Waukon girls wrestling trio each advance among State Tournament elite before having their season grand finale experience brought to a close
Sixth-place finish among IGHSAU Girls State Wrestling Tournament 100-pound elite ... Waukon girls wrestling 100-pound senior Mia Kurth (second from left) stands in the sixth-place podium spot with crutches that provide evidence of the injury misfortune she suffered in the championship semifinals of this year’s Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union Girls State Wrestling Tournament held Thursday-Friday, February 1-2 at Xtream Arena in Coralville. After injuring her leg in that semifinals bout with eventual State Runner-Up Chloe Sheffield of Decorah, Kurth had to medically forfeit both her consolation semifinals match and the fifth/sixth-place match to end up in sixth place among this year’s 100-pound state of Iowa elite. The top eight finishers in this year’s 100-pound Girls State Tournament bracket are pictured above on the State Tournament podium following completion of Friday’s championship finals, including (left to right): Spencer sophomore Kiara Ruiz, 8th place; Waukon senior Mia Kurth, 6th place; Solon junior Kara Vedepo, 4th place; Decorah junior Chloe Sheffield, Runner-Up; Raccoon River Northwest sophomore and now two-time State Champion Katie Biscoglia; Denver freshman Violet Diaz, 3rd place; Indianola freshman Siera Becker, 5th place; and Bettendorf freshman Olivia Hernandez, 7th place. Photo by Becky Walz, Driftless Multimedia.
Three falls in less than a minute each advance her to semifinals ... Waukon girls wrestling 100-pound senior Mia Kurth upends Bettendorf freshman Olivia Hernandez for a fall in just 37 seconds in their quarterfinals match at the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union Girls State Wrestling Tournament held Thursday-Friday, February 1-2 at Xtream Arena in Coralville. This quick fall was the third consecutive pin by Kurth in less than a minute’s time in Thursday’s championship action at the season grand finale, but also proved to be her final win as she suffered a leg injury in her very next match in her third consecutive State Tournament semifinals berth and was forced to surrender a pair of medical forfeits in her final two matches to end up in sixth place among this year’s 100-pound state of Iowa elite. View and find out how to purchase this photo and many more by clicking on the Photo Galleries link on this webpage.
Mia Kurth claims sixth-place finish after semifinals injury misfortune; Kloe Hemmersbach, Makenna Kurth each start with first-round wins prior to elimination in consolation rounds
For the second consecutive season, the Waukon girls wrestling program was represented well at the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union (IGHSAU) State Wrestling Tournament held Thursday and Friday, February 1-2 at Xtream Arena in Coralville. The Indian trio that qualified for this year’s season grand finale each proved that they belonged among this year’s Iowa high school girls wrestling elite, as all three started their State Tournament journey with a win by fall before experiencing differing degrees of success that ultimately resulted in the completion of two stellar high school wrestling careers and just the beginning of one that holds the promise to be the same.
The senior pair of 100-pounder Mia Kurth and 190-pounder Kloe Hemmersbach were each making return trips to the IGHSAU-sanctioned season pinnacle, with each of them running into some misfortune that prevented them from equaling or improving upon their previous year’s experience, as Mia Kurth ended up experiencing an injury that resulted in her splitting her six scheduled matches on the way to a sixth-place finish and Hemmersbach won one of her three State Tournament bouts. In her first year of high school wrestling, freshman 110-pounder Makenna Kurth joined that seasoned pair at this year’s season grand finale, splitting her four matches as part of her foundation for the future.
In all, the three Lady Indians who had made their way to this season’s grand finale won six of their 13 scheduled matches (including six of 11 bouts actually wrestled during the tournament). That effort tallied 24 team points for the Waukon girls, who ended up in a four-way tie for 47th place with teams from Chariton, Western Dubuque and Moravia within the 142 teams represented at this year’s Girls State Tournament, with fellow Northeast Iowa Conference squad Decorah winning this year’s State Tournament team championship.
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