What we learned from the Central Iowa Kickoff Girls Wrestling Tournament

NEVADA — Ames wrestlers Alexis Winkey and Lexa Rozevink showed they mean business at the Central Iowa Kickoff Girls Wrestling Tournament Saturday at the Nevada High School Field House.

Winkey and Rozevink each won an individual championship to help Ames place third in an elite season-opening tournament that featured 34 scored teams and 409 wrestlers.

Ames also had wrestlers place second, third, fourth and eighth.

Nevada placed 14th at the tournament with 71 points. Gilbert came in 20th with a score of 48.5 and Ballard was 24th with 31 points.

Ankeny scored 246 points to edge Raccoon River-Northwest's score of 243 for the team championship.

Here is what we learned from the second annual Central Iowa Kickoff Girls Wrestling Tournament.

Alexis Winkey and Lexa Rozevink dominate

Winkey and Rozevink were unstoppable on Saturday.

Winkey, a fourth-place finisher at state last season, claimed the championship at 125 pounds. She went 5-0 with four victories by fall and one by injury default.

Winkey pinned Norwalk's Madelyn Carroll in 23 seconds and Southeast Polk's Shelby Schrock in 27 seconds in her first two matches then picked up a win by injury default over Clear Lake's Piper Lester in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals she stuck Southeast Polk's Addie Nelson in 55 seconds and in the championship match Winkey scored a fall over Raccoon River-Northwest's Calista Rodish in 1:42.

The five impressive victories put Winkey at 7-1 on the season. She was happy with how much she has improved since the Little Cyclones' opening dual quadrangular on Nov. 14, where she went 3-1 with a loss by fall to Cedar Fall's Apryl Halsor.

"I think I did ok," said Winkey. "I've got to be there mentally for everything. I can't take a step back and not get in my head too much for every match. I have some things I've got to work on, still. But it's the beginning of the season."

Rozevink remained perfect on the season at 8-0 with five victories by fall.

More: Ames Tribune's preseason list of the top 10 area Iowa high school girls wrestlers for 2023-2024

Rozevink pinned South Tama County's London Jaennette in 49 seconds, Algona's Sienna Fehr in 3:19, Colfax-Mingo's Jozlyn Wells in 52 seconds and Ankeny's Emma Daggett in 1:08 to reach the finals. In the championship match Rozevink took care of Creston's Evy Marlin in 3:11.

"I was really nervous at first because I'm used to the 120 brackets," said Rozevink. "But today I feel was a good experience."

Rozevink placed fifth at 120 during the 2022-2023 state meet. She plans to get back down to 120 later in the season and said she is

"Obviously heavier girls are going to do more throws because it's easier than taking shots," Rozevink said. "I've been trying to learn about squaring my hips. I think it's going to help me in the long run with everything."

With Rozevink and Winkey next to each other in weight classes they have sparred a lot during practices.

"It's really high intensity, which I feel helps both of us in the long run," Rozevink said. "You get used to weird positions and weird movements, and it makes it easier for tournaments and matches."

Rozevink and Winkey both feel they have the potential to get in position to compete for an individual state championship.

"They worked out all summer and they continue to grow off each other," said Ames coach Matt Steffen. "It's a real fun dynamic to watch. When they get irritated with each other a little bit, it's always a fun battle back and forth. They're going to go as far as they want to go. They want to be state champions this year, and if they keep doing what they're doing they could end up on the top of the podium that first weekend in February."

Ames displays strong depth

Winkey and Rozevink may have been Ames' only two champions on Saturday, but the Little Cyclones had several other girls step up with strong performances.

Greta Goodman took second at 105 with a 3-1 record.

Goodman, a sixth-place finisher at 100 during last season's state meet, received a bye then pinned Raccoon River-Northwest's Jaycee Koch in 2:52. In the quarterfinals Goodman earned an 8-0 major decision over Creston's Hope Woods and she pinned Raccoon River-Northwest's Quincy Cooper in 2:57 to reach the finals, where she lost by fall to Algona's Harley Tobin.

More: Nevada's Mackenzie Arends becomes Tribune area's first girls state wrestling champion

Though she wrestled well, Goodman said she can do better.

"I don't really like where I'm at right now," said Goodman. "Last year I was ranked 12th and placing sixth was a big accomplishment for me. There's a lot more pressure on me this season and I don't like that, but I'm just going to do my best."

Allison Metschke took third at 155 with a 4-1 record. Metschke scored three falls before losing by fall to Ankeny's Haylee McGrew in the semifinals, but she bounced back to pin Nevada's Gracie Leslie in the third-place match.

Caroline Orr finished fourth at 235 with a 2-2 record. She picked up two pins during the tournament.

Brooklyn Greenlee came in eighth at 110 for the Little Cyclones. Greenlee went 1-3 with an 8-5 win over Carroll's Sunny McGowan.

"We have a great group of girls who seem to get along well together at this point," Steffen said. "I think we took a lot of people by surprise last year. There are other girls in our room where the sky is the limit if they keep working and plugging away."

Tournament is a success

The tournament was a great success again to open the season.

With so many wrestlers and teams the Nevada High School Field House was packed to show off the continued growth of high school girls wrestling in Iowa.

"It's a huge event," said Nevada coach Tawnia Leslie. "It's gotten really big. We had 34 teams and last year I believe we had 19. We ran five mats to try and make it go better and I know we'll probably tweak some things for next year to keep making it grow."

More: Girls wrestling has arrived in Iowa. Central Iowa Kickoff Tournament a huge success.

Nevada had five wrestlers place during the tournament.

Gracie Leslie took fourth at 155 after going 3-2 with two falls and a victory by major decision. Cadence Bushong, a West Des Moines Valley transfer, finished fifth at 140 after finishing 4-1 with four victories by fall and Ashlyn Leslie went 3-2 with three falls to place sixth at 115.

Mia Huff was 3-2 with a pair of pins and a victory by medical forfeit in taking seventh at 110. Mia Reichart was eighth at 155 with a 2-3 record.

Three Gilbert wrestlers placed.

Chloe McGuigan and Cecilia Bowers both came in sixth and Madison Shannon took eighth for the Tigers. McGuigan wrestled at 120 and went 3-2 with two falls and a win by injury default, Bowers competed at 125 and finished 3-2 with two falls and a victory by technical fall and Shannon was 2-3 with one win by decision and one by fall at 115.

Ballard had one wrestler place on Saturday.

Liberty Boettger came in sixth at 135. Boettger ended up 3-2 with three victories by fall.

This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Ames places third at Central Iowa Kickoff Girls Wrestling Tournament