Comets sending 4 wrestlers to Girls State Tournament

Press Staff Report

MASON CITY — When football teams are desperate for a comeback in their version of “short time”, they usually resort to onside kicks.

More high school teams, whether they’re in dire straits or not, will attempt onside kicks on most if not all of their kickoffs — except their attempts are more like “onside strikes” at a targeted frontline player who must secure the hot potato while taking a shot from one or two hard-charging and unblocked opponents.

Charles City junior Leah Stewart was tasked with securing a Comet possession in enemy territory when Clear Lake “targeted” her during a game this past season. Not only did she bravely field the ball, she was the first player up after taking a resounding hit while keeping her team in the game early against the heavily favored Lions.

As the only female on the varsity team, Stewart made other contributions this past FB season.

Stewart also wrestles for the Comets “girls” varsity wrestling team. At the IGHSAU Super Regional Tournament held all-day Friday at Mason City High School, Stewart displayed her mettle again while winning the Region 7 190-pound title with a 10-0 major decision victory over Cedar Falls sophomore Briar Ludeman in the championship bout.

The win over Ludeman, who has more than 40 wins this season, improved Stewart’s record to 33-5. It also qualified Stewart to the Girls Wrestling State Tournament, to be held Thursday and Friday at Xtream Arena in Coralville, for the second-straight season.

Stewart, listed at No. 7 among the state’s 190-pounders according to the latest IAwrestle rankings, will be accompanied by teammates Sophia Calpito, Edie Collins and Destiny Kolheim — all of whom advanced by way of placing in the top four of their respective brackets.

Kolheim, a junior ranked No. 5 among 155-pounders, advanced to the finals of her bracket where she lost a 9-7 decision to Cedar Falls junior Macie Graves. For Kolheim (33-3), it was only the second time that she was beaten on the mat as her other loss was a disqualification/forfeit.

Collins, a 125-pound freshman, was stopped short of the semifinal round in the championship bracket but battled back in the consolation bracket and pinned Clear Lake sophomore Pieper Lester 1:08 into their third-place match.

Calpito, a 100-pound freshman, did advance as far as the semis in her championship bracket but still needed to win in the consolation bracket to secure a berth, and that’s what she did winning twice including an 8-0 major decision over West Delaware freshman Addison Schulte in the third-place match while improving her record to 22-18.

Charles City senior 235-pounder Ava Thompson, who has wrestled at the past three state tournaments including the inaugural IGHSAU state meet last season which required qualification, advanced to the semifinal round of her bracket, but was later bounced back to fifth place in the consolation bracket while finishing her final HS season with a 22-12 record.

Amid the 23-team Region 7 field, Charles City placed fifth with 154.6 team points behind super-regional champion Cedar Falls (309), Waverly-Shell Rock (252.5), West Delaware (168) and South Tama (166.5).