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Editorial: Girls’ wrestling gets strong start
Op-Ed · April 26, 2023
We must take time to congratulate the West Branch High School girls’ wrestling team for its history-making season.
This past year was the first year that the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union sanctioned the sport, and West Branch had a program already in place to take part in the inaugural year.
To take it a step further, the Bears sent two wrestlers — senior Emmersen Thomas and freshman Teagyn Hartz — to the state tournament, giving them a larger part in this historic story.
Of the 453 high schools in Iowa, 188 — about 42 percent — put forth a girls’ wrestling team. For comparison purposes, there are 285 boys teams, about 63 percent of the total. The girls’ sport was well on its way before the IGHSAU sanctioned it.
The Bears team included five wrestlers. In addition to Thomas (30-6) and Hartz (21-9), the program included freshman Lauren Keeler (2-15), sophomore Hanna Lacina (4-21), and freshman Mia Rice (1-6).
A lot of the success centers around Thomas. She began wrestling varsity during the 2020-21 season with the encouragement of her father, Mike, director of the West Branch Youth Wrestling program and assistant boys varsity coach.
Emmersen was a sophomore at the time and for two years she wrestled the occasional boy. But growing interest in the sport allowed her to wrestle girls regularly.
Before the IGHSAU sanctioned girls’ wrestling, Emmersen wrestled in varsity and junior varsity matches and exhibition matches at varsity meets, as well as girls wrestling tournaments where she could find them.
The Iowa Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association started its own State Wrestling Championships which were open to all girls wrestlers. Without qualifying tournaments to screen wrestlers, getting in was easy. Once in, one had to prove their quality. With the sport still young in Iowa, it was difficult to know who was truly good until getting on the mat with them.
Thomas entered alone, but not empty-handed. In January 2021, she collected her first tournament title at Anamosa and her second a week later at Highland. She also had a 8-5 record when she stepped into the Xtream Arena in Coralville.
When the weekend tournament ended, she boosted her record to 12-7 and reached the Top 16 round. Remember, she was only a sophomore at the time.
Thomas went on to take second place at the AAU Girls State Championship in the Wells Fargo Arena in March, exceeding even her own hopes. In June, she joined the Team Iowa PunishHers at the 2021 AAU Scholastic Duals in Orlando, competing against nationally ranked grapplers. The team finished fourth in the pool competition and eighth overall.
Head Coach Jake Slocum expressed his pride in Emmersen’s performance that season, and her success encouraged or inspired more girls to join the West Branch program.
When the IGHSAU sanctioned girls’ wrestling, that meant the addition of qualifying rounds to get invited to the state championships. Emmersen and Teagyn found their success at Alliant Energy Powerhouse in Cedar Rapids where they became the first two West Branch girls’ wrestlers to qualify for a sanctioned state tournament.
Emmersen collected five wins and finished as the No. 7 wrestler at 110 pounds. Teagyn won her first-round match. Since both of them earned wins, their place in girls’ wrestling history was solidified even more.
Thomas brought home the first trophy and leaves the program with an impressive 60-16 career record. We look forward to what Teagyn can do in her remaining time with the program.
We want to congratulate the Bears for getting in at the ground floor of Iowa’s first IGHSAU-sanctioned wrestling program to become part of history. We want to further congratulate them on making that season a strong one, and for how senior Emmersen Thomas played a key role in getting the program established.
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