Ankeny and Raccoon River girls wrestling brewing to be state's next great rivalry

WAUKEE − The first rivalry in Iowa girls wrestling may be developing here in the Des Moines area.

That rivalry brewing is between Ankeny and Raccoon River girls wrestling. Composed of eight schools between the two programs, the two Des Moines-area powerhouses of Ankeny (Ankeny, Ankeny Centennial, Bondurant-Farrar and North Polk) and Raccoon River (Waukee, Waukee Northwest, ADM and Van Meter) have competed against each other at the varsity and JV levels a total of six times already this year.

After an Ankeny girls wrestler defeated a Raccoon River Wrestling wrestler at the Dan Gable Donnybrook a couple of weeks ago, the Ankeny wrestler made sure to grab her opponent after to exchange some words.

She had to tell her how much she liked her eyelashes.

This is one of many stories and moments the two teams have shared over the last two years, as both teams embrace what is becoming a friendly rivalry in the area.

Raccoon River Wrestling coach James Biscoglia and Ankeny coach Dustin Roland have known each other for going on 20 years. Both being cut from similar cloths from a coaching perspective, they know that every time these two teams suit up, it's going to be a great competition. With that, they seek out opportunities to face each other when they can, knowing that it will help improve their teams.

"They're tough, they wrestle hard, it's good technique, it's physical and everything you want on the mat, but it's just as exciting off the mat too," Biscoglia said.

In the two biggest matchups to begin the year, at the Central Iowa Kickoff in Nevada and the Dan Gable Donnybrook in Coralville, Ankeny edged out Raccoon River in the team standings with a first-place finish at the Central Iowa Kickoff and a fourth-place finish at the Donnybrook. Right behind them both times was the Raccoon River Wrestling program, just one spot behind by just single-digit team points.

At tournaments like those, the two teams see each other warming up and stretching before competition. They give high-fives and hugs before they compete, wishing each other good luck.

"We're all in it for girls wrestling," Roland said. "We were both boys coaches, switched over to girls wrestling. If it's not us doing well, we want them to do well. If it's not them doing well, they want us to do well."

The dual on Tuesday night between the two programs brought that same energy, but also a competitive one too. Teams leaped off their seats on the bench to contest for calls and girls screamed for their teammates as they walked off with wins.

The energy in the building was assisted by a great, all-around dual. Right from the first match at 115 pounds between Raccoon River's Natalie Keller and Ankeny's Trudy Haag, both teams battled hard. After Raccoon River's Keller pinned Haag in 3:49, the following six bouts were won by fall as well, with Raccoon River taking a 24-18 lead.

At 190 pounds, Ankeny's Mallorie McGuire secured a huge win by fall over Raccoon River's Olivia Oriho to tie the dual at 27 apiece with four bouts to go. Raccoon River won the following three matches, with 235-pounder Vicki Venales, 100-pounder Katie Biscoglia and 105-pounder Quincy Cooper combining for 16 team points to secure a 43-33 victory for the home team.

Ankeny was without a couple key cogs in the lineup like Haylee McGrew, but Roland was proud of his team's performance in a fun environment. Biscoglia was happy his team got the win, but both ended the night with a big smile on their faces after a great showcase of girls wrestling in the state of Iowa.

"It was a tough dual," Biscoglia said. "It was back and forth, there was a lot of match counting going on to see who would get points where, it was a lot of fun. Hopefully, what we're selling with a dual in a place like this is that girls wrestling is awesome."

Here are the full team results from Raccoon River wrestling's win:

Full results from Raccoon River Wrestling's win over Ankeny girls wrestling

• 100: Katie Biscoglia (RRW) over Lauren Watson (ANKENY) (MD 15-3)

• 105: Quincy Cooper (RRW) over Ella Hron (ANKENY) (Fall 1:09)

• 110: Nora Bockes (ANKENY) over Kelsey Greenslade (RRW) (Fall 3:04)

• 115: Natalie Keller (RRW) over Trudy Haag (ANKENY) (Fall 3:49)

• 120: Elyse Engebretson (ANKENY) over Izzy Duncan (RRW) (Fall 0:53)

• 125: Calista Rodish (RRW) over Audrey Lucas (ANKENY) (Fall 0:37)

• 130: Montana Mitchell (RRW) over Emma Daggett (ANKENY) (Fall 0:58)

• 135: Ellie Hancock (RRW) over Mady Postma (ANKENY) (Fall 0:53)

• 140: Hayden Bratland (ANKENY) over Bella Bruins (RRW) (Fall 2:46)

• 145: Dana Cleveland (ANKENY) over Naomi Templeman (RRW) (Fall 1:31)

• 155: Aliayah Shade (ANKENY) over Grace Rinehart (RRW) (Dec 5-0)

• 170: Aleah Johnson (RRW) over Josie Bishop (ANKENY) (Dec 4-0)

• 190: Mallorie McGuire (ANKENY) over Olivia Oriho (RRNW) (Fall 1:39)

• 235: Victoria Venales (RRW) over Rosa Irambona (ANKENY) (Fall 1:00)

Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Ankeny and Raccoon River wrestling square off for sixth time this year