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Leah Stewart reaches 100 career wrestling wins with title-match victory

Leah Stewart reaches 100 career wrestling wins with title-match victory
Press photo by John Burbridge
Charles City senior 190-pounder Leah Stewart celebrates her 100th varsity win with Comet head coach Rob Pittman, right, assistant coach Jake Niichel, left, her teammates and the Comet cheer squad after winning her bracket at Saturday’s Upper Iowa Invitational at Mason City High School.

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

MASON CITY — With her championship-match victory concluding the 190-pound bracket at Saturday’s Upper Iowa Girls Wrestling Invitational hosted by Mason City High School, Charles City senior Leah Stewart achieved her 100th career varsity win.

Kamryn Steines just so happens to be the most common victim on the list.

The talented Decorah senior has repeatedly displayed the type of toughness and prowess to advance to the championship rounds at the end of tournaments. It’s just her luck that Stewart is usually waiting there for her.

“I think I have about six-straight wins over her,” Stewart said after she pinned Steines at the 2:44 mark of the championship bout. “But I was still a little nervous going into this match. I knew it was for my 100th win and I know that she’s a tough wrestler.”

Like many matches against her upper-tier opponents, Stewart’s most recent bout against Steines started out slow as both wrestled grappled from the standup position for most of the first period and into the second while trying to attain the right hold and leverage for a takedown.

But usually after an arduous struggle to wear down her opponent and get her prone to the mat, Stewart makes quick work from there as she did again against Steines as soon the latter’s shoulders were turned for the slap.

With a major-decision and fall victories in the respective quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, Stewart — who placed fifth at 190 at last year’s State Tournament and is currently ranked No. 2 among Class 1A girls 190-pounders according to the most recent rankings posted by IAwrestle — went 3-0 during the day while improving to 34-1 this season.

Charles City sophomore Emma Schmitt may also reach the Century Mark at some point in her career as she attained 30 wins this season while advancing to the championship match in the 110-pound bracket. Her run ended when she faced Osage’s No. 1-ranked senior Gable Hemann, who improved to 45-1 after stopping Schmitt at the 1:45 mark.

Comet sophomore 100-pounder Sophia Calpito, ranked No. 3 in her Class 1A category according to IAwrestle, found a repeated nemesis in Spencer junior Kiara Ruiz, who pinned Calpito at the 2:55 mark of their quarterfinal match, and then stopped Calpito at just about the same juncture (2:50) in their subsequent consolation third-place match.

Ruiz improved to 23-3; Calpito fell to 35-7 after the fourth-place showing.

With 71.5 team points, Charles City placed 11th among a field of 22 represented teams.

At the gymnasium and parking-lot packed meet where teams and wrestlers traversed great distances in some cases to improve bracket placings with regional and state meets around the corner, there were nine teams ranked in the Top 10 either among Class 1A or 2A schools by IAwrestle.

Included in that lot was Class 1A No. 1-ranked Decorah, which placed first with 220 team points ahead of Class 1A No. 3-ranked Osage (197.5), which will host one of the Class 1A regionals this Friday with state berths on the line.

* At Saturday’s Denny Christenson Boys Wrestling Tournament at Anamosa, Charles City junior Jackson Warnke advanced to the championship match of the heavyweight bracket after earning a major decision (11-1) over Anamosa senior Coy Braden in the semifinals. But in the finals, Warnke ran into North Fayette Valley junior Layne Kleppe, who improved his undefeated record to 31-0 when pinning Warnke (17-12) at the 3:30 mark of their championship match.

Charles City senior Trevor Carolan, out for high school wrestling for the first time, was able to win two matches on way to placing fifth in the 215-pound bracket.

Charles City 120-pound senior Carter Haberkorn placed fifth in his bracket, and 132-pound sophomore Connor Jenkins placed sixth in his bracket while helping the Comets place 11th among 13 teams.

North Fayette Valley paced the team field with 220.5 team points; tourney hosts Anamosa was runner-up (194.5).

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