Three wrestlers attended the IWCOA girls State wrestling tournament on Friday, Jan. 24 and Saturday, Jan. 25. This is the first season for girls wrestling at AHS, and the second year there has been a State tournament for the sport in Iowa. The number of participants in the sport skyrocketed for the 2019-20 season, which resulted in more girls competing at the State tournament. Senior Aleigh Bean, and sophomores Mackenzie Hoffman and Lexie Trotter participated in the event held at Waverly-Shell Rock High School.

Bean wrestled at the 126-pound weight class. She started off the tournament with a bye, and took on her first opponent in the second round. She lost to Emily Waters of Anamosa at the 2:47 mark. In the consolation bracket, Bean once again received a bye. In the third round of consolation matches, Bean faced off against Kirstyn Beaman of Humboldt. She lost at the 2:41 mark, ending her State run.

Hoffman represented Atlantic-CAM in the 152-pound weight class. She quickly beat her opponent–Maggie Friederick of Dubuque, Wahlert–in the first round, pinning her in 32 seconds. Hoffman went on to face Allison Baxter of AHSTW in the second round. She lost in 38 seconds, sending her to the consolation bracket. She fought hard against Roland-Story’s Sam Hendrian, but lost after three minutes of wrestling. After going 1-2 at State, Hoffman’s season concluded.

The final Trojan taking on the State tournament was Trotter. She wrestled at the 195-pound weight class. Trotter pinned her opponent–Morgan Smith of Denver–in the first round. She lost her quarterfinal match to Grace Gray of Ankeny Centennial in 15 seconds. In the second round of consolation matches, Trotter wrestled against Alexis Turnquist of Ridge View. She came up short in 2:54, polishing off her State record at 1-2.

With the two match wins secured by Hoffman and Trotter, the Atlantic-CAM squad put up eight points in their debut at the State tournament. The host school, Waverly-Shell Rock, won the tournament, scoring 156.5 points.