Leah Stewart returns to state with regional championship win

Charles City girls wrestling head coach Rob Pittman congratulates Comet senior Leah Stewart after she won the 190-pound bracket at Friday’s Class 1A regional at Osage High School, thus qualifying for the State Championships.
By John Burbridge
sports@charlescitypress.com
OSAGE — With girls wrestling divided into two classes this season, a wrestleback format to ensure legitimate runners-up has been implemented in regional tournaments that now advance only the top two placers in each bracket to state as opposed to four state-qualifiers in past regionals.
That set the stage for plenty of drama, excitement and tear-soaked heartbreak during the wrestleback round at the end of Friday night’s Class 1A Regional 4 event hosted by Osage High School.
Charles City senior 155-pounder Destiny Kolheim found herself having to negotiate this detour-like crucible for a pending return to Coralville later this week.
Kolheim had advanced to the finals after defeating Nashua-Plainfield junior Nevaeh Bloker with a technical fall in the semis. In the final against Decorah junior Lauren Luzum (ranked No. 2 among Class 1A 155-pounders according to IAwrestle), Kolheim was pinned late in the first period — but her night wasn’t done as she had to face Lake Mills junior Piper Kjeldahl in a wrestleback with a state berth on the line.
“What was I thinking going into this match?” Kolheim said while repeating a question back at its inquisitor. “I was thinking I needed to pin this girl.”
And that’s exactly what Kolheim did as — working at the edge of the circle near the scoring/timing table — she got the slap at the 3:32 mark while improving to 23-5 this season.
Ranked at No. 5 among Class 1A 155-pounders, this will be Kolheim’s fourth trip to a girls state tournament with the last two requiring qualification.
“Getting to state is the ‘same old, same old’ with me, but I know what to expect,” Kolheim said.
Accompanying her to state will be Charles City senior 190-pounder Leah Stewart, who swept through her bracket with three fall victories, including a stoppage at the 1:28 mark of her championship bout against common opponent, Decorah senior Kamryn Steines, who Stewart defeated at a tournament the week before for her 100th career victory.
A fifth-place state medalist from last season, Stewart improved to 37-1 going into Thursday and Friday’s state meet at Xtream Arena.
With Kolheim and Stewart the only Comet qualifiers, Charles City has a small contingent of state-bound wrestlers compared to seasons’ past. Yet this state-qualifying regional may have provided the toughest path of them all with No. 1-ranked Decorah and No. 3-ranked Osage in the house. Even Stewart had to survive a brief scare in the semifinals against Hampton-Dumont No. 4-ranked sophomore Marren Subbert before Stewart pinned her midway through the fifth period — Subbert later ended Steines’s season in the wrestlebacks.
Charles City sophomore Sophia Calpito, a state-qualifier from last season, advanced to the semifinals of her 100-pound bracket where she was a first-period fall victim to eventual champion, Osage freshman Ainsley Hemann. When Calpito lost to MFL Mar Mac sophomore Kennedy Bachman in the consolation final, it voided any possible wrestleback scenario as Bachman had lost to No. 1-ranked Chloe Sheffield from Decorah in the semifinals before Sheffield lost to No. 3-ranked Hemann in the championship bout of a highly competitive bracket that featured five wrestlers — including Calpito, who finish the season at 37-9 — ranked in the Top 10.
Charles City 110-pound sophomore Emma Schmitt bounced back after losing to Sumner-Fredericksburg sophomore Braelyn Suckow in the semifinals to win the consolation final by pinning New Hampton/Turkey Valley freshman Drey O’Brien in 23 seconds. But when Osage’s No. 1-ranked senior Gable Hemann defeated Suckow in the championship bout, there was no need for a wrestleback.
With 129 team points, Charles City placed fifth out of 18 teams represented with Osage (235) and Decorah (205) placing 1-2.
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