Maely Elsbury locks up Grace Conway of Mid-Prairie with a chickening armbar for the victory in round two of the BGM Invite. Photo By Vanessa Roudabush.

The South Tama varsity girls wrestling squad competed against 18 teams at the BGM Invitational on Friday, Dec. 2.

“I think we did extremely well. We had a lot of tough competition. I’m extremely happy with the girls we have–[and] about tonight. I see a bright future for South Tama,” said co-coach Danny Elsbury.

Co-coach Jason Arp shared the pride for his team alongside Coach Elsbury,.

“[The tournament] was good. We had three 1st-place and two 3rd-place winners tonight. The two beginners who got third tonight are really coming along. Taylor Johannsen got her first win, which is awesome,” he said. “All the girls are learning [and] coming along well. I think they’re really surprised at how aggressive girls’ wrestling is.”

Johannsen fell Leah Hoag of BGM within a minute and fifteen seconds in Round 1 and placed third in her bracket.

Abagail Chyma falls Kaydence Andersen from Colfax-Mingo in round three of the BGM Invite in 31 seconds. Photo By Vanessa Roudabush.

“I got my first win tonight. That was exciting. I fought harder than I have ever before,” said Johannsen. “I’ll be putting in more work, focusing on technique, and staying focused in my matches [going forward].”

Team Captain Maeley Elsbury dominated her bracket but had a bit of constructive criticism for BGM’s invite.

“Fun tournament. It’s a little different. I don’t like how they did a 2-1-2 because they’re supposed to be treating us like a varsity squad. That’s not something they’d do for a varsity boys team. But overall, it was a good tournament,” she said.

Autumn Elsbury and the rest of her team had a great time competing at BGM.

“It was a good night for our girls and [JV] boys. They all wrestled really hard. This is our third [meet]. I think we’ll do pretty good [this season],” she said. “Everyone was helping people when they were confused. Everyone cheers everybody else on, whether it’s a boy or girl. There’s really no one left out. I wish we had cheerleaders. I enjoy them [and] I personally think they help me keep the hype.”

Addison Klenk pins Lyla Day from English Valley in round one of the BGM Invite, winning by a decision of 7 to 1. Photo By Vanessa Roudabush.

With Autumn Elsbury, Abagail Chyma, and Maeley Elsbury taking first place, STC kept up the hype throughout the tournament.

In round three of the girls’ 18 bracket, Autumn Elsbury of STC faced off against Mia Garvey of Mid-Prairie. Beginning of the first period, Garvey escaped A. Elsbury for a point, but A. Elsbury recovered, taking her down for a point. Locked up with both points and hands. A. Elsbury kept up the aggression until Garvey’s headlock hop-tossed A. Elsbury out of bounds and ended the period 1-2 in Garvey’s favor.

In the second period, Garvey started down, escaping from underneath A. Elsbury on both feet for a point. A. Elsbury pulled Garvey into a hand-drag at the edge of the mat. Garvey tried to squirm out of bounds by A. Elsbury held her feet firm in bounds for two points. A. Elsbury ended the period by pulling Garvey into a crossbody rag-cradle for no points, ending the period tied at 3.

The third period started with A. Elsbury quickly dashing out from under Garvey for a point followed by A. Elsbury snapping down on Garvey. Back in the middle of the mat, the two kept their hands high, fighting across the arena and out of bounds. On the reset, A. Elsbury performs a smooth head snap into a takedown on Garvey, felling her to the mat. A. Elsbury got the takedown on Garvey in the final seconds of the period gaining two points and the victory of 6-3 over Garvey.

“In my last match, I wrestled really hard. I was really pushing to get first. I feel pretty confident about winning. I’m learning a new style because I’ve gone down in weight, so the girls that I wrestle [against] are a little bit faster than I’m used to. I’m focused on getting faster. There’s always something I can improve on,” said A. Elsbury after her tournament triumph.

Abagail Chyma of STC and Kaydence Andersen of Colfax-Mingo faced off in the girls’ 20 bracket. Chyma immediately headships Anderson, yanking her down with heavy hands. Chyma overwhelms Andersen’s attempts at a headlock with her arm too far around Chyma’s head. After recovering from the headlock, Chyma takes after Andersen, attempting a half-Nelson and looping her arm under Anderson, but is unable to get the complete lock-in. On instinct, Chyma switches, flipping Anderson on her back, pinning her for the victory at 00:31 within the first period.

“I am so proud of myself. I get nervous before all of my matches, and I freak myself out, but then when you step onto the mat, it’s nothing like what you’re thinking,” said Chyma. “When I won my third match, the referee asked me, ‘Did you win all three today?’ And I said, ‘Yes!’ He raised my hand real high and faced me towards all our fans.”

Round three of the Girls’ 12 bracket saw Maeley Elsbury of STC vs. Greta Stecker of Boone. In a flurry of a match, M. Elsbury attempts a single leg-grab on Stecker. Stecker denies this, and the two girls stay on their feet and fight to the edge of the mat. M. Elsbury shoots for another single leg-grab, but goes out of bounds. On the reset, M. Elsbury gets a deep heel-pick on Stecker for the takedown and two points. After letting Stecker up and giving her a point. M. Elsbury follows up by dropping down Stecker for two points. Not losing momentum, M. Elsbury dives for a deep double-leg takedown, felling Stecker to her back, fighting to get up to no avail. Without hesitation, M. Elsbury seamlessly stacks Stecker, disabling her #FTP (for the pin) at 1:06.

“The one was a really good match. It was tight at the beginning, but I wrestled smart like I always do and pulled away. The other two kinds of ran from me for a little bit, but I just worked on my technique [and] cut them a few times, then pinned them both,” said M. Elsbury.

Even after coming fresh off the mat, M. Elsbury is ready for state and focused on being the best she can be as both a wrestler and the team captain.

“We have a good, hardworking team on the boys and girls sides. I’m looking forward to the rest of the season,” she said. “There’s always something we can improve on, top, bottom, neutral — all positions. Just fixing the little beginning steps, even your beginner moves win you state titles.”

With three tournaments down out of fifteen scheduled for this season, Coach Elsbury is hyped for the team.

“I’m super excited about girls wrestling. I want to see it grow. It’s good to see them competing against other girls. I know there are a lot of girls who would have never gone out when it was competing against boys. I’m glad to see it’s a sanctioned sport, and I honestly think it will be bigger than boys,” Coach Elsbury said. “It’s a little different style. [When] a boy gets put on his back, and you can usually tell he’s in trouble. He’s not going to get out. He’s going to get pinned. Girls are so much more flexible. They can bend in ways boys can’t, so you never know–never count them out. It’s very exciting to see. South Tama’s got a rich history in wrestling [and] I’m glad to be a part of it.”