The Pella boys and girls wrestlers both competed in separate dual tournaments Saturday. The Dutch boys were 3rd at South Tama, while the girls finished 5th at Ankeny Centennial.

Pella Girls Head Coach Adam Hale says they were shorthanded due to illness, but still competed well in a talented field:

West Marshall 42- Pella 24
Indianola 42- Pella 27
Mason City 47- Pella 24
Ankeny 60- Pella 18
Pella 36- Norwalk 21

Emmalee Spurgeon and Elaine Babcock both went 5-0 on the day.

“We were missing a third of our lineup due to injury or sickness, so we started each dual down 24-0 with the forfeits we gave up, which as you can see vastly changes the team results. Overall we coaches were extremely happy with the level of wrestling we saw today. We saw some leaps in the intensity and urgency a couple of our wrestlers brought to the mat, and we asked some others to step into some challenging situations for the good of the team and they didn’t hesitate,” Hale says.

Pella earned the first dual win for the program at the tournament, and key returner Jasey Olson (3-2 on the day) earned the individual victory to seal that deal. The girls are off until they head to Cedar Rapids Prairie next Saturday, the 17th.

—
On the road east, the Pella boys placed 3rd at South Tama, going 2-2 in their matches:

Pella 39; Des Moines East 34
Independence 69; Pella 12
Pella 53; Regina 15
South Tama 53; Pella 18

Jackson Van Kley (170) was the lone Dutch wrestler with an undefeated record and Peyton Ritzert (145) went 3-1 overall on a day where Pella missed several key athletes in their own lineup.

Pella is next in action Thursday at Oskaloosa.