Iola High’s Zoie Hesse made history Thursday, becoming the school’s first-ever girl to win a league wrestling championship.
Hesse, the only girl on Iola’s wrestling roster, pinned both of her opponents to win the Pioneer League championship for 170-pound wrestlers.
Hesse, who has racked up a 19-4 record on the season, pinned Rebecca Lewis of Prairie View in 2 minutes, 27 seconds, before doing the same to Dayja Eiche of Wellsville in 1:36.
Her victory came while her male teammates hosted West Elk for Iola’s final regular season dual of 2023-24.
Due to West Elk’s small roster, Iola had only three contested matches in the evening.
West Elk’s Creyo Koop pinned Iola’s Rohan Springer in the 165-pound match, while the Patriots’ Landon Wunderlich did the same to Iola’s Broderick Peters at 190 pounds.
The highlight of the evening for the Mustangs came when freshman Alston Nelson controlled his 285-pound match against Edward Metcalf for much of the first period, until getting out of position and almost succumbing to a pin with seconds left.
He recovered quickly in the second period, however, and again seized the upper hand, earning a pin with 1 second left in the period.
“He got a little excited when he was scoring, and got out of position,” Iola head coach Jason Bates said. “He immediately got back to where he needed to be. Scored again, and ended up finding position and catching the guy. Nelson, Peters and Springer are all freshmen.
“This was a great experience for these young guys,” Bates said.
Earning forfeit wins for Iola because West Elk did not have opponents in their respective weight classes were Iola’s Ruger Boren (106 pounds), Trapper Boren (113), Beau Erickson (120), Tripp Mathes (126), Evan LaCrone (138), Korbin Cloud (144), Kale Pratt (150) and Ean DeLaTorre (157).
Osawatomie also was supposed to be a part of Thursday evening’s festivities, but canceled because of low roster numbers.
The postseason challenge awaits Iola’s freshman-dominated squad, with only one senior — Korbin Cloud— on the roster.
Hesse travels to Columbus on Feb. 10 for the Class 4-1A Regionals, with a bid to the state tournament in Salina.
The boys still have their Pioneer League competition next Thursday at Santa Fe Trail High School in Carbondale.
