The AP/GC girls wrestling team recently completed its third season as a program and had a program-best three state tournament qualifiers.
The team competed in dual meets for the first time, including a seventh place finish at the prestigious Battle of Waterloo dual tournament. In traditional tournaments, the team won two titles and finished outside the top five just twice. Head Coach Joel Reints says the heavy schedule was advantageous, with some wrestlers competing in over 50 matches.
“It worked out in our favor to get those girls a ton of experience,” Reints says. “And you can see it toward the end of the year that our girls looked more experienced than a lot of other ones. So it was a big deal for us. The girls were willing to travel all over the state to compete, and you can’t always get that live feel in the room. You try to put them through live matches as much as you can in the wrestling room, but it’s still kind of a, let’s say a friendly environment. When you’re out there, when the lights are on and you’re competing in front of a crowd and wrestling another girl from another school, it’s hard to replicate that in the wrestling room.”
Ellie Reints, Caylee Harken, Zoey Uhlenhopp, Kira Cox and Grace Storjohann each finished with 30 or more wins.
Joel Reints interview:
