D. Fry (SWAT) pinned A. Hardy (Shen), 0:34.

120 — 1. Valentina West (Assumption) pinned Elizabeth Handy (WCV), 1:32. 3. A. Lucas (NP) pinned Peyton Cunningham (EU), 4:25.

125 — 1. Kylar Downey (Clarinda) pinned Morgan Dickinson (I-35), 1:00. 5. T. Hoang (Assumption) pinned Alleah Cunningham (EU), 1:11.

130 — 1. Willow Ray (WCV) dec. Ellexis Stephens (Harlan), 4-1. 3. Sadie Smith (KC) pinned Alainah Galanakis (Creston), 3:29. 5. E. Hall (CD) pinned Erin South (SWAT), 2:41.

135 — 1. Lily Weinreich (Clarinda) dec. Grace Keeler (Creston), 9-4.

140 — 1. Glorious Fridley (SEW) pinned Rowan Miller (WCV), 2:51. 5. Adalynn Erlandson (SWAT) medical forfeit over R. Welchans (Clarinda).

145 — 1. McKenna Dorr (Riverside) pinned Cheyenne Dike (EU), 1:06. 3. Bailey Lillard (SWAT) pinned C. Schuette (KC), 0:37.

155 — 1. Greta Brus (Assumption) pinned Rylei Price (Riverside), 0:29.

170 — 1. Stella Beattie (SWAT) pinned Rylie Massey (KC), 1:23. 5. Lilly Gibbons MStM) pinned Lydia Williams (Creston), 1:45.

190 — (round robin) A. Badding (KC) pinned Christina Strand (Creston), 4:24; Zarial Samuels (Clarke) pinned Strand (Creston), 1:48; Jaiden Olson (Clarinda) pinned Strand (Creston), 0:47; Elyza Olson (WCV) pinned Strand (Creston), 5:54. (Stand placed fifth.)

235 — (round robin) Aliyah Payne (Clarinda), champion. Keaton Simmerman, CD, runner-up.