Niewoehner, Kennedy, Schatz place in top eight at State Girls’ Wrestling Meet

CORALVILLE - Battling the best grapplers in Iowa during the Class 1A State Girls’ Wrestling Tournament on Feb. 5-6 in Coralville, the Crestwood Cadets displayed great desire and dedication as all three Cadets who competed finished in the top eight to earn a trip to the medal stand.

Senior Kara Kennedy (105) won three of six matches, including one pin, to nab sixth place and finish 39-8 overall.

Sophomore Alanna Schatz (115) won two of five matches, including one fall and one tech fall, to take eighth place with a 47-19 overall mark.

Senior Rose Niewoehner (235) posted three pins, including a fall over No. 1 seed Kaylee DeJong of BHRV, to advance to the championship match. In the finals, No. 2 seed Haley Armstrong of Atlantic held a 3-0 lead over Niewoehner before she pinned her at 2:00. Rose took second place overall to finish with a final record of 43-7.

“We were very happy with the State Tournament!” Cadet Girls’ Coach Jerry Steffen said. “Whenever you can get 100 percent of your qualifiers on the podium, it is a good tournament.  

“Kara was seeded ninth and got sixth place. Alanna was seeded 12th and got eighth place. Rose was seeded ninth and got second place. Together the Cadets placed 16th out of 94 teams with 40.5 points. We are very proud of them! It was great to see all of the support for these girls!” the coach said.

Denver won the Class 1A team title with 107 points. Eddyville-Blakesburg-Freemont was second with 105 and Osage took third place with 101 points.