Hovenga makes history as A-P's first girls state wrestling qualifier

DECORAH – Lia Hovenga just wanted to have fun in her senior year.

On Friday afternoon, she made history.

The first-year Aplington-Parkersburg/Grundy Center wrestler became the first A-P girl to qualify for the IGHSAU girls state wrestling tournament with a fourth-place finish at 110 pounds in a state-qualifying super-regional on the campus of Luther College in Decorah.

Hovenga is one of 448 girls that will compete at the first-ever sanctioned girls wrestling state tournament in Coralville beginning at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 1.

She’s seeded 23rd out of 32 girls competing at 110 pounds and will take on Nevada freshman Ashlyn Leslie in the Xtream Arena in Coralville.

And for Hovenga and her senior teammate Ella Luebbers, it all started with a couple friends trying something new together.

“It’s really cool,” Hovenga said. “I don’t know, I just went into it to have fun. Me and Ella just thought it would be fun to try it out.”

Girls wrestling has seen exponential growth in Iowa schools in recent years, but before last year’s announcement that the girls union would sanction it for the 2022-23 season, it was a shared effort that often resulted in the girls wrestling boys, or waiting for specific girls-only tournaments.

On Friday, A-P/GC rolled into Decorah with seven girls and walked out with three state qualifiers - Hovenga and the Grundy Center duo of Kayden Muller and Grace Storjohann.

“Going to the meets has been the most fun part, being with the whole team,” Hovenga said.

Hovenga earned a bye into the quarterfinals on Friday and topped Taylor Hedeman of Union by an 11-2 major decision.

With an automatic state berth on the line in the semifinals, second-seed Emma Hall of the North Central Trailblazers pinned Hovenga in the second period. But Hovenga rebounded with a pin of West Fork’s Teaghan Bird in the consolation semis, allowing Hovenga to wrestle for third.

That was a key victory, as a loss to Mason City’s Lila Sheehan was no big loss for Hovenga when Bird won the fifth-place match at 110, ensuring Hovenga’s status as true fourth place out of Region 7.

“I’m just being aggressive and knowing how to defend,” Hovenga said.

The 110-pound bracket is highlighted by two undefeated wrestlers - Osage’s Jalynn Goodale at 30-0 and Jasmine Luedtke of Ottumwa at 28-0. With a couple upsets, Hovenga could face Luedtke as soon as the quarterfinals.

But it’s a long tournament. And Hovenga said she hopes to win a few matches when it’s all said and done.

Muller, Storjohann to also rep A-P/GC

Two Grundy Center students will be the other representatives for the A-P/GC team at state at the end of this week.

Grace Storjohann, a freshman, qualified as the runner-up at 120 pounds; Kayden Muller, a sophomore, was the third-place finisher at 130 pounds.

Storjohann upended Anamosa’s Ava Scranton in the semifinals to assure her place at the state tournament. MFL MarMac’s Kadence Pape pinned Storjohann in the Region 7 finals. Storjohann is seeded 14th and could see Pape again as soon as the second round of the 120-pound bracket in Coralville, if she can get past Sergeant Bluff-Luton’s Kendra Berglund in the first round.

“Two weeks ago, [Scranton] used me to mop the mat,” Storjohann said. “I knew I had to train for that. I spent more time crawling to get out of the mat than actually wrestling. I’ve been training, rewatching matches, and this time when she pulled her moves, I was already reacting before she did them.”

Storjohann hopes to learn from the Pape match and apply it to state with hopes of earning a state medal.

Muller earned the 21st-seed in the state and will take on Humboldt’s Baylie Beers in the first round on Thursday.

“It didn’t feel real compared to last year seeing the amount of girls here,” Muller said. “It’s insane.”

She started wrestling in eighth grade against boys and competed at the IWCOA state meet last season, going 1-2.

“It’s such a tough sport. You have to be mentally strong and work hard.”

That’s what will carry Muller into the end of this week with her eyes on the podium.

“Just leave everything on the mat, work hard and leave no doubt behind.”

Two other seniors wrapped up their seasons on Friday.

Shayla Barrett finished sixth at 145 pounds with a strong finish to her inaugural season on the mat. And Ella Luebbers went 1-2 at 140 pounds to close out her first season of wrestling.

Sophomore Avery Freund finished sixth at 135 pounds after going 3-3 on the day. Freshman Ali Burkhalter gained some valuable experience after going 0-2 at 125 pounds.