Bachman repeats as conference champ
MFL MarMac junior Kennedy Bachman will reign as Upper Iowa Conference champion for another year after defending the 100-pound title at the UIC Girls Tournament at North Fayette Valley on Jan. 24. (Photo by Audrey Posten)
Charlotte Koether was the runner-up at 125 pounds at the Upper Iowa Conference Tournament. (Photo by Audrey Posten)
By Audrey Posten | Times-Register
MFL MarMac junior Kennedy Bachman will reign as Upper Iowa Conference champion for another year after defending the 100-pound title at the UIC Girls Tournament at North Fayette Valley on Jan. 24.
Bachman, who’s currently ranked third in the state in Class 1A, won both of her matches by fall and was one of five Bulldogs who placed at the tournament. The combined effort helped secure a seventh place team finish.
In a week upended by the weather, including moving the tournament to late Saturday afternoon due to the cold, coach Brent Pape wondered how the wrestlers would respond.
“Our week has been really off. It felt weird coming to weigh in in the middle of the day. It’s not your typical thing,” he said. “But you know what? They wrestled well today. To have one conference champion is huge—and we almost had two.”
That second title nearly came from sophomore Charlotte Koether, who earned a fall and a sudden victory to advance to the 125-pound title match. There, she found herself on the other side of the sudden victory result, losing 3-0 to defending champ Mayleigh Medberry from Central.
“That was a great match between Charlotte Koether and Medberry,” said Pape. “She gave it everything she had.”
April Upton, wrestling at 190 pounds, lost two matches at the tournament, but worked her way to the fourth spot on the podium.
Aaliyah Corcoran won her opening match at 105 pounds by fall, before a pair of losses bumped her to the back side of the bracket. She finished the day strong with a technical fall for fifth place. Teammate Isla Henkes also secured fifth at 170 pounds.
Veda Torkelson and Alydia Abel were both 0-2 in their respective 115- and 135-pound weight classes and did not place.
“As a whole, I’m happy with how things turned out,” Pape said. “This is a process. We’re a super young team, and it’s a fun process figuring out what these big tournaments are like.”
The Bulldogs will return to the mat this Friday, Jan. 30, at the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union Class 1A - Regional 3 state qualifying meet at Crestwood.
Pape said on Saturday, “all of this is just getting ready for next week. The Upper Iowa Conference, with it expanding, has made it a championship worth chasing. But nothing close to what next week is going to look like. I hope they take from what they’ve done today and really just ramp it up.”
A key to success will be wrestling with blinders on, noted the coach.
“If we put our blinders on and concentrate on what we can handle—our controllables, our effort out there—don’t worry about the outcome,” he said.
