Twelve young ladies taking to the mat for 2022-2023 Waukon girls wrestling campaign in first-ever officially sanctioned high school girls wrestling season in the state of Iowa
2022-2023 Waukon girls wrestling team ... Left to right - Front row: Taylor Crawford, Eva Whalen, Mia Kurth, Faith Cooper, Monica Davis; Back row: Devynne Kruse, Reagan Lubahn, Ava Bossom, Kloe Hemmersbach, Olivia Bossom, Jayden Rankin. Not pictured: Jada Bushaw.
Even though the sport of girls wrestling has been growing by historic measures in recent years, the 2022-2023 Iowa high school wrestling campaign will be even more historic as the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union has officially sanctioned the sport of girls wrestling this season. Much like the overall sport itself, girls wrestling has continued to grow at Waukon as well, and the Lady Indians will also be part of this season’s history as a group of 12 young ladies will make up their own team this winter, competing with a full schedule of dual meet and tournament competition.
“The excitement is high this season due to sanctioning,” Waukon girls wrestling head coach Dani Bucknell shared. “Over 2,000 girls are entered into Track Wrestling for this season in the state of Iowa, that’s double last year’s numbers.”
“This season’s goals are growth in wrestling technique, create an environment for our girls to thrive on and off the mat, and, as any other sport, go as far as we can in the postseason,” Coach Bucknell shared. “We’re trying to provide an atmosphere where athletes thrive in their chosen sport.”
The Lady Indians already got their competition season underway with a Saturday, November 19 Decorah Tournament, at which they finished eighth as a team and crowned Kurth as the 105-pound champion and Hemmersbach as the 170-pound runner-up to lead that charge. They are next scheduled to take part in the Central Elkader Girls Tournament
Friday, December 2 before opening up their dual match competition at Waverly-Shell Rock Thursday, December 8 and then competing in the South Winneshiek Tournament Friday, December 9. The mat ladies will then have one more dual competition prior to the new year December 15 at Decorah against the host Vikings and Central Elkader.
“We encourage everyone to come out and support our team!” Coach Bucknell finalized.
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