Olivia Wise and Nevaeh Gonzales arrive at the final event of their freshman seasons of girls wrestling as “more”.
More confident, more collected, more capable. And as the latest state qualifiers for the Marshalltown girls, on their way to one more tournament this year.
Both Bobcats will compete in Thursday morning’s Class 2A session of the IGHSAU Girls State Wrestling Tournament at the Xtream Arena in Coralville, with a 10 a.m. start time.
“You can just see a whole new demeanor to them,” MHS head coach Isaiah Cox said. “There’s a little more pep in their step in the hallway, head up, chest back. Little more confidence now.”
After sparring together in the wrestling room for most of the season, the freshmen are happy to share this first-time experience.
“Nevaeh’s always got a positive attitude, and I know she will cheer me on no matter what,” Wise said. “And when Nevaeh wins, that smile on her face makes everyone happy and everyone loves watching her wrestle.”
Wise advances to state as the Class 2A Region 6 champion, a title captured in Mason City last Friday with a pin of Cedar Rapids Washington’s Serenity Dawkins.
Her spot at state was assured after her win over Clear Lake’s Zoe Koontz in the semifinals of the four-wrestler bracket, as the top seed defaulted out of the tournament with a wrist injury in the semifinal with Dawkins.
But Wise was determined to go into the state tourney as a regional champion.
“I knew the other girl wouldn’t be in a good mental state and I knew I could use that to my advantage,” Wise said. “I went out there and tried my hardest, flipped her on her back and got the pin.”
Mentality is everything for both Bobcat qualifiers. Wise started the season 3-9 and has since won eight of her last 14 head-to-head matches.
“Before every match, I would get scared, not knowing what to expect,” Wise said. “Now, I’m calm, and I want to wrestle, and it just makes the match a lot better when I’m having fun.”
Gonzales was the runner-up in the heavyweight bracket at Mason City, losing to Alliance champion Aniyah Smith of Mason City in the finals and then wrestling back for true second place with a win over Fort Dodge’s Addie Mikesell to punch her ticket.
“I’ve really worked on my anger,” Gonzales said. “Before when I would lose, I would just blow out, and now I learn, I think back on what my coach tells me went wrong and I make improvements on the little things.”
After two meetings with Smith this season, Gonzales has been paired up with the Riverhawk heavyweight again in the first round of the state tournament. Smith is seeded third in the bracket, but the feeling in the Bobcat corner is that Gonzales is staying competitive with the Alliance rival.
“I keep telling the girls that they’re in these matches, and you’ve got to believe in yourself that you can do your stuff,” Cox said. “I think Nevaeh’s starting to understand that, she’s starting to see it, so hopefully we can get that one.”
Wise is matched up with six-seeded Josie Bishop of Southeast Polk, who was the runner-up of a competitive 190-pound bracket at the South Tama regional.
“We’re not too focused on our opponents but trying to make sure we’re prepared to wrestle our matches and not just defending and wrestling someone else’s match,” Cox said. “That first time making it to state it can be like, ‘Oh, wow.’ But then it’s time to go. It’s a business trip, it’s time to take care of business and then we can reminisce about everything later.”
Following in the footsteps of Marshalltown’s first state qualifier, Genevieve Lantigua, last season, Wise and Gonzales are continuing to pave the way for future Bobcats to make this trip.
“I think it shows that this process works,” said Cox, who is in his first year as head coach of the Marshalltown girls program. “These girls don’t take shortcuts, they’ve been at everything, they’ve worked hard for this and hopefully it shows the other girls that they can work that hard too. We have two girls going to state and half the team is still here trying to practice, trying to get better, and that’s awesome, man.”