T-R PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER – South Tama County sophomore Autumn Elsbury, front, nears a takedown against top-seeded Naomi Simon of Decorah during Saturday’s 170-pound championship match at the girls’ state wrestling tournament at Xtream Arena in Coralville. Simon, a University of Iowa recruit, won her fourth state title with a 15-2 major decision over Elsbury.
CORALVILLE — Even against unbeatable odds, Autumn Elsbury wrestled to win on Friday night.
The South Tama County sophomore did not spoil a storybook ending for Decorah’s Naomi Simon in the 170-pound championship match — Simon, a University of Iowa commit, achieved her goal of becoming Iowa’s first four-time girls state champion with a 15-2 major decision.
Elsbury more than held her own, though. Down 9-0 to start the third period, she scored a takedown 20 seconds in.
“That was probably the most amazing feeling ever,” Elsbury said. “You don’t see many girls do that.”
She also refused to go out on her back. Simon pinned 45 girls in a row dating back to last year’s state final, a streak that came to an end against Elsbury, who had battled Simon to a 10-0 major decision in last year’s quarterfinals.
“I was just trying to stay out of the stuff she likes because then she can’t control you,” Elsbury said. “I just tried not to pressure myself too much because I’ve never been this far in the state tournament. But there was some pressure, just because when you’re in the finals, you’re that close.”
Earlier in the day, Elsbury pinned Waverly-Shell Rock’s Karissa Oldenburger in the semifinals. She said she was energized after watching Maeley, her older sister, get upended in a 135-pound semifinal that denied Maeley a chance at back-to-back state titles.
“But I still had to focus on myself,” Autumn said. “I knew she could wrestle back, I knew she could pull it off and get the next best thing, and that’s really all you can do.”
Maeley dropped a 4-2 match in sudden victory to Dubuque Wahlert’s Bella Miller, a freshman who went on to win the 135-pound title.
“I didn’t wrestle my best,” Maeley said. “It sucks being the returning champ, but it doesn’t define me. I didn’t quit. … I’m wrestling on a torn ACL right now — it’s not an excuse, I didn’t tell anybody, I just wrestled through it. And I had a good career.”
Maeley was able to end her senior season with one more victory and a 9-3 decision over Isabella Deeds of Ridge View.
“That loss sucked, but the pressure just went away and it was for fun at that point,” Maeley said. “I’ve warmed up with [Deeds] before on teams together and just never wrestled a live match. But I knew I could win it. But there’s no need to be cocky about it or anything. I was just enjoying my last match.”
Elsbury ends her high school career as a three-time placewinner — she earned bronze in the final IWCOA tournament in 2022 as a sophomore.
“It’s been a ride,” Maeley said. “I’ve had a great career.”
As for Autumn?
“This was a great experience, and I’m gonna push myself even harder to hopefully be on top of the podium next year.”
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Two more area girls joined Autumn Elsbury on the 170-pound medal stand on Friday, with both ending their tournaments on top.
North Tama’s Briar Blake finished third with a 3-1 decision over Raccoon River-Northwest’s Aleah Johnson, while West Marshall’s Averie Wittkop was fifth with a third-period pin of Oldenburger of Waverly-Shell Rock.
Blake, a junior, had a breakthrough win over Wittkop in the consolation semis with a second-period pin. Wittkop defeated Blake by an 8-7 decision at a West Marshall meet earlier this year in a match where Wittkop had used Blake’s own offense against her.
“I made a mistake last time and didn’t make it again,” Blake said.
Blake wanted a pin in the third-place match with Johnson but instead relied on her hand-fighting to get through the first two periods before getting two back points to start the third period and avoiding anything drastic from there.
“This tournament built my confidence a lot, because I didn’t know I had it in me to get third place,” Blake said. “It was fun, but it was a lot of work. My grandpa’s been with me the whole way through. … I’m really grateful that he’s with me and that he’s a big supporter and helped me a lot in practice.”
Blake and teammate Addy Hochstetler were trailblazers for the Redhawks.
“They’re leaders on our team right now and will be expected to be going forward,” North Tama head coach Andrew Knaack said. “I could tell they came in yesterday scared, but with each round they had more confidence, more confidence. And Briar came in with a plan today of what she wanted to do, executed it and got third…
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